Media Release
contact: Arlene Filkoff
904-583-8629
[email protected]
To vote for Main Street Fernandina Beach, click here.
Fernandina Beach, FL —The national small business movement, Independent We Stand, announces the quarterfinalists, including Fernandina Beach Main Street, in the 2020 “America’s Main Streets” contest. As the lifeblood of our cities and towns, Main Streets play an important role in the long-term success of communities and help build a sense of place. Ensuring the survival and vitality of our Main Streets is important now more than ever before, as many across the country stay home to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
in Celebration of Small Business During COVID-19 Crisis
Independent We Stand invites the public to take action and play a role in the survival of Main Streets by voting online for their favorite quarterfinalist and moving a deserving Main Street one step closer to the cash grand prize of $25,000.
Fernandina Beach Main Street is part of the National and State Main Street organizations working to preserve our beautiful history and by so doing, keep our district economically vital. When the City of Fernandina Beach, supported by the Chamber of Commerce and the Tourist Development Council applied to be a Main Street City, it was with the recognition that our downtown is the product of years of historic preservation activities led by caring citizens. In the 1970’s a group of activists in the City worked to define our downtown as an historic tourism destination. They succeeded and as a result, it is our mission to protect their work, to advocate for our downtown, and to ensure that other historic resources and businesses in our area are represented well.
It is our everyday job to remember those who came before us. This past year Fernandina Beach Main Street published the book – Saving Fernandina – by local writer Suanne Thamm. This book reminds us that a community can come together and make positive things happen. In this time, this notion will be at the front of our focus for the health of our downtown, described as the Jewel of Fernandina Beach.
More than 616,000 total votes were cast for 160 entrants during the nominations phase. The 2020 quarterfinalists in alphabetical order are:
- Chattahoochee Main Street, Chattahoochee, Fla.
- Downtown Bedford, Bedford, Pa.
- Downtown Canton Georgia, Canton, Ga.
- Downtown Jeffersonville, Jeffersonville, Ind.
- Emporia Main Street, Inc., Emporia, Kan.
- Fernandina Beach Main Street, Fernandina Beach, Fla.
- Historic Downtown Hope, Hope, Ark.
- Historic Downtown Ripon, Ripon, Wis.
- Historic Downtown Snohomish Association, Snohomish, Wash.
- Jacksonville Main Street, Jacksonville, Ill.
- LaBelle Downtown Revitalization Corporation, LaBelle, Fla.
- Larned Main Street, Larned, Kan.
- Main Street Altus, Altus, Okla.
- Main Street Fort Pierce, Inc., Fort Pierce, Fla.
- Main Street Hayward, Hayward, Wis.
- Main Street Homer, Homer, La.
- Minden, Louisiana, Minden, La.
- NewTown Macon, Macon, Ga.
- Osborne Main Street, Osborne, Kan.
- Pittsfield’s Historic Courthouse Square, Pittsfield, Ill.
- Public Square, Columbia, Ky.
- Quincy Main Street, Quincy, Fla.
- Springhill Main Street, Springhill, La.
- Sweetwater Main Street, Sweetwater, Tenn.
- Sykesville Main Street, Sykesville, Md.
Semifinalist voting begins April 27 at MainStreetContest.com and runs through May 24.
Support Fernandina Beach Main Street by Voting Today from the Safety of Your Home
The top 10 semifinalists will be announced May 25. The winner of the 2020 “America’s Main Streets” contest will be announced June 2 followed by a “Main Streets Make Us Better” celebration planned to occur on or near the Fourth of July, when the winner will announce how the prize money will be used.
Additional contest prizes include:
- STIHL Equipment Certificate for $1,000 worth of STIHL equipment good at any STIHL Dealer in the U.S.
- Do it Best Corp. $500 shopping spree
- Free One Day Downtown Assessment from Flip This Town
- Nationwide Marketing Group $500 shopping spree
- PPG Paints $500 shopping spree
- Public relations and social media recognition
- A special plaque for the winner to proudly display
For more information on Fernandina Beach Main Street, visit: www.fernandinabeachmainstreet.com or contact Arlene Filkoff at 904-583-8629 or at [email protected]
Presenting Sponsor:
STIHL Inc., America’s number-one selling brand of gasoline-powered handheld outdoor power equipment*, is the founding sponsor of Independent We Stand and the presenting sponsor of America’s Main Streets contest. The company follows a unique distribution strategy in the handheld outdoor power equipment industry, choosing never to sell products at big box stores, but instead remain loyal to its 9,000+ authorized local STIHL Dealers nationwide.
Supporting Sponsors:
- Do it Best Corp.
- Flip This Town
- Nationwide Marketing Group
- North American Retail Hardware Association
- Paint & Decorating Retailers Association
- PPG Paints
About Fernandina Beach Main Street
The Fernandina Beach Main Street Program kicked off in 2015 and was re-certified in 2020. We’re part of the National Main Street Program that includes more than 1,600 communities – large and small, rural and urban – in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. We all share the same goal: strengthening communities through preservation-based economic vitality in older and historic downtowns and neighborhood commercial districts. It is a subsidiary of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
About Independent We Stand
Independent We Stand is a nationwide movement of independent small business owners whose mission is to inspire other small business owners to better understand and celebrate their locally owned status while educating consumers about the importance and strong economic benefits of supporting them. The Independent We Stand movement is sponsored by STIHL Inc. STIHL products are sold through more than 9,000 authorized local STIHL Dealers from coast to coast – not big box stores. Associate sponsors include Nationwide Marketing Group, PPG Paints and Do it Best Corp.
*”Number one selling brand” is based on syndicated Irwin Broh Research as well as independent consumer research of 2009-2019 U.S. sales and market share data for the gasoline-powered handheld outdoor power equipment category combined sales to consumers and commercial landscapers.
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