N.C. Main Street Creates Jobs and Revitalizes Downtown Areas across State

Gov. Bev Perdue announced today that the 2011-2012 N.C. Main Street Program posted impressive statistics for the 58 Main Street communities that participated.  The 2011-2012 Main Street communities reported:

• $96 million in public and private investments made
• 1,029 new jobs created
• 259 new businesses started
• 334 buildings renovated
• 242 facades improved
• 79,683 volunteer hours logged

“Main Streets are not only at the geographic center of small towns across North Carolina, they are the center of economic life,” said Gov. Perdue.  “Our successful Main Street programs have proven that revitalizing our downtown areas is a creative and innovative economic development tool that produces impressive results that better prepares them for a sustainable future.” 

N.C. Main Street assists selected communities across the state in restoring economic vitality to their historic downtowns.  Main Street staff provides technical assistance, guidance and training to participating communities with a population under 50,000.

Small Town Main Street Program Also Reports Success
In addition, the N.C. Small Town Main Street has been very successful in revitalizing the state’s very smallest communities.  The 2011-2012 Small Town Main Street program reported:

• $20.5 million in public and private investments made
• 278 new jobs created
• 105 new businesses started
• 66 buildings renovated
• 81 facades improved

The Small Town Main Street program addresses the growing number of communities with populations under 7,500 that need downtown development assistance but are not likely, due to size and resource limitations, to pursue the regular Main Street program.

Registration is now open for the annual N.C. Main Street Conference which will be held January 30 through February 1 in Historic Downtown Salisbury, one of the original Main Street cities in the country.  Community representatives that are interested in learning about successful downtown revitalization techniques, tools and resources, may be interested in attending North Carolina’s largest downtown revitalization conference.  Registration information is available at http://www.ncmainstreetcenter.com/register/.  

For more information on N.C. Main Street Program please visit http://www.nccommerce.com/cd/urban-development/main-street-program.