The North Carolina Main Street and Rural Planning Center has selected Asheboro, Dunn and Henderson as the latest “North Carolina Main Street Communities,” a designation that municipalities earn after meeting rigorous national downtown development criteria. The designation becomes effective July 31, 2020.
“We congratulate Asheboro, Dunn and Henderson on joining the ranks of our state’s Main Street Communities,” said North Carolina Commerce Secretary Anthony M. Copeland. “This designation is a testament to the hard work of community leaders in Asheboro, Dunn and Henderson. They have fully committed to improving the economic well-being of their towns through the North Carolina Main Street program, and their work serves to inspire other communities considering downtown revitalization.”
Asheboro, Dunn, and Henderson graduated from the Main Street and Rural Planning Center’s Downtown Associate Community program, which supports sustainable economic revitalization through strategic planning and organizational development.
“These three communities will now have access to one of the largest resource networks for downtown revitalization in the United States,” said Liz Parham, director of the North Carolina Main Street & Rural Planning Center. “Their status as Main Street Communities will bring them new opportunities for growth and development.”
Since 1980, North Carolina Main Street program model has leveraged more than $3.25 billion in public and private investment, generated 27,094 net new jobs and 6,503 net new businesses, and rehabilitated more than 6,672 buildings. There are 67 designated Main Street communities in North Carolina.
The N.C. Main Street & Rural Planning Center at the Department of Commerce works with communities on the development of economic development strategies that will transform downtowns through implementation plans based on the Four-Point Approach®, a methodology for downtown revitalization developed by the National Main Street Center ®, a subsidiary of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. A program of the National Main Street Center®, Main Street America® has helped revitalize older and historic commercial districts for more than 40 years. Its national network now extends to over 1,600 neighborhoods and communities.
The North Carolina Main Street and Rural Planning Center works in regions, counties, cities, towns, downtown districts and in designated North Carolina Main Street communities to inspire placemaking through asset-based economic development strategies that achieve measurable results such as investment, business growth and jobs. For more information about the N.C. Main Street & Rural Planning Center programming, visit the N.C. Main Street webpage.