Main Street Iowa hosted the 27th annual Main Street Iowa Awards celebration on Friday, May 2 at the Community Choice Credit Union Convention Center (Iowa Events Center) in downtown Des Moines. The event to recognize local Main Street projects, activities and volunteers was attended by approximately 500 individuals representing communities across the state. Competitive nominations were submitted for 77 projects and activities within the five categories of design, economic restructuring, organization, promotion and overall program. Nineteen were recognized with awards and two received honorable mention.

Among the winners, from western and southwest Iowa: In the Design Award category, was: the Community of Greenfield, for the total rehabilitation of more than 5,000 square feet for the Hotel Greenfield Project; and, an Organization Award was presented to the community of Manning for the MSM Family Feud fundraising event.

The honors were presented by Governor Terry Branstad, Lt. Governor Kim Reynolds and Debi Durham, director of the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA). In addition to the competitive nominations, 51 individuals or couples who were selected by their community for outstanding dedication and volunteer service benefiting the local Main Street program were recognized during the awards ceremony.

Volunteer of the Year awards were presented to: Sandy Petersen, with Avoca Main Street; Bert Peckham, with Main Street Corning; Jim & Bonnie Stalder, with Main Street Greenfield; Ken Laughery, with Main Street Guthrie Center, and Ron Reischel, with the Main Street Meeting group. The Program Director Award for years of service to their respective communities, was presented to: Doug Mullen, from Bedford; Colleen Nelson, from Manning, and Stacie Hull, from Greenfield.

In its 27-year history, Main Street Iowa has tracked over $1.3 billion in private investment in the purchase, construction and rehabilitation of property in participating commercial districts, significantly increasing the state’s job and business base. In addition, nearly two and a half million hours of volunteer time have been logged collectively by local main street organizations.

The communities of Bedford and Dunlap received recognition for their 20 years of participation as designated Main Street communities; and new Main Street organizations in Avoca, Guthrie Center and Newton were recognized and welcomed into the program, bringing the total active Main Street districts to 52.

For more information about Main Street Iowa and how all Iowa communities can access commercial revitalization assistance through the Iowa Downtown Resource Center, visit iowaeconomicdevelopment.com/IDRC/MainStreetIowa.