Downtown Tupelo Main Street Receives National Accreditation

The Downtown Tupelo Main Street Association 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 partners announce the list of accredited Main Street America programs to recognize their exemplary commitment to preservation-based economic development and community revitalization through the Main Street Approach™.

“We are proud to acknowledge this year’s 840 nationally accredited Main Street America programs that have worked tirelessly to strengthen their communities,” said Patrice Frey, President and CEO of the National Main Street Center. “These programs deserve recognition for generating impressive economic returns, preserving community character, and celebrating local history. Main Street America Accredited communities are part of a powerful movement of changemakers, and their dedication to improving quality of life in the places they call home is inspiring.”

The Downtown Tupelo Main Street Association’s performance is annually evaluated by the Mississippi Main Street Association which works in partnership with the National Main Street Center to identify the local programs that meet ten national 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, documenting programmatic progress, and actively preserving historic buildings.

Since 1991 Tupelo Main Street programs have generated over $134,000 million in Downtown Tupelo private reinvestment. For every dollar the City of Tupelo has invested in the area it has garnered $2 in private investment. This economic progress has translated into 8 renovated and rehabilitated buildings, 180 net new jobs, with a total downtown workforce in excess of 3,000.

“While Tupelo Main Street is very proud of its outstanding annual concert and festival events, our association is about much more,” said Debbie Brangenberg, executive director of Downtown Tupelo Main Street. “Our loyal sponsors, partners, community volunteers, board of directors, and Main Street staff are dedicated to sustaining and enhancing the Downtown experience and quality of life. This is evidenced by our ever-growing list of public-private investments and partnerships that provide the support for Downtown development, renovation and rehabilitation.”

ABOUT MAIN STREET AMERICA
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 $79.12 billion in new public and private investment, generated640,017 net new jobs and 143,613 net new businesses, and rehabilitated more than 284,936 buildings. Main Street America is a program of the nonprofit National Main Street Center, a subsidiary of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

ABOUT DOWNTOWN TUPELO MAIN STREET ASSOCIATION
Downtown Tupelo Main Street Association (DTMSA) is a 501 (c) (4) Mississippi non-profit civic organization with a commitment to sustaining and enhancing the Tupelo Downtown experience through preservation-based economic development and community revitalization. DTMSA is a member of the Mississippi Main Street Association (MMSA), a state coordinating program of Main Street America providing training and program assistance to Tupelo and 54 other Main Street communities and network members in Mississippi based on the Main Street Four-Point Approach® – Organization, Promotion, Design and Economic Vitality.

Press release courtesy of the Downtown Tupelo Main Street Association