Receives 2018 National Main Street Accreditation

Waynesville, NC — The Downtown Waynesville Association, Inc. 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.“We are thrilled to honor this year’s 829 nationally accredited Main Street America programs for their commitment to preservation-based economic development and

the revitalization of their commercial districts,” says Patrice Frey, President & CEO of the National Main Street Center. “The power of Main Street shines across the country through these vibrant communities, who have all worked to generate impressive economic returns, preserve community character, and celebrate local history.”

In 2017 alone, Main Street America programs generated $4.48 billion in local reinvestment, helped open 6,211 net new businesses, generated 30,294 net new jobs, catalyzed the rehabilitation of 8,737 historic buildings, and clocked 2.7 million volunteer hours.

The Downtown Waynesville Association performance is annually evaluated by NC Main Street & Rural Planning Center, Rural Economic Development Division of North Carolina Department of Commerce, which works in partnership with the National Main Street Center to identify the local programs that meet ten national performance standards. Evaluation criteria determine the communities that are building comprehensive and sustainable revitalization efforts and include standards such as fostering strong public-private partnerships, documenting programmatic progress, and actively preserving historic buildings.

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 1,600 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 $74.73 billion in new public and private investment generated 614,716 net new jobs and 138,303 net new businesses and rehabilitated more than 276,790 buildings. Main Street America is a program of the nonprofit National Main Street Center, a subsidiary of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Main Street is a proven model for generating and sustaining economic and cultural vitality and development in Downtown Waynesville. DWA has met rigorous performance standards for comprehensive commercial district revitalization and economic development generating jobs and reinvestments. In 2017-2018, DWA has had 7 business expansions, 13 new businesses creating a net gain of 5 new businesses, resulting in 14 new full-time jobs and 12 new part-time jobs. Public money invested this past year within the district resulted in $361,000 and over $3,000,000 in private investment.