Connecticut Main Street Center (CMSC) has announced that Main Street Waterbury has been accredited as 2011 National Main Street Programs for meeting organizational performance standards set by the National Trust Main Street Center. Main Street Waterbury has been recognized for outstanding accomplishments toward the goal of revitalizing its historic main street district following the Main Street methodology.
“We congratulate this year’s accredited National Main Street Programs for meeting our established performance standards,” said Doug Loescher, director of the National Trust Main Street Center. “Rebuilding a district’s economic health and maintaining that success requires broad-based community involvement and support, in addition to establishing a solid organization with sound management that is committed to long-term success.”
National Main Street Program Accreditation is a partnership between Connecticut Main Street Center and the National Trust Main Street Center to establish standards of performance for local Main Street programs. 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 determine the communities that are building comprehensive and sustainable revitalization efforts and include standards such as development and commitment to mission, fostering strong public-private partnerships, securing a stable operating budget, tracking economic progress, and preserving and bringing back to life historic buildings. These standards provide benchmarks and guidelines on how Main Street organizations should be functioning and serve as incentives for improvement. Main Street Waterbury’s CEO Carl Rosa states, “Gaining a national accreditation for the seventh straight year is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our great volunteers and dynamic Board of Directors. It also validates our accomplishments and serves as a platform to continue our efforts for downtown Waterbury revitalization.”
Main Street Waterbury, designated a Connecticut Main Street Community in 2003, has been guided by a commitment to building community consensus around the need to bring downtown back to life through a culture of collaboration. Forming a unique partnership with the City, the Waterbury Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Waterbury Development Corporation, Main Street Waterbury has been successful in bringing people back to downtown through its special events, community forums, and by focusing on a strategy of “Waterbury at Night”; recruiting restaurants and creating a downtown environment which encourages and complements activity around the existing entertainment destinations in downtown. This past year has seen the rehabilitation of a number of downtown’s historic vacant and under-utilized mixed-use buildings, providing market-rate residential development on upper floors. More information about Main Street Waterbury can be found at www.mainstreetwaterbury.com.
Connecticut Main Street Center
Connecticut Main Street Center is a statewide nonprofit that inspires great Connecticut downtowns, Main Street by Main Street. Its mission is to be the champion and leading resource for vibrant and sustainable Main Streets as foundations for healthy communities.
Since 2005 Connecticut Main Street membership has grown by over 600%, from 10 to 68 communities. Since the Connecticut Main Street program began in 1995, Designated Main Street programs have generated over $952 million in public and private reinvestment in their downtowns. Over the same time, 414 net new businesses have opened and 2,359 net new jobs have been created. For every $1 spent on a local Main Street program, $84.39 has been reinvested in CT Main Street designated downtowns, making the Main Street initiative one of the most successful economic development programs in the country.
CT Main Street Center is supported by Founding Sponsors, the State of Connecticut Department of Economic & Community Development and The Connecticut Light and Power Company, and by Growth Sponsors, The United Illuminating Company and the Connecticut Commission on Culture & Tourism. For more information, visit www.ctmainstreet.org.