Main Street Wilmington Earns 2025 Main Street America® Accreditation — Again!

We're thrilled to announce that Main Street Wilmington, a division of Downtown Visions, has once again been designated as a Main Street America® Accredited Program — the highest national recognition awarded by Main Street America. This prestigious accreditation affirms our team’s deep commitment to preserving and revitalizing the heart of Wilmington through inclusive leadership, smart investment, and community-powered momentum.

As part of a network of over 800 Accredited programs nationwide, Main Street Wilmington is proud to stand among the best in the country when it comes to building vibrant downtowns. To earn this status, programs must meet rigorous standards in six core areas — from organizational sustainability to real-world impact — and we’re honored to have exceeded expectations.

Why This Matters

Main Street America represents a movement with over four decades of success in transforming historic downtowns into thriving economic and cultural hubs. In 2024 alone, Main Street programs nationwide spurred:

• $7.65 billion in local reinvestment

• 6,324 new businesses opened

• 33,835 jobs created

• Over 10,000 historic buildings rehabilitated

Here in Wilmington, the past year has been one of exciting growth:

• We supported over [15] new business openings in our Downtown district.

• Our team and volunteers contributed more than [2,000 hours] toward neighborhood beautification and small business outreach.

• We hosted over [20] community events — from the beloved Downtown Farmers Market to the festive Wilmington Holiday Parade — each one helping to draw residents and visitors into our vibrant commercial corridors.

“Accreditation is more than a badge — it’s proof that Main Street Wilmington is making a measurable difference,” said Lani Schweiger, Director of Main Street Wilmington. “Our team, board, partners, and volunteers work tirelessly to keep downtown clean, safe, inviting, and economically strong. We're proud to be part of a national movement that values historic preservation, community inclusion, and long-term sustainability.”

What’s Next?

We're not slowing down. Main Street Wilmington is continuing to build momentum in 2025 with new façade improvement grants, expanded programming, and stronger partnerships with local businesses and residents.

Thank you to everyone who helps us keep Downtown Wilmington moving forward — your support is what makes this possible. Help us continue this important work by contributing today at Downtown Wilm DE - Donate!

Let’s keep growing together.

Generous Donations Help Fund Main Street Wilmington Program

Downtown Visions was recently awarded grants from Comenity Bank, Bank of America, and M&T Bank to support the efforts of the nonprofit’s Main Street Wilmington program. Without this generous support from our donors, Downtown Visions would not be able to run the programs, events, and initiatives for the Downtown community.

From its inception, Downtown Visions’ mission has been to help ignite business creation, enhance service delivery of businesses within the Downtown Wilmington Business Improvement District (BID), and ensure the BID is aesthetically pleasing, clean, and safe at all times.

These grants will be used to support DTV’s Main Street Wilmington Program, which provides the following services to the Downtown BID:

• Improve the façades and signage of businesses operating in Wilmington's Downtown BID and ensure authentic restorations of historic buildings by working with the City of Wilmington's Design Review and Preservation Commission and local historical nonprofits, such as the Delaware Historical Society, through our Facade Improvement Program.

• Boost economic development of businesses operating in the Wilmington Downtown BID by providing marketing and event support, and event creation, such as Curbside Wilmington.

• Continue with the visual transformation of Wilmington's Downtown BID to create a vibrant and visually pleasing shopping, dining, and living area through cleaning efforts

• Facilitate connections between civic officials, developers, and business owners to support strong economic growth and investment in the Downtown Business Improvement District.

Main Street Wilmington Program Receives 2021 Accreditation

Downtown Visions’ Main Street Wilmington program has been designated as an accredited Main Street™ program of 2021 for meeting rigorous performance standards. 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™.

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 10 national performance standards. Evaluation criteria determines the communities that are building meaningful and sustainable revitalization programs and include standards such as, fostering strong public-private partnerships, documenting programmatic progress, and actively preserving historic buildings.

As a Main Street America Affiliate™, Main Street Wilmington is part of a national network of more than 1,200 neighborhoods and communities who share both a commitment to creating high-quality places and to building stronger communities through preservation-based economic development.

In 2020, Main Street Wilmington also established programs to help our Downtown Business Community reopen after the COVID-19 shutdown.

• Curbside Wilmington introduced expanded outdoor dining to support local businesses and encourage patrons to return to the rejuvenated Downtown District during the Coronavirus Pandemic. Expanded outdoor dining allowed Downtown restaurants to expand their patio spaces and outdoor dining into former parking spaces directly in front of their businesses, thereby allowing more seating at safely spaced distances in accordance with Governor Carney’s guidelines. Also, curbside pull-in spots were designated throughout the Downtown area for all businesses, both retail and restaurants, to use for pick-up and curbside delivery. 

• Dine Downtown Deal rewarded customers for supporting downtown restaurants. After submitting 5 eligible receipts from Downtown eateries, diners received a gift card in the amount of 20% of the total meals purchased to the business of their choice in the Wilmington Downtown Business Improvement District (BID).

• Free Valet Parking was started during the pandemic to make it as easy as possible for patrons to visit Downtown Wilmington. It is available on Friday and Saturday evenings from 5-10 PM at 7th & Market Streets.

