Main Street Oakland County (MSOC) is hosting Mary Means, founder of the national main street movement, as keynote speaker during its annual Main Event awards program Thursday, May 5, at the Flagstar Strand Theatre in Pontiac. The theme is “Together Again” since it will be the first in-person Main Event ceremony since 2019.
In addition to recognizing businesses and communities with nine award categories, MSOC will welcome Lyon Township and the Huron Corridor – Pontiac as new districts and Auburn Hills and South Lyon will advance to the Partner Program level during this year’s celebration.
“Our Main Street communities engaged quickly and creatively with their local small businesses to help them adjust, survive, and reopen safely during the pandemic,” Oakland County Executive Dave Coulter said. “As vital economic development partners with the county, they coordinated grant programs from their own resources, as well as the county and state grants, and distributed PPE to small businesses.”
The Main Event will run from 6 to 9 p.m. and is open to anyone interested in historic preservation and the economic development of downtowns and historic commercial districts. Tickets are $35 and available online at www.AdvantageOakland.EventBrite.com.
The keynote address, “How Story Saved the Nation’s Main Streets,” will recount the beginnings of the main street movement in the 1980s. Means and three novice main street managers began to write a different story about historic downtowns, never imagining that 40 years later the movement would develop into a vibrant network of more than 1,600 communities in 40 states. She will share her insights, how the power of story underpins it all, and what she envisions for Main Street’s future.
Twenty-five MSOC communities were eligible to submit nominations. They are Auburn Hills, Berkley, Birmingham, Clarkston, Clawson, Farmington, Ferndale, Franklin, Groveland Township, Hazel Park, Highland, Holly, Holly Township, Lake Orion, Lathrup Village, Leonard, Madison Heights, Oak Park, Ortonville, Oxford, Pontiac, Rochester, Royal Oak, South Lyon, and Wixom.
During the ceremony, MSOC will make an announcement regarding presenting sponsor DTE Foundation. MSOC will also recount program milestones and recognize the other sponsors who are Genisys Credit Union, SMART, McLaren Oakland, Dobrusin Law, and Oakland County Business Finance Corporation.
As the CEO of Mary Means & Associates in Maryland, Means is a leader in place-based community development, helping communities optimize their historic character. She has committed her life to helping clients build bridges between plans and people and has been recognized by the American Planning Association, who gave her its “Planning Pioneer Award.” The National Trust for Historic Preservation named her the recipient of the “Crowninshield Award,” the highest honor in historic preservation. She is the author of “Main Street’s Comeback and How It Can Come Back Again.”
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