Oregon Main Street Program announces new state coordinator

Salem—The Oregon Main Street Program is pleased to announce the hiring of Sheri Stuart as the new Oregon Main Street Coordinator. Sheri has the experience and creativity to assist Oregon communities with the Main Street Approach^TM and help build Oregon's program to be one of the best in the Nation.

Ms. Stuart brings nineteen years of downtown revitalization experience to her new position with Oregon Main Street. She began her career as the executive director of the Port Townsend Main Street Program in Washington State. Under her leadership, the program received numerous state awards and the downtown saw 42 net new businesses started, 154 net new jobs created and close to $3 million in rehabilitation investment. Ms. Stuart also worked as a program officer with the National Trust Main Street Center for eight years where she was responsible for coordinating and delivering technical services to small- and mid-sized communities and urban neighborhood districts across the country. Most recently she was the assistant coordinator of the Washington State Main Street Program.

Gary Van Huffel, the coordinator from 2008 and 2009, observed great interest from Oregon communities to revitalize their downtowns during this economic recession, increased self-reliance by local communities, renewed awareness of local heritage and dedicated volunteers. The Main Street Approach works because it is a practical program that helps communities build on their unique assets and values.

Currently, there are 63 cities and communities participating in one of the three levels of Oregon Main Street: Performing Main Street, Transforming Downtown and Exploring Downtown. Starting in 2008, these communities participated in regional training workshops and were assisted in starting, organizing and planning their local program. Technical assistance was provided with historic surveys, community assessments, resource team visits, market analysis and architectural design. Communities as small as Mitchell (pop. 175) or as large as Salem (pop. 155,000) are using this assistance in this current economy to support and strengthen their downtown businesses.

The Oregon Main Street program is jointly housed with Oregon Business Development Department and the State Historic Preservation Office (Oregon Parks and Recreation Department) and is a coordinating member of the National Trust Main Street Center. The Main Street Approach^TM is a comprehensive downtown revitalization program that uses historic preservation as one of its most important tools. The state program assists communities in the revitalization of their unique downtown places using this proven approach.

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