BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA ANNOUNCED AS 2024 MAIN STREET NOW CONFERENCE HOST CITY
Efforts to Welcome Downtown Revitalization Practitioners Underway
Chicago, Ill. (June 15, 2023) – Birmingham, Alabama, will serve as the host city for the 2024 Main Street Now Conference. Hosted by Main Street America in partnership with Main Street Alabama and Sweet Home Alabama, the industry-leading conference is poised to attract local leaders from across the country to downtown Birmingham.
The Main Street Now Conference is a one-of-a-kind event, providing downtown revitalization practitioners with opportunities to convene and learn time-tested techniques and innovative methods that make the Main Street Approach™ one of the most powerful preservation-based economic and community development tools in the nation.
“Birmingham offers a unique host city experience, with opportunities to visit and learn from vibrant metropolitan commercial corridors and dynamic rural Main Streets in nearby towns,” stated Hannah White, Interim President and CEO of Main Street America. “We look forward to collaborating with Main Street Alabama to develop a conference experience that is welcoming and engaging for our network
of state, regional, and local leaders.”
From May 6-8, 2024, experts in economic development, historic preservation, and placekeeping will lead dynamic professional development and network-building activities. Attendees will also have ample opportunities to engage in immersive learning through mobile workshops hosted by Main Street Alabama communities.
Between sessions, attendees are expected to explore local shops, eateries, and attractions in two Main Street Alabama districts—Downtown Birmingham and the Historic 4th Avenue Business District—as well as the city’s extensive urban green spaces and historic architecture, vibrant arts and culture scene, and National Historic Landmarks, Districts, and Monuments dedicated to the American Civil Rights Movement and metalwork manufacturing industry.
“Main Street Alabama is thrilled for the opportunity to showcase our beautiful state and the innovative projects that are happening in our Main Street Districts,” said Mary Helmer Wirth, President/State Coordinator at Main Street Alabama.
More information about conference themes and partnership opportunities for sponsors, speakers, and exhibitors is scheduled to be released in the coming months.
For conference updates, follow @MainStreetsConf (Twitter), @MainStreetNowConference (Facebook), and the hashtag, #MainStreetNow. More information and full program details are available online at www.mainstreet.org/now2024.
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ABOUT MAIN STREET ALABAMA
A nonprofit organization, Main Street Alabama stresses public-private partnerships, broad community engagement, and strategies that create jobs, spark new investment, attract visitors, and spur growth. Main Street builds on the authentic history, culture, and attributes of specific places, to bring sustainable change. Main Street Alabama is focused on bringing jobs, dollars, and people back to Alabama's historic communities. Economic development is at the heart of this statewide organization's efforts to revitalize downtown and neighborhood commercial districts across the state. For more information, visit mainstreetalabama.org.
ABOUT MAIN STREET AMERICA
Main Street America leads a movement committed to strengthening communities through preservation- based economic development in older and historic downtowns and neighborhood commercial districts. For more than 40 years, Main Street America has provided a practical, adaptable, and impactful framework for community-driven, comprehensive revitalization through the Main Street Approach™.
Our network of more than 1,600 neighborhoods and communities, rural and urban, share both a commitment to place and to building stronger communities through preservation-based economic development. Since 1980, communities participating in the program have generated more than $101.58 billion in new public and private investment, generated 168,693 net new businesses and 746,897 net new jobs, rehabilitated more than 325,119 buildings, and levered over 33.7 million volunteer hours.
Main Street America is a nonprofit subsidiary of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. For more information, visit mainstreet.org.