Local Main Street Program Receives National Accreditation

Our Town Cooperative, Inc.—borough of Canonsburg’s downtown revitalization program—has been accredited as a 2011 National Main Street Program for meeting the commercial district revitalization performance standards set by the National Trust Main Street Center. 

Each year, the National Trust and its partners announce the list of accredited Main Street programs that have built strong revitalization organizations and demonstrate their ability in using the Main Street Four-Point Approach methodology for strengthening their local economy and protecting their historic buildings.

“We congratulate this year’s accredited National Main Street programs for meeting our established performance standards,” Doug Loescher, director of the National Trust Main Street Center, said in a statement. “Accredited Main Street programs are meeting the challenges of the recession head on and are successfully using focused, comprehensive revitalization strategy to keep their communities vibrant and sustainable.”

The organization—spearheaded by Main Street Manager Nadeen Steffey—has its performance annually evaluated by the Pennsylvania Downtown Center in Harrisburg, which works in partnership with the National Trust Main Street Center to identify the local programs that meet 10 performance standards. 

These standards set the benchmarks for measuring an individual Main Street program’s application of the Main Street Four-Point Approach to commercial district revitalization. 

Evaluation criteria determines the communities that are building comprehensive and sustainable revitalization efforts and include standards such as developing a mission, fostering strong public-private partnerships, securing an operating budget, tracking economic progress, and preserving historic buildings.  For more information on the national program accreditation program, visit here.  

“This is the second consecutive year we’ve received national accreditation for our revitalization efforts in downtown Canonsburg," Steffey said. “We are honored to be among the Main Street programs in the commonwealth and across the country to have received this designation which would not have been possible without the support of the community, our partners, and the volunteers who are vital to a successful downtown revitalization program.”