TORRINGTON – Goshen Economic Development announced via press release, Goshen Main Street has received designation as a nationally certified main street by Main Street America.
Main Street America is a program that is part of the non-profit organization National Main Street Center. It is a network of more than 1,600 communities both rural and urban who share a commitment to building a strong main street to help communities of all sizes.
Being recognized by Main Street America, comes with some added benefits for the Goshen Main Street, it “create(s) national exposure, provide(s) additional grant funding opportunities and results in a cohesive community,” the press release said.
Goshen Main Street joins 12 other main streets in the state of Wyoming who are currently recognized by Main Street America.
According to the press release, the process of Goshen Main Street becoming a nationally recognized main street started three years ago.
“The process included the addition of events such as third Thursday’s and expansion of existing events such as holiday activities,” the press release said.
Goshen Economic Development and local business leaders had several goals in mind when they created the Goshen Main Street.
Those goals were based on “Strengthening the economy, providing a better quality of life, and building on local assets,” the press release said. “All of which lead to the preservation of local businesses and community.”
Some of the benefits to having a strong main street in rural communities is that it helps create jobs, keeps money in the local economy, provides more shopping and food opportunities in the community and improves the quality of life for people in rural communities.
The Main street program advocates four points for having a successful main street. It uses a community-driven and commonsense approach to help build a successful rural main street.
“The main street approach advocates a return to community self-reliance, local empowerment and the rebuilding of traditional commercial districts based on unique assets such as distinctive architecture, pedestrian-friendly environment, personal service, local ownership and a sense of place,” the press release said.
