Washington has earned its Main Street accreditation, a recognition given to demonstrating commitment to historic preservation and community revitalization.

For Washington, it’s the work of the Washington Harbor District Alliance, its board and Executive Director Beth Byrd, along with many volunteers who donate time, energy and funds to build a better future for downtown Washington.

The National Main Street Center, a subsidiary of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, recently announced the accreditation of 35 North Carolina communities including Edenton, New Bern, Salisbury and Wake Forest in addition to Washington.

“These communities worked hard to meet the standards established by the National Main Street Center, and we are pleased to see them recognized for their achievement,” John E. Skvarla III, North Carolina Commerce Secretary, wrote in a press release. “Local Main Street programs across our state work every day to beautify our towns and bring businesses and jobs to their downtowns, strengthening our overall economy.”

The standards by which accreditation is determined are specific to how a given organization is working toward the goal of economic prosperity, according to Byrd.

“There’s a slew of standards and Main Street North Carolina feels that if you follow these standards you’re going to have a more successful operation — how many partnerships we have, how many different organizations we work with, a plan of work that touches on all four points that we focus on.”

For WHDA those four points include promotion, design, economic restructuring and organization.

“Design is all about bringing the downtown commercial district into better physical shape. It’s capitalizing on the best assets that we have downtown, and that’s our architecture,” Byrd explained.

The design aspect also applies to community cleanups, WHDA’s assistance with façade redesign through Main Street North Carolina designers and assisting the city with a new streetscape and wayfinding plan, while economic restructuring standards focus on strengthening existing businesses by encouraging owner investment using a façade grant program, recruiting new businesses, promoting a downtown hotel and People’s Pier, a downtown waterfront pier for use by the public.

“Washington has a leg up because it’s got the waterfront, of course, but it also has leg up because there’s a group of us that care about the future, and we try to steer downtown in the best direction to ensure future prosperity,” Byrd said.

According to the Department of Commerce press release, the North Carolina Main Street program has generated $2.2 billion in private and public investment since 1980. In 2014, North Carolina Main Street downtown districts generated 248 net new businesses, 110 business expansions in existing businesses, 1,011 net new jobs, 327 façade rehabilitations and 351 building rehabilitations. More than 104,246 volunteer hours were recorded.

Three thousand of those volunteer hours were recorded in Washington, according to Byrd. It’s one of the many statistics she keeps track of in the work with WHDA.

“We also take stock of the number of businesses have opened, how many we’ve lost, how many employees we gain during the year. … We take account of the number of private dollars that are put into downtown and the number of public dollars,” Byrd explained. “People just know us as an event organization, but there’s a lot more going on than people realize.”

WHDA funding is provided by the City of Washington and through fundraising, with the city providing Byrd’s salary. All other funds are raised through corporate and individual donations and fundraisers, and annually exceeding the city’s contribution.