Fort Payne received huge, huge, HUGE, news last week.  Due to the hard work of Connie Fuller and Lynn Brewer, Fort Payne was designated as a Main Street Community.

The Main Street is a non-profit organization that stresses public-private partnerships, broad community engagement and strategies that create jobs, spark new investments, attract visitors and spur growth.

In other words, the Main Street logo best explains – Creating jobs.  Keeping character.

It will definitely take the whole village to raise this child.  But the ground work has been laid.  Being one of the three 2015 designated communities will open doors to guidance and knowledge on how to make downtown Fort Payne be one of the most progressive in the state.

The local festivals which attract locals and visitors downtown will be an asset to the program.  The involvement of the Fort Payne Area Merchants Association, the City of Fort Payne, the Fort Payne Chamber of Commerce, the DeKalb County Tourist Association, and the Economic Development Authority will all play a key role on the success of the program.

I traveled through Elba, one of the other chosen towns.  They will also need a lot of planning to overcome the many empty store fronts in their town.  One good thing however, there is not a federal highway running through the middle of downtown.

One of the requirements is the oversight committee comprised of local citizens and merchants.  The committee will also hire the full time director.  The involvement will insure that it will be a Fort Payne project developed by local input.

Main Street could be the answer to how to make the entire City of Fort Payne the very best to better serve all our citizens.

By Carol Beddingfield, Fort Payne Chamber of Commerce