Main Street Iowa hosted the annual Main Street Iowa Development Awards celebration April 21 at Community Choice Credit Union Convention Center in Des Moines. The program honors the efforts of those who work to revitalize Iowa’s downtowns and to make a difference in the state’s Main Street districts.
Jefferson Matters: A Main Street and Chamber Community received a pair of competitive state awards and special recognitions.
City View on State, located at 200 E. State St, won Best Main Street Building Rehabilitation Project for cities with population less than 5,000. The city of Jefferson and Jefferson City View Properties, LLC were partners.
The Jefferson Wants You incentive and website (www.experiencejeffersoniowa.com) won Best Main Street Business Recruitment Project for cities with population less than 5,000. Jefferson Matters’ economic vitality team was the creator and driver of this project. Partners of the Jefferson Wants You incentive are Jefferson Telecom, Home State Bank, Heartland Bank, Peoples Bank, Alliant Energy, and Grow Greene Gaming Corporation.
The 2022 Bell Tower Festival executive committee received a leadership award for their outstanding work with the festival.
Jefferson was also recognized for surpassing a significant benchmark of $10 million in private dollars invested in the designated Main Street district since 2012. According to director Matt Wetrich, the actual total is closer to $11 million in private investments. Jefferson Matters had the largest contingent at the awards celebration, about 40 in all.
To cap the evening’s festivities off, Peg Raney was surprised with the 2023 Spirit of Main Street Award. The award reads “for truly demonstrating the Spirit of ‘Main Street at Work’ in Iowa through innovation, support and commitment to economic development within the context of historic preservation.”
Raney is past director of Jefferson Matters: Main Street and is very active in the organization, chairing the economic vitality team. She is the board president of Why Not Us?, the women’s investment group that rehabilitated the Centennial Block building after it was severely damage and now operates it as The Centennial tea room.
Debi Durham, executive director of the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) and Iowa Finance Authority (IFA), and Michael Wagler, Main Street Iowa state coordinator, presented the honors.
“The Main Street Iowa program is a powerful economic development tool that has stood the test of time since its introduction in 1985,” Durham said. “We continue to see significant growth in businesses, jobs, and investment in communities of all sizes because of the program. As a result, these districts serve as inspiring examples of what’s possible for Iowa’s downtowns.”
“Main Street is grassroots economic development,” Wagler said. “It is inspiring to witness the impactful work of local Main Street program staff, volunteers, and community partners.”
In 1985, the Iowa Legislature adopted Main Street America’s Four Point Approach® to district revitalization by establishing Main Street Iowa within the agency that is now the IEDA. Since then, the Main Street Iowa program has had a significant impact on Iowa’s economy, including more than $2.6 billion in private investment, more than 3.7 million volunteer hours, more than 5,300 new businesses, and more than 16,000 jobs.
