Main Street accrediation opens doors for grants

Main Street Blytheville has been designated as an accredited 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," said 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 Main Street Arkansas, an agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage, 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 and operating budget, tracking economic progress, and preserving historic buildings.

"This accreditation allows Main Street Blytheville to be nationally recognized as a Main Street program," said Matt Perkins, executive director for Main Street Blytheville. "It also allows us to be eligible for specific grants that are earmarked for Main Street programs in Arkansas that have received accreditation. So far, Main Street Blytheville has been awarded an $8,700 grant for the city's Historic District Commission, and a $5,333 grant to help fund different goals we are currently working toward (i.e. matching mini grants for downtown businesses). Without our national accreditation, we would not have been eligible for these two grants."

For more information on the national program accreditation program, visit http://www.preservationnation.org/mainstreet.

sharris@blythevillecourier.com