Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson Tuesday honored 10 Main Street Oakland County communities who received perfect scores and a national accreditation from the National Main Street Center in Chicago.
Patterson presented awards to downtown leaders during a press conference in Holly at the intersection of Saginaw Street and historic Battle Alley. He praised the communities for their vision and commitment to making their downtowns attractive destinations for businesses, residents and visitors. Community and business leaders from many of the Main Street Oakland County (MSOC) communities were in attendance.
"Main Street Oakland County succeeds because of the people in the program: a dedicated county staff and deeply committed participants from the community, local business owners, government leaders, and especially the local downtown managers," Patterson said. "Congratulations to you all."
The accreditation means the communities scored a perfect 10 out of 10 on their annual evaluation. Clawson, Farmington, Ferndale, Franklin, Highland, Holly, Lake Orion, Ortonville, Oxford and Rochester received perfect scores. The accreditation process scores the communities on such criteria as community support, historic preservation ethic, mission and vision statements and ongoing training.
Patterson also gave special recognition to two communities Lake Orion and Ortonville for having received national accreditation for 10 years. They join Ferndale and Rochester as the two other MSOC communities who have been nationally accredited for at least 10 years.
MSOC is one of Patterson's most successful economic development initiatives. In 2015, member communities generated $38 million of new investment, created 31 new businesses and 214 new full-time jobs. Since inception in 2000, total public and private investment was more than $706 million, 971 new businesses were opened and more than 7,000 jobs were created.
"I want all the downtowns to enjoy the benefits we see now in Lake Orion, Ortonville, Clawson and all the Main Street communities," Patterson said. "You can drive through the county and see the obvious benefits to our downtowns. It's a great program."
Main Street is a trademarked program of the National Main Street Center. Oakland County is the first county in the United States to operate a full-service, county-wide Main Street program.
Published: Thu, Jun 16, 2016
