NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development Commissioner Bob Rolfe announced today that Livingston and Mount Pleasant have achieved Tennessee Main Street accreditation.
Livingston and Mount Pleasant join 37 other Tennessee Main Street communities that are accredited through the state program and Main Street America, a program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
“We congratulate Livingston and Mount Pleasant on becoming the latest accredited Main Street communities,” Rolfe said. “Our Tennessee Main Streets are part of what makes our state so unique. We commend these communities for taking this step to invest in themselves and grow their downtown districts, and we look forward to seeing these great communities continue down a road of success.”
The Main Street program provides training, support and grant opportunities to assist in downtown revitalization efforts. Livingston and Mount Pleasant selected areas of their downtown cores where the program will focus on historic preservation, community events and economic revitalization. Both communities successfully completed TNECD’s Tennessee Downtowns program prior to achieving Main Street accreditation.
“TNECD is excited to welcome Livingston and Mount Pleasant to the Tennessee Main Street network,” Tennessee Main Street Program Director Nancy Williams said.
Mount Pleasant, in Middle Tennessee, successfully participated in the first round of the Tennessee Downtowns program and is now embarking on new projects to improve infrastructure and foster entrepreneurship in its downtown. Livingston, on the Upper Cumberland, successfully completed the Tennessee Downtowns program in 2018 and is focusing on improvements to its historic commercial buildings and branding the unique character of the downtown.
In 2019, accredited Tennessee Main Street communities generated $111 million of public and private investment and nearly 1,000 new jobs.
The Tennessee Main Street program requires communities to illustrate a commitment from local government and other local organizations, an adequate organizational budget, a strong historic preservation ethic, a collection of historic commercial buildings and a walkable district.
In addition to Livingston and Mount Pleasant, accredited Tennessee Main Street communities are spread across the state and include Athens, Bolivar, Bristol, Brownsville, Cleveland, Collierville, Columbia, Cookeville, Dayton, Dyersburg, Elizabethton, Fayetteville, Franklin, Gallatin, Greeneville, Humboldt, Jackson, Johnson City, Jonesborough, Kingsport, Lawrenceburg, Lebanon, Maryville, McKenzie, McMinnville, Morristown, Murfreesboro, Paris, Pulaski, Ripley, Rogersville, Savannah, Sevierville, Sweetwater, Tiptonville, Union City and Winchester.
Livingston’s Main Street application was supported by Sen. Paul Bailey (R-Sparta) and Rep. John Mark Windle (D-Livingston). Mount Pleasant’s Main Street application was supported by Sen. Joey Hensley (R-Hohenwald) and Rep. Scott Cepicky (R-Culleoka) in the Tennessee General Assembly.
TNECD Media Contact
Jennifer McEachern
Director of Communications and Marketing
(615) 336-2689
[email protected]
About the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development
The Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development’s mission is to develop strategies that help make Tennessee the No. 1 location in the Southeast for high quality jobs. To grow and strengthen Tennessee, the department seeks to attract new corporate investment to the state and works with Tennessee companies to facilitate expansion and economic growth. Find us on the web: tnecd.com. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram: @tnecd. Like us on Facebook: facebook.com/tnecd.
###
