SANTA FE – Today, the New Mexico Economic Development Department announced the selection of four new “Emerging Communities” to join its MainStreet Program. The selected communities include: the historic Barelas neighborhood commercial district in Albuquerque, the historic business district in Gallup, the combined villages of Roy, Solano and Moscero in Harding County and the Five Points commercial district neighborhood in the rural South Valley of Bernalillo County.
“I congratulate these communities for their efforts in applying for emerging community status in the MainStreet program which was a rigorous process but will prove beneficial in revitalizing their historic districts,” said Economic Development Secretary Jon Barela. “The MainStreet program has shown time and again it is a great investment for communities in creating jobs, preserving historic properties and increasing business in traditional areas of commerce.”
The communities will be formerly inducted into the program at the Annual MainStreet Awards Luncheon on July 25 in Taos where Secretary Barela will be the Master of Ceremony. The MainStreet program received a special appropriation of $200,000 during the 2013 Legislative Session that made the addition of the four new emerging communities possible.
To be considered for emerging community status, representatives from interested communities attended a regularly scheduled MainStreet Quarterly, participated in a special workshop that covered the MainStreet Four Point Approach® for commercial district revitalization and completed an application released by the New Mexico MainStreet Program that was reviewed and ranked by MainStreet staff. Semi – finalists received a one-day, on-site “Readiness Assessment” from MainStreet staff to evaluate the proposed district area prior to selection and designation.
Communities will receive a letter of agreement (LOA) identifying benchmarks and goals for their new organization. The LOA between the new emerging communities, the municipality and the local organization will outline a public-private partnership for economic development within the district. New Mexico MainStreet Program is a licensed and accredited program of the National Main Street Center, Inc. Local communities gain affiliation through the state program. There are currently 23 MainStreet local affiliates in New Mexico and 2000 across the country.
The New Mexico MainStreet Program also runs the Arts and Cultural District Program, the new Frontier Communities Initiative and the New Mexico Historic Theaters Initiative.
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