LaFayette has been accredited as a 2010 National Main Street program for meeting the commercial district revitalization performance standards set by the National Trust Main Street Center.

LaFayette Downtown Development Authority administers the city’s Main Street program and works closely with the LaFayette Historic Preservation Commission on historic preservation projects.

Each year, the National Trust Main Street Center and its partners announce the list of accredited Main Street programs that have built strong revitalization organizations and have demonstrated their ability to use the Main Street four-point approach methodology for strengthening their local economy and protecting historic buildings.

The National Trust Main Street Center works in partnership to coordinate Main Street programs throughout the nation to identify the local programs that meet the National Trust Main Street Center’s 10 basic performance standards.

These standards set the benchmarks for measuring an individual Main Street program’s application of the Main Street four-point approach to comprehensive and sustainable revitalization efforts and include standards such as developing a mission, fostering strong public-private partnership, securing an operating budget, tracking economic progress and preserving historic buildings.

The organization’s performance was evaluated by the Georgia Department of Community Affairs’ Office of Downtown Development, which is the coordinating organization for Main Street programs in Georgia.

“We congratulate this year’s accredited National Main Street Programs for meeting our established performance standards,” said Doug Loescher, director of the National Trust Main Street Center. “Accredited Main Street programs are meeting the challenges of the recession head-on and are successfully using a focused, comprehensive revitalization strategy to keep their communities vibrant and sustainable.”

Established in 1980, the National Trust Main Street Center helps communities of all sizes revitalize their older and historic commercial districts. Working in more than 2,200 downtowns and urban neighborhoods over the last 30 years, the Main Street program has leveraged more than $48.9 billion in new public and private investment. Participating communities have created 417,919 net new jobs and 94,176 net new businesses, and rehabilitated more than 214,263 buildings, leveraging an average of $27 in new investment for every dollar spent on their Main Street district revitalization efforts.

For more information on the national Main Street program accreditation program, visit www.mainstreet.org/nationalprograms.

With headquarters in Washington, D.C., eight regional and field offices, 29 historic sites and partner organizations in 50 states, the National Trust for Historic Preservation provides leadership, education, advocacy and resources to a national network of people.

For more information, visit www.preservationnation.org.

Submitted by LaFayette Downtown Development Authority and the National Trust Main Street Center.