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The North Carolina Main Street and Rural Planning Center reported that the program helped create 1,410 new jobs, 275 new businesses and nearly $230 million in investment in fiscal year 2017-2018. The program supports 63 designated Main Street communities and 16 designated Small Town Main Street communities.
“The cities and towns represented in this report saw an increase of more than $30 million in investment over last year, demonstrating the health of communities that participate in the Main Street program,” commented N.C. Department of Commerce Secretary Anthony M. Copeland.
NC Main Street Program
Today, Main Street communities range in population from 1,760 – 88,815, but all had populations of less than 50,000 at the time of designation. Main Street programs are managed by a local public-private partnership made up of city and county staff, elected officials, a Main Street director, a board of directors and a host of community volunteers.
Main Street communities reported the following results from their 2017-18 work:
$222,523,817 in downtown public and private investment
1,288 new jobs
247 new businesses
255 building renovations
373 façade improvements
115,307 volunteer hours with a value of $2,699,337
Since the inception of the program in 1980, North Carolina Main Street communities have exceeded more than $2.873 billion in downtown public and private investment, created over 23,000 jobs and opened 5,657 businesses.
The NC Main Street & Rural Planning Center assists selected communities across the state in restoring economic vitality to historic downtowns. The Main Street staff provides strategic economic development planning and technical assistance, Main Street program guidance, and training and education. All support is provided within the structure of the Main Street America™ Four-Point Approach to Downtown Revitalization: Economic Vitality, Design Promotion and Organization. The National Main Street Center created and now manages the approach.
“Main Street is the foundation that creates the environment for economic development activity in downtown districts throughout the state and the country, especially in small to medium sized communities,” said Liz Parham, director of the NC Department of Commerce, Main Street and Rural Planning Center. “We are so pleased to see the tremendous investment, business development and job creation that was made in our Main Street and Small Town Main Street districts. These numbers demonstrate the success that the Main Street program has here in North Carolina.”
Small Town Main Street Program
The designated Small Town Main Street communities have been successful in revitalizing the state’s smallest communities. The Small Town Main Street program operates in communities with populations of less than 5,000 that have the capacity to run a volunteer driven downtown revitalization initiative.
Small Town Main Street communities reported the following statistics from their 2017-18 work:
$7,473,978 in downtown public and private investment
122 new jobs
28 new businesses
25 building renovations
17 facade improvements
34,883 volunteer hours with a value of $816,611
The program boasts $110.85 million in downtown public and private investment, more than 1,530 jobs and a net gain of more than 500 businesses since inception in 2003.
Each year, participants in both programs are required to track key factors that help determine the overall health of the downtowns in the program.
For more information on the NC Main Street and Rural Planning Center and its programs, go to http://www.nccommerce.com/rd/main-street.