Green Bay's On Broadway Main Street Program is Named a Semifinalist in the 2009 Great American Main Street Awards®

The 2009 Great American Main Street Awards (GAMSA) semifinalists have been selected from a nationwide pool of applicants and now move to the final round for consideration. A national jury composed of former award winners, community development professionals, representatives from government and foundations, and journalists who are active in community economic development and historic preservation will evaluate the semifinalists and select five winners.

The GAMSA Awards recognize exceptional accomplishments in revitalizing America's historic and traditional main street commercial districts and will be presented by the National Trust for Historic Preservation at the opening session of the National Main Streets Conference in Chicago on March 1, 2009.

"These semi-finalists have all worked hard to bring about profound, positive transformation in their communities. They are inspirations to communities throughout the country," said Doug Loescher, director of the National Trust Main Street Center®. "True revitalization happens incrementally and is sustained over a long period of time, with small improvements leading to bigger ones."

The ten 2009 Great American Main Street Awards semifinalists are:

Aledo Main Street, Inc. ( Aledo, Illinois)
Federal Hill Main Street ( Baltimore, Maryland )
Livermore Downtown, Inc. ( Livermore, California)
Main Street Toccoa ( Toccoa, Georgia)
Main Street Oberlin, Inc. ( Oberlin, Ohio)
Main Street El Dorado ( El Dorado, Arkansas )
Main Street Fairmont ( Fairmont, West Virginia )
On Broadway, Inc. ( Green Bay, Wisconsin)
Rochester DDA ( Rochester, Michigan)
Rehoboth Beach Main Street, Inc. ( Rehoboth Beach, Delaware)

The five winners will receive national recognition for their excellence, a bronze plaque and certificate commemorating the award, and GAMSA road signs as entrance markers to their award-winning commercial districts.

Semifinalists and winners demonstrate exemplary achievement in the process of strengthening their downtowns and commercial districts based on the following selection criteria:

• Active involvement of the public and private sectors;
• Broad-based community support for the revitalization effort;
• Quality of achievements over time;
• Innovative solutions to significant problems;
• Commitment to historic preservation;
• Evolving track record of successful commercial district revitalization;
• Comprehensive revitalization effort: activity in all four points of the Main Street Four-Point Approach® to commercial district revitalization;
• Economic impact of the revitalization program; and
• Successful small business development.

Established in 1980, the National Trust Main Street Center helps communities of all sizes revitalize their older and historic commercial districts. Working in more than 2,200 downtowns and urban neighborhoods over the last 28 years, the Main Street program has leveraged more than $44.9 billion in new public and private investment. Participating communities have created 370,514 net new jobs and 82,909 net new businesses and rehabilitated more than 199,500 buildings, leveraging an average of $25.36 in new investment for every dollar spent on their Main Street district revitalization efforts.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation is a private, nonprofit membership organization dedicated to protecting the irreplaceable. Recipient of the National Humanities Medal, the National Trust was founded in 1949 and provides leadership, education, advocacy, and resources to save America's diverse historic places and revitalizes communities. Its Washington, D.C., headquarters staff, six regional offices, and 28 historic sites work with the Trust's 270,000 members and thousands of local community groups in all 50 states. For more information, visit www.PreservationNation.org.

-- GAMSA