Connecticut Main Street Communities Receive 2015 National Main Street Accreditation
(Hartford, CT - March 31, 2015) - Connecticut Main Street Center has announced that four Connecticut communities have achieved accreditation from the National Main Street Center for meeting the commercial district revitalization performance standards set by the National Main Street Center, a subsidiary of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Each year, the National Main Street Center and its partners announce the list of accredited Main Street programs, which have demonstrated exemplary commitment to historic preservation and community revitalization through the Main Street Four Point Approach®.
The Connecticut Main Street Designated programs that have earned accreditation for their 2014 performance are New London, Simsbury, Upper Albany-Hartford, and Waterbury. The announcement was made at the National Main Streets Conference in Atlanta on Monday.
"Connecticut's accredited Main Street programs have worked diligently to meet the standards established by the National Main Street Center, and we are pleased to see them recognized on a national level for their achievement," said John Simons, President & CEO of Connecticut Main Street Center. "Local Main Street programs across our state work every day to bring jobs and businesses to their downtowns, which strengthens the overall economy of their communities and, in turn, that of Connecticut as a whole."
"We congratulate this year's nationally accredited Main Street programs for their outstanding accomplishment in meeting the National Main Street Center's performance standards," said Patrice Frey, president & CEO of the National Main Street Center. "Accredited Main Street programs create vibrant communities by using a comprehensive strategy to preserve their historic character and revitalize their commercial districts, which helps make these great places to work, live, play and visit."
Working in partnership with the National Main Street Center, Connecticut Main Street Center evaluates each of the state's Designated Main Street Programs annually to identify those programs that meet ten 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 determine the communities that are building comprehensive and sustainable revitalization efforts and include standards such as fostering strong public-private partnerships, securing an operating budget, tracking programmatic progress and actively preserving historic buildings. More information is available at National Main Street Accreditation.
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About National Main Street Center
Established by the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 1980, the National Main Street Center helps communities of all sizes revitalize their older and historic commercial districts. Working in more than 2,200 downtowns and urban neighborhoods over the last 34 years, the Main Street program has leveraged more than $59.6 billion in new public and private investment. Participating communities have created 502,728 net new jobs and 115,381 net new businesses and have rehabilitated more than 246,158 buildings, leveraging an average of $33.28 in new investment for every dollar spent on their Main Street district revitalization efforts.
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About Connecticut Main Street Center
The mission of CT Main Street Center is to be the champion and leading resource for vibrant and sustainable Main Streets as foundations for healthy communities. CMSC is dedicated to community and economic development within the context of historic preservation, and is committed to bringing Connecticut's commercial districts back to life socially and economically.
The Main Street initiative is one of the most successful economic development programs in the country. For every $1 spent on a local Main Street program, $71.33 is reinvested in Connecticut Main Street downtowns. CMSC is supported by its Founding Sponsors, the Department of Economic & Community Development (DECD) and Eversource. CMSC is also supported by its Growth Sponsors, UIL Holdings and the State Historic Preservation Office. More information is available at www.ctmainstreet.org.
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Inspiring great Connecticut downtowns, Main Street by Main Street. |
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