Downtown Visions is proud to announce that Main Street Wilmington has once again been designated as an Accredited Main Street America program. Each year, Main Street America and its partners announce the list of Accredited programs to recognize their exceptional commitment to preservation-based economic development and community revitalization through the Main Street Approach™.
In 2022, Main Street America programs generated $6.2 billion in local reinvestment, helped open 7,657 net new businesses, facilitated the creation of 29,174 net new jobs, catalyzed the rehabilitation of 10,688 historic buildings, and leveraged 1,528,535 volunteer hours. On average, for every dollar that a Main Street program spent to support their operations, it generated $24.07 of new investment back into their downtown communities.
Main Street Wilmington’s performance is annually evaluated by Delaware on Main, which works in partnership with Main Street America to identify the local programs that meet national performance standards. To qualify for Accreditation status, communities must meet a set of rigorous standards that include commitments to building grassroots revitalization programs, fostering strong public-private partnerships, nurturing economic opportunity for small businesses and entrepreneurs, and actively preserving historic places, spaces, and cultural assets.
The strategy of any Main Street Program is always comprehensive and incremental, understanding that at times more emphasis needs to be placed in certain areas. Having achieved dramatic visual improvements along Market Street through the Main Street Wilmington Facade Improvement Program & Security Gate Removal Project, where Downtown Visions’ personnel managed each property’s revitalization from beginning to end, Lani Schweiger, Downtown Visions’ Main Street Manager, and the team have gained the respect and credibility of the property owners and businesses and are now able to engage them further.
“Lani Schweiger, her team and our partners in both the public and private sectors, work tirelessly to support small businesses in Downtown Wilmington and the results of their work are significant and transformative. Lani, Tabria Pinkett, Debbie Schwartz, and the entire Board of Directors of Main Street Wilmington deserve a great deal of credit. In addition, a debt of gratitude goes to the generous donors that support these initiatives, without which much of this incredibly important work would not happen.”
To date all grants and donations received for programs and projects by Main Street Wilmington have been used for capital improvements to buildings, small business support and job creation. No funds have been used for administrative or personnel costs within Downtown Visions.