Come Along!

Main Street Roanoke Rapids

Roanoke Rapids was among the 47 North Carolina communities designated as an accredited Main Street America program.

The National Main Street Center made the designations, the state Department of Commerce announced in a statement Wednesday.

It is the fourth straight year Main Street Roanoke Rapids has received accreditation, said Main Street Development Director Christina Caudle.

“We were very excited and honored to have earned this accreditation for the fourth year in a row,” she said today. “The Main Street Roanoke Rapids non-profit works diligently in partnership with the city of Roanoke Rapids to maintain this accreditation. I give continued thanks to all the board members, volunteers and city officials who work to maintain this accreditation.”

Caudle said the designation “ensures our organization is working as efficiently and effectively as possible.”

Each year, the National Main Street Center and commerce’s Main Street & Rural Planning Center partner to announce the list of all accredited Main Street America programs.

“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.”

“We are thrilled to honor this year’s 829 nationally accredited Main Street America programs for their commitment to preservation-based economic development and the revitalization of their commercial districts,” said Patrice Frey, president and CEO of the National Main Street Center. “The power of Main Street shines across the country through these vibrant communities, who have all worked to generate impressive economic returns, preserve community character, and celebrate local history.”

Each community’s performance is annually evaluated by the North Carolina Main Street staff in partnership with the National Main Street Center. 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 Main Street & Rural Planning Center.

Since 1980, North Carolina communities using the Main Street America program model 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.

    

Roanoke Rapids is a North Carolina Main Street community, designated by the N.C. Department of Commerce Main Street & Rural Planning Center. Main Street Roanoke Rapids is charged with administering the program at the local level and building public-private partnerships to spur economic development that achieves measurable results such as investment, business growth, and job creation.

As a Main Street America™ Accredited program, Main Street Roanoke Rapids is a recognized leading program among the national network of more than 1,200 neighborhoods and communities that share both a commitment to creating high-quality places and to building stronger communities through preservation-based economic development. All Main Street America™ Accredited programs meet a set of National Accreditation Standards of Performance as outlined by Main Street America.