Connect is designated

Portland has a Main Street, officially.

Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs announced Wednesday that Portland Main Street Connect has been designated as 2021 OCRA’s Downtown Affiliate Network programs.

“Obviously I’m very excited,” said Reda Theurer-Miller of Portland Main Street Connect. “Portland Main Street Connect has been dedicated since June of 2019 to accomplish this task. And even though it’s the beginning level … the plan is obviously to work toward the next level of accreditation. …

“It’s just been a truly dedicated, passionate group of people.”

Also joining the network are The Beautification Committee of Albany; Knox Main Street United, Inc.; and Main Street Plainfield.

“We are excited to welcome these four communities to the Indiana Main Street network,” said Indiana Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch in a press release. “They’ve proven themselves as changemakers within their communities and are committed to community economic development in their downtowns.”

Portland Main Street Connect’s designation gives Jay County two organizations in the network, joining Discover Dunkirk.

Other organizations in the east-central Indiana area in the network include Decatur Main Street, Winchester Main Street, Historic Warren Inc., Main Street Gas City Indiana Inc., Main Street Fairmount and The Heart of Hagerstown.

OCRA’s Downtown Affiliate Network is the base tier of recognition for the Indiana Main Street Program. It signifies a “demonstrated commitment to comprehensive commercial district revitalization in addition to learning and adopting the Main Street Approach.” In order to be recognized, local programs are evaluated by Indiana Main Street, which works with Main Street America to identify programs that meet performance standards.

Organizations that are part of the network are eligible for state marketing and promotion programs, can participate in state conferences and are eligible to apply for OCRA placemaking programs.

After becoming part of the network, a program can then become an Indiana accredited Main Street and then a nationally accredited Main Street.

Mayor John Boggs referred to Wednesday’s announcement as “very good news” for Portland. (City council had passed a resolution in February in support of Portland Main Street Connect’s application.) He noted the importance of having OCRA support for the city and said he’s looking forward to being able to learn from other organizations that are further along in the process.

“We can utilize some of their ideas and we don’t have to recreate the wheel,” he said. “We can pick communities similar to ours, find out what they’re doing, and replicate some of that.”

Thus far, Portland Main Street Connect has been working mostly on projects to improve the look of the city’s downtown. Those have included placing benches along Meridian Street and side streets, acquiring new planters for Meridian and Main streets and purchasing new Christmas lights for the downtown area.

Boggs said the next step is to expand from beautification to engagement.

“I think the next step is to organize and engage more of the retailers into it and start doing events eventually,” said Boggs.

Theurer-Miller agreed with that assessment. Improving the look of the downtown area is good, she said, but she added that the key is to find ways to support and drive traffic to local businesses.

Portland Main Street Connect will be focusing on partnering with organizations like Jay County Chamber of Commerce and Jay County Visitor and Tourism Bureau to help expand on existing events. She used the Arch Bridge Kroozers’ car shows and Winterfest as examples.

“We have to find a way to have people want to come here, spend time and realize there are things they can do downtown,” Theurer-Miller said. “The next steps are absolutely vital if Portland is going to … be alive and thriving and people see it as a place to come.”