The NC Department of Commerce’s Main Street & Rural Planning Center recently announced that Wake Forest is one of 47 North Carolina communities designated as accredited Main Street American Programs.
Each year, the National Main Street Center® and its partners announce the list of accredited Main Street® programs, recognizing exemplary commitment to preservation-based economic development and community revitalization through the Main Street Approach.
“The Main Street & Rural Planning Center expands our rural and small-town communities’ capacity to take on economic development and revitalization projects,” said Secretary of Commerce Anthony M. Copeland. “The communities accredited today have worked with the Center to establish practices that will fuel their efforts to bring jobs and development to their town.”
The North Carolina Main Street staff, in partnership with the National Main Street Center, annually evaluates each community’s performance. The staff identifies the local programs that meet 10 national performance standards. Evaluation criteria determines the communities that are building comprehensive and sustainable revitalization efforts and include standards such as fostering strong public-private partnerships, documenting programmatic progress and actively preserving historic buildings.
In fiscal year 2017, North Carolina Main Street programs generated $200 million in local public and private reinvestment, helped open 319 net new businesses, generated 2,000 net new jobs, catalyzed the rehabilitation of 259 buildings, and clocked 139,000 volunteer hours.
“We are proud of our communities that have worked hard to identify economic development strategies to transform their downtown districts through action within the framework of the Main Street Four Point Approach of Economic Vitality, Design, Promotion and Organization,” said Liz Parham, Director of the NC Main Street & Rural Planning Center.
The North Carolina Main Street & Rural Planning Center provides strategic planning and technical assistance, Main Street program guidance, training and education, including the NC Main Street conference, the state’s largest downtown revitalization educational event.
Main Street America has been helping revitalize older and historic commercial districts for more than 35 years. Today, it is a network of more than 1,600 neighborhoods and communities, rural and urban, who share both a commitment to place and to building stronger communities through preservation-based economic development. Since 1980, North Carolina communities participating in the program have leveraged more than $2.75 billion in new public and private investment, generated 23,472 net new jobs and 5,883 net new businesses, and rehabilitated more than 6,000 buildings. Main Street America is a program of the nonprofit National Main Street Center, ® a subsidiary of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
For more information about the Main Street program, visit www.nccommerce.com/MainStreet, or contact Liz Parham, director of the North Carolina Main Street & Rural Planning Center at 919-814-4658.
