Emporia Main Street has been designated an accredited National Main Street Program for meeting the commercial district revitalization performance standards set by the National Trust Main Street Center.
According to a press release from Emporia Main Street, each year the National Trust and its coordinating program partners announce the list of accredited Main Street programs that have built strong revitalization organizations that have demonstrated their ability to follow the Main Street methodology.
Casey Woods, executive director of Emporia Main Street said hard work has kept the program on top.
“Emporia Main Street is honored to receive national accreditation for 2009,” he said. “Emporia Main Street continues to work hard to improve existing businesses, recruit new entrepreneurs and enhance the aesthetics and economic viability of Emporia.
“Through hard work, and a dedicated group of committed volunteers, Emporia Main Street has generated almost $50 million worth of reinvestment since the inception of the program. For each public dollar dedicated to Emporia Main Street , we have generated an additional thirty three dollars in outside investment, which points to the tremendous positive impact Emporia Main Street has on our local economy.”
Rob Gilligan, vice president of Emporia Main Street, said “Our Main Street organization stayed informed of fluctuating economic issues during the past year and gave our members access to national experts and asymmetrical marketing activities that mitigated the effects of an economic downturn for many members. Emporia Main Street remains committed to creating a stronger sustainable local economy that is poised to capitalize on the inevitable economic upswing.”
The organizations performance was evaluated by Kansas Main Street , which is the coordinating organization for Main Street programs in Kansas.
The National Trust Main Street Center works in partnership with Main Street programs throughout the nation to identify the local programs that meet the National Trust’s 10 basic performance standards. These standards set the benchmarks for measuring an individual Main Street program’s application of the Main Street Four-Point Approach to commercial district revitalization. Evaluation criteria determines the communities that are building comprehensive and sustainable revitalization efforts and include standards such as developing a mission, fostering strong public-private partnerships, securing an operating budget, tracking economic progress, and preserving historic buildings. For more information on the National Program accreditation program, visit www.mainstreet.org/nationalprograms.
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