Newkirk Main Street receives National accreditation

Press Release

NEWKIRK — Newkirk Main Street Inc. has been designated as an accredited Main Street™ program 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™.

“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 and 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.”

In 2020, Main Street America programs generated $4.14 billion in local reinvestment, helped open 4,356 net new businesses, generated 14,988 net new jobs, catalyzed the rehabilitation of 8,488 historic buildings and clocked 983,702 volunteer hours.

Newkirk Main Street’s performance is annually evaluated by Oklahoma Main Street Center, 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.

Newkirk Main Street recently reported to the City of Newkirk on their successes in the past year including assisting with four façade rehabilitations, more 3,500 volunteer hours donated to the community and granting over $3,000 in Newkirk Main Street Design Grants. Accreditation through Main Street America helps ensure that Newkirk Main Street continues their dedication to economic vitality through historic preservation through local, state, and national oversight.

Newkirk Main Street is a volunteer driven nonprofit that seeks to improve the quality of life for all residents by strengthening the historic core of the community through concentrated efforts using the nationally successful Main Street Approach of transformation strategies in the four points of Organization, Promotion, Design, and Economic Vitality. Newkirk Main Street’s vision is that Newkirk will have a revitalized, inviting, and vibrant historic downtown filled to capacity and serving as the heart of the community, attracting local residents and tourists of all ages.

Main Street Americahas been helping revitalize older and historic commercial districts for 40 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 $89.57 billion in new public and private investment, generated 687,321 net new jobs and 154,435 net new businesses and rehabilitated more than 303,836 buildings. Main Street America is a program of the nonprofit National Main Street Center, a subsidiary of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.For more information, visit www.mainstreet.org.