Main Street Oakland County Celebrates Its Downtowns

Waterford, Michigan -- Nov. 25, 2008 -- More than 200 Main Street Oakland County (MSOC) members celebrated the ninth year of the program with a dinner and awards ceremony on November 14, 2008 at the Glen Oaks Clubhouse in Farmington Hills.

Among the awards presented that evening:

• Walled Lake DDA -- Main Street Spirit Award 

• Jill Bahm, Highland DDA -- Guts and Determination Award

• National City Bank -- Sponsor of the Year Award

• Shuman Chrysler Jeep (Walled Lake DDA) -- Community Commitment Award 

• Wendell Allen (Walled Lake DDA) -- Outstanding Volunteer Award

• Casey Ambrose (Walled Lake DDA) -- Outstanding Board Member Award 

• The Main Street Messenger, Pat Shelton, Editor (Farmington DDA) -- Outstanding Volunteer Project

• Downtown Streetscape Information Campaign, Farmington DDA Organization Committee -- Outstanding Public Relations Effort Award 

• Kite Day, Pontiac DDA Promotions Committee -- Outstanding Special Event Award

• Kris Kringle Market, Rochester DDA -- Outstanding Special Event Award 

• Beets, Beats and Eats Farmers Market, Ortonville DDA -- Outstanding Event Series

• Robert Hoffman and Richard Hoffman, 104 Battle Alley, Holly -- Outstanding Building Rehabilitation Over $50,000 Award
  

Farmington, Ferndale, Franklin, Highland, Holly, Keego Harbor, Lake Orion, Ortonville, Oxford, Pontiac, Rochester and Walled Lake are members of Main Street Oakland County. Berkley, Clawson, Clarkston, Hazel Park and Leonard are part of the MSOC Mentoring Program. Collectively, Main Street downtowns have generated more than $451 million in private and public investment, 2,782 new jobs and 344 new businesses since the program was formed in 2000. There are 32 traditional downtowns in Oakland County.

Oakland County was the first county in the nation to partner with the National Trust Main Street Center, a program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The program is usually coordinated through states. Founded in 1980, the National Trust's Main Street Center's Four Point Approach of Organization, Design, Promotion and Economic Restructuring, has been successfully utilized in over 2,000 downtowns in 40 states since 1980. 

Main Street Oakland County's web address is www.mainstreetoaklandcounty.com.