North Carolina Main Street Champions Recognized
Posted: 02-10-2010 : WAKE FOREST, N.C.

Wake Forest, N.C. -- Ann Ayers was honored as a 2009 Main Street Champion at the North Carolina Main Street Annual Awards Dinner in New Bern, N.C. She was selected for this special recognition by the Wake Forest Downtown Revitalization Corporation in appreciation of her exceptional contributions to the downtown revitalization process. Along with Champions from 33 other communities, Ayers received a certificate commemorating her designation, presented by N.C. Secretary of Commerce J. Keith Crisco, Deputy Secretary Dale Carroll, Assistant Secretary for Community Development Joseph D. Crocker, Division of Community Assistance Director Gloria Nance-Sims and Office of Urban Development Director Liz Parham.

Each of the state’s active Main Street programs is given the opportunity annually to recognize a local Main Street Champion. The dedication and hard work of countless volunteers is required to make a local Main Street program successful, and the Main Street Champion designation acknowledges the extraordinary efforts of those persons who have played pivotal roles in the revitalization of their downtowns.

"N.C. Main Street Champions are valued leaders, and we honor them for their commitment to downtown and to their community," said Parham. "They are Main Street board members and volunteers, elected officials and city staff, downtown developers and small business owners. They are those individuals that give 110% to their community and then ask, ‘What’s next?’"

"We celebrate their individual contributions: to assess the needs of their communities and to develop innovative solutions, to identify opportunities and to implement positive change, and to enhance community capacity through the creation of public and private partnerships. Main Street Champions are downtown defenders, protectors and pioneers, and we thank them for their commitment to community," she said. In recommending Ayers for this honor, the Wake Forest Downtown Revitalization Corporation offered the following:

A planner with the town of Wake Forest, Ann Ayers has been a member of the Wake Forest Downtown Revitalization Corporation board of directors for two years, working tirelessly for downtown Wake Forest by providing technical planning advice and support for downtown as well as serving as a sounding board for new ideas.

Ann has worked for the town for six years and served on the Design and Appearance Task Force for four of them. She has worked on the Franklin Street Project, South White Street Streetscape Enhancement Project and sidewalk connectivity studies as well as leading the Public Art Team, the Buxton Study and several others. Her contributions as a town staff liaison to the Wake Forest DRC are immeasurable. She has helped coordinate town involvement in redevelopment projects spearheaded by the Wake Forest DRC, façade improvement grants, the farmers market and many others.

An invaluable resource for downtown Wake Forest, Ann Ayers is someone we are pleased to honor as our 2009 Main Street Champion.

Main Street is a downtown revitalization program for smaller towns based on economic development within the context of historic preservation. The North Carolina Main Street Program, which provides technical assistance to its communities, is part of the Office of Urban Development in the Department of Commerce’s Division of Community Assistance.

In 1980, North Carolina was one of six original states, selected from 38 that applied, to launch the work of the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s National Main Street Center. The North Carolina Main Street Program began working with its five original cities – New Bern, Salisbury, Shelby, Tarboro, and Washington – in September 1980 and has since grown to include 61 communities across the state.

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