Hazleton, PA -
The Downtown Hazleton Alliance for Progress has been named one of the top-10 downtowns in Pennsylvania for creating economic development opportunities.
The Pennsylvania Downtown Center named DHAP its sixth-best performing Main Street program of 2016.
This award recognizes those programs that have demonstrated an “across the board” capacity to generate new jobs, new businesses, public and private investment and volunteer hours. The downtown programs are ranked by measuring activity in 16 different categories.
Krista Schneider, DHAP's executive director, said the Main Street program is meant to revitalize downtowns and central business districts in several ways.
“The Main Street program advocates revitalization of old, historic, urban downtown centers for redevelopment and adaptive re-use,” Schneider said. “There is a four-pronged approach - a good organization, strategy for marketing and promotion, strategy for economic vitality and revitalization, and a strategy for design and physical improvements.”
The award is based on statistics she provides to the program monthly, Schneider said.
“Those statistics include businesses that opened or closed, and jobs created or lost,” Schneider said. “We look at building permits to see private investment by business owners, and money we put in for facade improvements. We also provide information on events we hold, and participation in them.”
The leading Main Street downtown was Easton, followed by Ebensburg, Cambria County; Ardmore, Delaware and Montgomery counties; Kennett Square, Chester County; Oil City, Venango County, and Hazleton. Allentown finished 10th with its 7th Street program. This year there were more than 40 organizations eligible for evaluation.
The Pennsylvania Downtown Center, the coordinating program to the National Main Street Center for Main Street programs in Pennsylvania, said the 10 programs met or exceeded goals they set for themselves.
Each top-10 Main Street community has also met the ten performance standards established by National Main Street Center to be a nationally accredited Main Street Program. These standards include topics such as training requirements, planning methods and community involvement.
The 10 communities with the best Main Street programs are also among the 32 accredited communities. In the northeast region, Downtown Shenandoah Inc. and the Danville Business Alliance were recognized.
“Downtown Hazleton is a Pennsylvania-designated Main Street program, and we are a national Main Street affiliate,” Schneider said.
Founded in 1987, the mission of Pennsylvania Downtown Center is to build and support the capacity of local nonprofit organizations, municipalities and individuals to enhance the overall well-being and sustainability of Pennsylvania's communities.
http://standardspeaker.com/news/downtown-program-ranked-among-best-in-the-state-1.2210037
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