MAIN STREET UNION CITY DESIGNATED AS A 2024 ACCREDITED PROGRAM BY MAIN STREET AMERICA

UNION CITY, TENN. – Main Street Union City has been designated as an Accredited Main Street America program for meeting rigorous performance standards. Each year, Main Street America and its partners announce the list of designated programs to recognize their exceptional commitment to preservation-based economic development and community revitalization through the Main Street Approach™.

In 2023, the Main Street America programs generated $5.68 billion in local reinvestment, helped open 6,630 net new businesses, facilitated the creation of 35,162 net new jobs, catalyzed the rehabilitation of 10,556 historic buildings, and leveraged 1,664,763 volunteer hours. On average, for every dollar that a Main Street program spent to support their operations, it generated $18.03 of new investment back into their downtown and commercial corridor communities.

“We are incredibly excited to celebrate this year’s 800 Accredited Main Street America programs, and their remarkable efforts to reenergize their local economies and public spaces,” said Main Street America President and CEO Erin Barnes. “Main Street leaders are visionaries that see things that no one else can see and create the future world we all want to live in. The size and impact of our network demonstrates that great things happen when visions are realized through strategic, grassroots collaboration.”

Main Street Union City’s performance was evaluated through assessments conducted by the organization’s personnel and board of directors, and Tennessee Main Street, which works in partnership with Main Street America to identify local programs that meet rigorous national community evaluation standards.

These standards provide the Main Street America network with a strong foundational framework to review progress, recognize strengths, understand trends, and identify strategies that move Main Street programs forward. To qualify for Accredited status—Main Street America’s top designation tier—communities must demonstrate a proven track record of achieving outcomes in alignment with the Main Street Approach and exceptional performance in six areas: broad-based community commitment to revitalization; inclusive leadership and organizational capacity; diversified funding and sustainable program operations; strategy-driven programming; preservation-based economic development; and demonstrated impact and results.

In 2023, Main Street Union City received grants from the Tennessee Arts Commission for the Tacos & Tamales event, as well as the Downtown Improvement Grant from the Tennessee Department of Economic Development. Downtown also welcomed seven new businesses to downtown in 2023 and had six events for the community in downtown, including Tacos & Tamales, Downtown Trick or Treat and the Christmas Parade.

“Having an accredited Main Street America program is vital to opening up doors to grants and other opportunities for our community to benefit,” said Katie Graves, executive director for Main Street Union City. “Since we are an accredited program, we were able to apply for several grants, including the big Downtown Improvement Grant of $300,000 to help update our exterior facades. That was a huge accomplishment for Main Street Union City as those funds will help preserve and transform our downtown to be a successful thriving place to eat, shop, play and live.”

If you are interested in keeping up with Main Street Union City, please email [email protected] to be put on the e-newsletter. You can also follow Main Street Union City on Facebook and Instagram.

###

Photo caption: Main Street Union City Executive Director, Katie Graves, and Main Street Board Chair, Rachael McKinney, hold the official certificate of accreditation from Main Street America recognizing Main Street Union City as an accredited program for 2024.