The city of Ringgold, Ga., has officially been listed as an accredited Main Street America program because of its preservation and development efforts.
"Being on the list of 2016 Accredited Main Street America Programs is an honor," Rhonda Johnson, Main Street manager and director of Downtown Development in Ringgold, said in a statement. "We continue to work to enhance and support expansions or improvements for our existing businesses and assisting and encourage new business opportunities."
Ringgold was evaluated by the Georgia Main Street Program, which works in partnership with the National Main Street Center, a subsidiary of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, to identify local programs that meet 10 performance standards.
Nationally accredited communities are announced annually based on evaluation criteria of their revitalization efforts, such as fostering strong public-private partnerships, securing an operating budget, tracking programmatic progress and actively preserving historic buildings, according to Johnson.
Patrice Frey, the nonprofit National Main Street Center's president and chief executive officer, said the program and its partners are "thrilled" to recognize all the nationally accredited communities for their outstanding work.
"We are experiencing an exciting era for America's cities and towns, with a growing recognition of the importance of strong local enterprise, distinctive character, engaged residents, and sense of place," Frey said in a statement. "These are things that Main Street America programs have been working to protect and advance for years, strengthening the economic, social, and cultural fabric of communities across the country."
Main Street America, a program of the National Main Street Center, has been working to "revitalize older and historic commercial districts" for 35 years, and is now composed of more than 1,000 rural and urban communities. The program and its participants share a "commitment to place and to build stronger communities through preservation-based economic development," a news release stated.
Since 1980, communities participating in the program have leveraged more than $65.6 billion in new public and private investment, generated 556,960 net new jobs and 126,476 net new businesses, and rehabilitated more than 260,000 buildings, according to Johnson.