Corridor Main Street leaders, projects win statewide awards

Compiled by Adam Moore | Corridor Business Journal | May 5, 2016

	The Village/Bryson Block project in downtown Washington. Photo courtesy: Main Street Washington

A handful of Corridor business leaders were recognized by Main Street Iowa for innovation and leadership in local Main Street districts during the organization’s April 29 awards ceremony in downtown Des Moines.

Rick and Trude Elliott, the owners of the First Street Community Center in Mount Vernon, were honored with one of three Entrepreneurship Awards, for their work at redeveloping the former Mount Vernon Middle School into an incubation space for small businesses.

The renovation and redevelopment of the historic Bryson Block building in downtown Washington for The Village store was awarded its second Main Street Iowa Award, this time in the Innovation category, which recognizes “innovative property development and Main Street district revitalization strategies.” The project last won for Best Building Rehab over 5,000 Square Feet in 2009, according to Main Street Washington’s website.

The following leaders were honored with Leadership Awards for   “significant volunteer contributions to local Main Street programs”:

Main Street Iowa celebrated its 30th anniversary at the event. The statewide program has helped create nearly 13,000 new jobs, 11,000 new businesses and guided more than $1.6 billion in private investments in local Main Street districts in that time, the organization said. As a grassroots program, Main Street communities have contributed over 2.8 million volunteer hours in local revitalization efforts.

For more information about Main Street Iowa, visit the IEDA’s Main Street Iowa webpage.

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