Sedalia Downtown Development Inc. Recognized by National Program

Sedalia Downtown Development, Inc. was recently designated as an affiliate 'Main Street America' program.

The designation comes from the National Main Street Center. According to a press release from SDDI, each year the National Main Street Center and it coordinating program partners publish the list of nationally recognized 'Main Street America' affiliate programs.

The press release says the designations are to recognize the affiliate programs for their "commitment to achieving meaningful improvements in downtowns across the country, using the 'Main Street Approach.'"

According to Patrice Frey, the President and CEO of the National Main Street Center, there are 256 Main Street America Affiliate programs being recognized this year.

The organizations performance is annually evaluated by Missouri Main Street Connection, which works in partnership with the national center, to identify the local programs that are committed to 'comprehensive revitalization and achieving meaningful community outcomes,' according to the release.

Michelle Swords, the President of SDDI, said, "We have moved from a successful effort to preserve our buildings and improve the public areas, to now assisting in business recruitment, hosting community events, maintaining close communication with city and county entities, and promoting our district as a whole on local, state, and national levels."

Additionally, the press release states The Downtown Sedalia Historic District experienced positive growth in 2016, with $725,000 in real estate transfers and $3,930,000 in public and private improvements. The group reported that volunteers donated 1,759 hours of time. The district also welcomed 11 new business startups and re-locations in 2016.