By Logan Wells, News Director | Logan@kymnradio.net
A local non-profit organization here in Northfield recently received a national accreditation. The Friends of Downtown Northfield were reaccredited by the Mainstreet America program. Founded in 1980, Mainstreet America has worked to create a model and support local chapters to promote, revitalize, and develop downtown areas. Josh Zimmerman is the President of the Friends of Downtown:
“About looking at kind of downtowns that maybe were Blighted or just underutilized, and figuring out how to address the problems of small towns and create a reusable methodology… and the way that they have us organized is around their four-point strategy, which is promotions, economic vitality, design, and organization are like the kind of tenants of the national Main Street approach.” – Josh Zimmerman, President of the Friends of Downtown Northfield, on KYMN’s Something I Have Always Wondered About
Listen to the News:
Zimmerman and Board Member Christopher Tassava cited that the accreditation process was long and considered a lengthy review:
“It’s rigorously quantitative. They ask for everything from information about vacancy rates and the number of jobs that are being created as businesses open to the number of volunteer hours that the Friends board itself contributes to the mission of the organization.” – Christopher Tassava, Board Member of the Friends of Downtown Northfield, on KYMN’s Something I Have Always Wondered About
Among the benefits, the two cited were mainly information and resources that the Friends of Downtown brought back to benefit Northfield. Zimmerman cited talking with other chapter organizations in Minnesota and around the country, citing Jefferson, Iowa as a group that he took inspiration from:
“One of the things that they chose to highlight about their program was that they activated an old watchtower where you climb up into it and look down. And they had paid to have murals painted on the rooftops of all the buildings that you could see. So then there was really a reason to kind of come to the city.” – Josh Zimmerman, President of the Friends of Downtown Northfield, on KYMN’s Something I Have Always Wondered About
You can learn more about the Friends of Downtown on their website: https://downtownnorthfield.org/
Newscasts on KYMN air on weekdays at 6am, 7am, 8:30am, Noon, 3pm, and 5pm. If you miss it live, you can subscribe on your preferred podcast app:
> Click here to listen on Spotify
> Click here to listen on Apple Podcast
Do you have a news tip or press release? Send it to us email: Logan@kymnradio.net
