THOMASTON MAIN STREET PROGRAM RECEIVES ACCREDITATION

 Thomaston Main Street Program

RECEIVES 2023 MAIN STREET AMERICA ACCREDITATION

Thomaston, GA (8-9-2023) – The Thomaston Main Street has been designated as an Accredited Main Street America™ program for meeting rigorous performance standards. Each year, Main Street America and its partners announce the list of Accredited programs to recognize their exceptional commitment to preservation-based economic development and community revitalization through the Main Street Approach™.

“We are very proud to acknowledge this year’s 862 Accredited Main Street America programs, and their steadfast dedication to nurture economically and culturally vibrant downtown districts,” said Hannah White, Interim President & CEO of Main Street America. “The increase in the size and impact of our network speaks volumes to the power of the Main Street movement to respond to the needs of local communities and drive innovative solutions.”

In 2022, Main Street America programs generated $6.2 billion in local reinvestment, helped open 7,657 net new businesses, facilitated the creation of 29,174 net new jobs, catalyzed the rehabilitation of 10,688 historic buildings, and leveraged 1,528,535 volunteer hours. On average, for every dollar that a Main Street program spent to support their operations, it generated $24.07 of new investment back into their downtown communities.

Collectively, 2 million people live or work within the boundaries of designated Main Street America districts. An estimated workforce of 1.1 million people contributes their skills and expertise to advancing the missions of these historic downtowns and commercial corridors.

Thomaston Main Street Program’s performance is annually evaluated by the Georgia Main Street Program, which works in partnership with Main Street America to identify the local programs that meet rigorous national performance standards. To quality for Accreditation status, communities must meet a set of rigorous standards that include commitments to building grassroots revitalization programs, fostering strong public-private partnerships, nurturing economic opportunity for small businesses and entrepreneurs, and actively preserving historic places, spaces, and cultural assets.

Since 2021, the Thomaston Main Street Program has overseen the reestablishment and revitalization of it’s Main Street events, following a hiatus due to COVID. Additionally, Downtown Thomaston has thrived with 28 New Businesses that created 63 new jobs. This has been fueled by public and private investments totaling almost $16 Million dollars.

Thomaston Main Street Board Chair Lane Coggins stated, “this has been a long-standing designation that we have needed for years”, while crediting Program Coordinator, Taylor Smith for his hard work and dedication since assuming his position in 2021.

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ABOUT Thomaston Main Street Program

Thomaston, GA located just over an hour south of Atlanta has been affiliated with Main Street America since 2018. The town of roughly 10,000 people serves a larger trade area of just over 55,000. Home to dozens of small and unique businesses, Downtown Thomaston has seen a resurgence following the pandemic. The program has supported new business development via a Façade Grant Program, Downtown Events, and much more. Thomaston was featured in 2022’s HGTV Hometown Kickstarter.

ABOUT MAIN STREET AMERICA

Main Street America leads a movement committed to strengthening communities through preservation-based economic development in older and historic downtowns and neighborhood commercial districts. For more than 40 years, Main Street America has provided a practical, adaptable, and impactful framework for community-driven, comprehensive revitalization through the Main Street Approach™. Our network of more than 1,600 neighborhoods and communities, rural and urban, share both a commitment to place and to building stronger communities through preservation-based economic development. Since 1980, communities participating in the program have generated more than $101.58 billion in new public and private investment, generated 168,693 net new businesses and 746,897 net new jobs, rehabilitated more than 325,119 buildings, and levered over 33.7 million volunteer hours. Main Street America is a nonprofit subsidiary of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. For more information, visit mainstreet.or