Three-peat for Main Street Program

Canton Main Street Program has been designated as an accredited National Main Street Program for the third year 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 the Department of community Affairs which works in partnership with the National Trust Main Street Center to identify the local programs that meet 10 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 http://www.preservationnation.org/main-street/about-main-street/the-programs/national-programs.html.

According to Canton Main Street board president, Bill Grant, “We are extremely excited to achieve Main Street accreditation for the third consecutive year. Our board and Main Street Director, Ginger Garrard, have worked tirelessly to revitalize Canton’s Historic Downtown Loop, and we are honored to have our accomplishments recognized by the National Trust. Since our program started, we have attracted several new businesses to Downtown Canton and generated almost $3 million in public/private investments. Our successful events, such as the Canton Farmers Market and First Friday, are giving our residents new reasons to spend their time and money downtown, and we are exploring other programs to recruit and maintain businesses in the central business district.”

For more information about Canton’s Main Street program and events, please visit www.cantonhdl.org.