Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Mt. Pleasant 1 of 10 Communities Chosen For Revitalization Program
Commissioner Matt Kisber of the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development Wednesday announced that 10 communities have been selected to participate in Tennessee Downtowns, a community improvement program for cities and counties seeking to revitalize traditional commercial districts.
The selected communities are: Celina, Erwin, Jefferson City, Martin, Milan, Mt. Pleasant, Monterey, Paris, Selmer and Sweetwater.
“Tennessee Downtowns represents a valuable opportunity for communities to receive meaningful assistance for revitalizing their central business districts, which serve as a foundation for sustainable economic development,” Commissioner Kisber said. “We applaud the selected communities for their initiative and look forward to partnering with them through this unique improvement process.”
The 10 selected communities are each home to downtown commercial districts established at least 50 years ago and have demonstrated their readiness to organize efforts for downtown revitalization based on the successful “Main Street Four-Point Approach to Downtown Revitalizationtm.”
The highly competitive selection process was based on five core criteria: historic resources, need (economic and physical), demonstrated local effort, overall presentation and probability of success.
Tennessee Downtowns is part of ECD’s Tennessee Main Street Program and will award reimbursable innovation project grants of up to $15,000 to participating communities.
The successful applicants will also receive an 18-month program of technical assistance, which includes training on downtown revitalization and historic preservation, an introductory site visit and attendance at a two-day downtown revitalization workshop. Program directors in Tennessee Main Street communities will also mentor and assist Tennessee Downtowns in their revitalization efforts.
“Investing in a vibrant central business district is not only smart for communities, it’s imperative in a successful long-term growth strategy,” said Rick Meredith, assistant commissioner of Community Development at ECD. “Tennessee Downtowns will give the participating communities a roadmap and I congratulate them on reaching this significant milestone in their development.”
“We at the Tennessee Main Street Program are so excited to be sharing the resources of the Main Street Four Point Approachtm with a greater number of our historic communities,” said Kimberly Nyberg, director of the Tennessee Main Street Program. “I am confident that each of our Tennessee Downtowns will see a strong return on their investment of time and resources, and we look forward to being a part of that investment.”
Main Street revitalization is a comprehensive, incremental, self-help economic strategy that also focuses on developing public-private partnerships to enhance community livability and job creation, while maintaining the historic character of the district. For information about the Main Street Program and the Main Street Four Point Approachtm, visit http://www.preservationnation.org/main-street/about-main-street/.
Tennessee’s Main Street program provides communities with technical assistance and guidance in developing long-term strategies that promote economic growth and development. The program provides information and assistance in forging public networking and training opportunities for downtown commercial districts.
For more information about Tennessee Downtowns, visit www.tennesseemainstreet.org.
About the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development
The Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development’s mission is to create higher skilled, better paying jobs for all Tennesseans. The department seeks to attract new corporate investment in Tennessee and works with Tennessee companies to facilitate expansion and economic growth. To find out more, go to www.tn.gov/ecd.
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