CHARLESTON, W.Va. — An awards ceremony was held Thursday evening at the Culture Center at the Capitol to honor the governor’s Main Street and ON TRAC award winners.
The two programs aim to revitalize towns and cities and to promote economic growth.
“We spend a lot of time on economic development trying to get companies to relocate here,” said State Secretary of Commerce Keith Burdette. “Downtowns are surprisingly one of the first things a new company looks at to see if there’s life in a community; to see how much vigor is in a community.”
Main Street is a national program geared toward larger cities, while ON TRAC is geared toward smaller towns. Point Pleasant won first place for small towns, and Morgantown’s Main Street won for large communities.
“These communities that are part of Main Street and ON TRAC have financially and organizationally committed to making improvements in their downtown, to make them more livable, more attractive and more enticing to visitors,” Burdette said.
First Lady Joanne Jaeger Tomblin also joined the ceremony, which honored volunteers statewide as well as cities that have excelled in the program. Burdette praised the Capital for its effort in the Main Street program, particularly in the East End.
“Charleston has been one of those communities that gets it and understands that creating a vital, forward-thinking downtown area is important to their overall plans for their city,” he said.
West Virginia’s ON TRAC communities include Charles Town, Parkersburg (the largest city in the program), Belington and Kenova.
Accredited Main Street communities include Charleston’s East End and West Side, Morgantown, Martinsburg, Wheeling and White Sulphur Springs.