• Free Shipping Promotion covered the cost of standard shipping for all online purchases made from participating Downtown Wilmington DE retailers.

To date, Main Street Wilmington has helped to build a better Downtown by:

• Helping to create 1,800+ jobs

• Restoring 53 building facades

• Removing 28 roll down security gates

• Providing grants to 72 businesses

“We are proud to recognize this year’s 889 nationally accredited Main Street programs that have worked tirelessly to advance economic vitality and quality of life in their downtowns and commercial districts,” said Patrice Frey, President & CEO of Main Street America. “During an incredibly challenging year, these programs demonstrated the power of the Main Street movement to drive impressive local recovery efforts, champion small businesses, and foster vibrant downtown districts. I am inspired by their hard work and confident that these accredited communities will continue to help their downtowns flourish in the next stages of recovery.”

Downtown Visions Awarded Grant From Bank of America to Support Main Street Wilmington Program

Downtown Visions was recently awarded a grant from Bank of American to support the efforts of the nonprofit’s Main Street Wilmington program.

From its inception, Downtown Visions’ mission has been to help ignite business creation, enhance service delivery of businesses within the Downtown Business Improvement District (BID), and ensure the BID is aesthetically pleasing, clean, and safe at all times.

During 2020 as the City of Wilmington navigated the phased COVID-19 reopening process, DTV continued to guide the creation of small business support programs and offered services to help Downtown BID restaurants, retail shops, arts organizations, and businesses welcome back customers and clients in a safe, socially distant manner to once again thrive. 

The grant from Bank of America will be used to support DTV’s Main Street Wilmington Program, which provides the following services to the Downtown BID:

• Improve the façades and signage of businesses operating in Wilmington's Downtown BID and ensure authentic restorations of historic buildings by working with the City of Wilmington's Design Review and Preservation Commission and local historical nonprofits, such as the Delaware Historical Society

• Boost economic development of businesses operating in the Wilmington Downtown BID by providing COVID-19 focused marketing, event support, and event creation, such as Curbside Wilmington and the Dine Downtown Deal

• Continue with the visual transformation of Wilmington's Downtown BID to create a vibrant and visually pleasing shopping, dining, and living area through cleaning efforts

• Facilitate connections between civic officials, developers, and business owners to support strong economic growth and investment in the Downtown Business Improvement District.

This grant is part of Bank of America's philanthropic giving efforts in local communities. Awardees were selected for their commitment to addressing basic needs, medical response, and workforce development for individuals and families, in particular during the coronavirus pandemic; and Downtown Visions could not be more proud to receive this monetary support for Downtown Wilmington DE.

Free Resources for Small Businesses

Downtown Visions mission is to create, manage, and promote a quality environment for business development within our neighborhood by providing small business assistance through various initiatives. We strive to inform our community of the free resources available to them by a number of local and national agencies. If you have any questions on starting, or growing, your businesses in Downtown Wilmington DE, don’t hesitate to contact us!

Delaware Division of Small Business

The Delaware Division of Small Business, part of the Delaware Department of State, is a service-focused agency committed to supporting businesses starting and growing in Delaware. Small businesses can reach out to the Division for assistance in connecting to the resources and advice to succeed. The Division is a champion for Delaware small businesses and is here to help take companies to the next level.

• Features an online portal to find and connect to organizations in Delaware who assist small businesses. Click here to visit portal.

The Division of Small Business also EDGE grants to eligible businesses to encourage development, growth, and expansion. The EDGE Grant program gives qualified small businesses in Delaware an edge by offering access to significant capital like never before. The business must have been in operation less than 5 years. This will give them access to capital up to $50,000 for the Entrepreneur Class and $100,000 for Stem based companies!

• The deadline is Friday, February 28, 2020.

• For more information, click here.

New Castle County Chamber of Commerce

NCCCC hosts “Open For Business” sessions on the fourth Thursday of each month from 9:30 am - 11:30 am for small business owners to meet with representatives from their partner organizations. Collectively, these organizations provide a range of services that help start-ups advance their business model, reach potential customers, land government contracts, secure loans, meet state regulatory requirements and generally mentor entrepreneurs striking out on their own for the first time.

• Next event is Tuesday, February 25, 2020 located at 920 Justison Street, Wilmington, DE.

• The event is free, registration is suggested. To register, click here.

Downtown Merchant Meetings

Downtown Visions also hosts Downtown Merchant Meetings one Tuesday a month for business owners within the Central Business District share ideas and connect with each other.

• The next Merchant Meeting is at 9:30 am on Tuesday, February 25, 2020 at Stitch House Brewery.

America Express Future of Shopping Small Grant Program

American Express® is teaming up with Main Street America to give 10 small business owners $10,000 each to help their businesses innovate in this evolving retail landscape. The American Express Future of Shopping Small Grant Program will celebrate small businesses across the country that are a vital part of their community. The program is intended to support small businesses that have demonstrated new approaches to traditional business strategies and those businesses looking to try out creative techniques, while also helping to revitalize and strengthen older and historic commercial districts.

• The deadline is Tuesday, March 31, 2020.

• For more information, click here.

• To see if your businesses is location within one of Delaware’s Downtown Development Districts (DDD), click here.