This week Historic Newburgh, Inc. (HNI) was designated as an accredited 2010 National Main Street Program for meeting the commercial district revitalization performance standards set by the National Trust Main Street Center.  Each year, the National Trust and its partners announce the list of accredited Main Street® programs that have built strong revitalization organizations and demonstrate their ability in using the Main Street Four-Point Approach® methodology for strengthening their local economy and protecting their historic buildings.

"We congratulate this year's nationally accredited Main Street programs for meeting our established performance standards," says Doug Loescher, director of the National Trust Main Street Center. "Accredited Main Street programs are meeting the challenges of the recession head on and are successfully using a focused, comprehensive revitalization strategy to keep their communities vibrant and sustainable."

The organization's performance is annually evaluated by Indiana Main Street, which works in partnership with the National Trust Main Street Center to identify the local programs that meet 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.

In southwestern Indiana there are only two nationally accredited Main Street programs and Historic Newburgh, Inc. is proud and honored to be one of them.  Welcoming six brand new businesses to Historic Downtown Newburgh in the past seven months, is a visible sign that the Main Street program is a proven leader in preservation-based economic revitalization.  As a leader in southwestern Indiana, Newburgh has much to be proud of!

The Warrick County Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC) will hold a news conference to announce the launch of a public transit system in Warrick County.

News Conference Details

Purpose:    To announce the launch of the Warrick Area Transit System (WATS)

Date/Time:  Wednesday, August 4, 1:00 p.m.

Location:    Deaconess Gateway Hospital (enter through main entrance [white canopy])

Speakers include Patty Oser from the TAC, Warrick County and Vanderburgh County government officials, and individuals who will benefit from the public transportation system. One of the WATS vehicles will be on display.         Speakers include Patty Oser from the TAC, Warrick County and Vanderburgh County government officials, and individuals who will benefit from the public transportation system. One of the WATS vehicles will be on display.

WATS will begin operating in Newburgh and southwestern Warrick County on Monday, August 9. The initial route will link with the METS system via a common stop at ITT Technical Institute at the northeast corner of I-164 and the Lloyd Expressway, thereby allowing riders to get from downtown Newburgh to the University of Southern Indiana and all transit stops in between.  This route will make 16 stops in Warrick County.

WATS will launch an additional route to Chandler in the next few months. Further plans include adding a route to Boonville, thereby linking three Warrick County towns to Evansville via public transportation.