Break out the little paper hats, festive noisemakers and colorful confetti because downtown Oxford once again received national accreditation as a Main Street community.
During its annual evaluation last week, the Downtown Development Authority (DDA) received credit for all 10 of the criteria used by the National Main Street Center in Washington D.C. to judge progress in designated communities.
“That’s two years in a row now,” said DDA Executive Director Joe Frost. “I think it says that we’re moving in the right direction.”
The Main Street evaluation looks at 10 criteria and whether or not the DDA is satisfying them. They include broad-based community support; vision and mission statements; historic preservation ethic; paid, professional DDA/Main Street program director; program of ongoing training; reporting of key statistics; Main Street Network membership; comprehensive work plan; active board and committees; and adequate operating budget.
To become accredited, all 10 criteria must be met.
“It says we’re organized,” Frost said. “We’re certainly in a much better position organizationally than we were two or three years ago.”
One of the evaluators, according to Frost, remarked there was “an obvious improvement over the last time she was here.”
“Our website’s up to date,” he noted. “(Based on) our Facebook page, it’s obvious that things are happening.”
Frost noted the DDA still has “some work to do on a couple things” such as increasing volunteer participation.
Oxford regained its national accreditation last year, following a two-year lapse.
During the 2014 evaluation, the downtown lost its status because the DDA was forced to ax its director for the 2013-14 fiscal year due to a budget crisis that required both drastic cost-cutting measures and a loan from the village government to prevent the entity from ending the 2012-13 fiscal year with a deficit.
By the time the 2015 evaluation rolled around, the DDA had a director again, but it failed to meet the criterion of having an active board and committees.
Despite these setbacks, downtown Oxford never stopped being a Main Street Oakland County (MSOC) community. It’s had that designation since 2004.
MSOC is an economic development program that assists downtowns.
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