FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Judi Holifield
Laurel Main Street
(601) 433-3255
info@laurelmainstreet.com

Laurel, MS — June 14, 2017 — Laurel Main Street has been designated as an accredited Main Street America™ program for meeting rigorous performance standards set by the National Main Street Center. Each year, the National Main Street Center and its Coordinating Program partners announce the list of accredited Main Street America programs in recognition of their exemplary commitment to preservation-based economic development and community revitalization through the Main Street Approach®. 

“It is a great honor to recognize this year’s 828 nationally Accredited Main Street America programs for their outstanding work to transform downtown and neighborhood commercial districts,” says Patrice Frey, President & CEO of the National Main Street Center. “Main Streets are the heart of our communities, and the work they do to create quality public spaces, catalyze local entrepreneurship, and support downtown housing is more important than ever. Across the county, Main Street America programs truly strengthen the economic, social, and cultural fabric of their entire communities.”

The organization’s performance is annually evaluated by Mississippi Main Street, which works in partnership with the National Main Street Center to identify the local programs that meet ten 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, securing an operating budget, tracking programmatic progress and actively preserving historic buildings.

Laurel Main Street board president, Lew Yoder says, “2017 has been an exciting year for Laurel Main Street.  We have seen tremendous growth in all of our Main Street events so far this year, and we have seen more participation and excitement in Downtown Laurel.” He went on to say, “We have multiple buildings being renovated currently, and several buildings that will be renovated very soon.  Downtown Laurel is about to see an explosion of new businesses, restaurants, shops and venues.  It is an exciting time to be a part of Laurel Main Street and Mississippi’s Downtown.”

Founded in 2007, Laurel Main Street is a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to revitalizing historic downtown Laurel, Miss., through preservation and economic growth. They recently received accreditation from the National Main Street Program and maintain membership with the Mississippi Main Street Association. To learn more about Laurel Main Street, please visit www.laurelmainstreet.com.

Main Street America has been helping revitalize older and historic commercial districts for more than 35 years. Today, it is a network of more than 1,000 neighborhoods and communities, rural and urban, who share both a commitment to place and to building stronger communities through preservation-based economic development. Since 1980, communities participating in the program have leveraged more than $71.35 billion in new public and private investment, generated 583,869 net new jobs and 131,974 net new businesses, and rehabilitated more than 267,800 buildings. Main Street America is a program of the nonprofit National Main Street Center, a subsidiary of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.  ###