Los Alamos MainStreet News:

Los Alamos MainStreet has been designated as an accredited Main Street™ program for meeting rigorous performance standards.

Each year, Main Street America and its partners announce the list of accredited programs to recognize their exceptional commitment to preservation-based economic development and community revitalization through the Main Street Approach™.

“We are proud to recognize this year’s 889 nationally accredited Main Street programs that have worked tirelessly to advance economic vitality and quality of life in their downtowns and commercial districts,” said Patrice Frey, President & CEO of Main Street America. “During an incredibly challenging year, these programs demonstrated the power of the Main Street movement to drive impressive local recovery efforts, champion small businesses, and foster vibrant downtown districts. I am inspired by their hard work and confident that these accredited communities will continue to help their downtowns flourish in the next stages of recovery.”

In 2020, Main Street America programs generated $4.14 billion in local reinvestment, helped open 4,356 net new businesses, generated 14,988 net new jobs, catalyzed the rehabilitation of 8,488 historic buildings, and clocked 983,702 volunteer hours.

The Los Alamos MainStreet program’s performance is annually evaluated by New Mexico MainStreet, which works in partnership with Main Street America to identify the local programs that meet 10 national performance standards. Evaluation criteria determines the communities that are building meaningful and sustainable revitalization programs and include standards such as, fostering strong public-private partnerships, documenting programmatic progress, and actively preserving historic buildings.

Los Alamos MainStreet strives to work with the downtown businesses to identify unique ways to promote local goods and services, highlight the local science and history culture, and bring more people downtown.

Over the past year, Los Alamos MainStreet also has worked closely with the Chamber of Commerce to provide grant and financing opportunities, as well as targeted promotional programs to help support local Los Alamos businesses; recently launched Discover Los Alamos, a site dedicated to those relocating or recently moved to the community; and other initiatives. Read more about the 2020 efforts in a letter authored by the executive director of Los Alamos Commerce & Development Corporation.

Los Alamos MainStreet also is pursuing:

• a Metropolitan Revitalization Area (MRA) zone in White Rock, which could help stimulate economic development and community building and complement the County’s current downtown master planning and development code updates;
• an Available Properties database to help fill vacancies in town;
• a Retail Storefront Accelerator and incentive program; and
• downtown façade refresh effort, among other activities.

In partnership with Los Alamos County, Los Alamos Creative District and countless sponsors and partners, Los Alamos MainStreet also hosts four signature events each year in the district, in partnership with Los Alamos County.

Four Annual Signature Events:

• Los Alamos ScienceFest in July;
• Fair & Rodeo Parade in August;
• Halloweekend and Trick-or-Treat on MainStreet in October; and
• WinterFest Holiday Lights Parade in December.

Los Alamos MainStreet also manages the weekly Los Alamos Farmers’ Markets, Thursdays May-October and Saturdays June-September.

To further encourage organizations to host their events downtown, Los Alamos MainStreet also offers Small Projects Grants, which are open for applications.

For more information about Los Alamos MainStreet, visit www.LosAlamosMainStreet. Its upcoming event, Los Alamos ScienceFest 2021: Driven by Science, will be a hybrid of virtual and in-person activities this year and run July 6-11. More information about joining the activities can be found at www.LosAlamosScienceFest.com.

About Los Alamos MainStreet

Los Alamos MainStreet is a program of Los Alamos Commerce & Development Corporation (LACDC), a private, not-for-profit economic and community development organization.  LACDC serves as the umbrella organization for the Los Alamos Chamber of Commerce, Los Alamos MainStreet, Discover Los Alamos, Los Alamos Small Business Center, projectY cowork Los Alamos and the Los Alamos Research Park. 

About Main Street America

Main Street America has been helping revitalize older and historic commercial districts for 40 years. Today, it is a network of more than 1,600 neighborhoods and communities, rural and urban, who share both a commitment to place and to building stronger communities through preservation-based economic development Since 1980, communities participating in the program have leveraged more than $89.57 billion in new public and private investment, generated 687,321 net new jobs and 154,435 net new businesses, and rehabilitated more than 303,836 buildings. Main Street America is a program of the nonprofit National Main Street Center, a subsidiary of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. For more information, visit www.mainstreet.org.