News
Tri-Cities Main Street Program names new director & announces 2024 plan
CUMBERLAND, Ky. (Jan. 11, 2024) – Tri-Cities Main Street board president Roger Wilhoit announced that Erica Eldridge has been named its new director.
Eldridge served as city clerk for Lynch for 13 years and most recently worked at AXP Energy. She is a lifelong resident of Harlan County. She is originally from the North Side community of Pine Mountain and her family now lives in Lynch.
“We have the most unique Main Street program in Kentucky, with a downtown that stretches seven miles from the Lynch Country Club at the foot of Black Mountain to the Cumberland United Methodist Church,” said Eldridge. “I’m excited about the bright future we have and look forward to all that we want to continue to accomplish.”
Eldridge and the Main Street board have developed a strategic plan for 2024, starting with reestablishing the four Main Street committees that will focus on developing and promoting a healthy and prosperous downtown within the context of cultural and historic preservation.
• The Organization Team will help provide direction and increase involvement in the program. This includes supporting the director in administering the program, improving channels of communication, stabilizing and increasing membership and establishing better overall community involvement.
• The Promotion and Events Team will create excitement downtown and promote an enticing image to attract shoppers, investors, and visitors. Its objectives include developing a new logo and brand to market a positive image of the region’s strengths and assets, promoting use of the new website, implementing social media strategies to increase downtown engagement, and developing and promoting activities and events to attract people downtown and encourage more local shopping.
• The Design Team will encourage visual improvements in the downtown’s physical appearance while preserving its heritage and historic character. They will work with other local entities to advance realistic capital projects that improve downtown’s physical appearance, encourage and support low-cost streetscape improvements, and enhance public awareness and appreciation of the downtown’s historic character and heritage.
• The Economic Vitality Team will work with existing businesses, property owners, and partners to strengthen and broaden the local economic base. Their primary objective for 2024 is to oversee the development and administration of grant funding opportunities.
Under the umbrella of Tri-Cities Heritage Development Corp., Tri-Cities Main Street is a non-profit organization founded in 1997 that serves the areas of Cumberland, Benham and Lynch. The program is part of the Main Street America program that helps revitalize older and historic commercial districts and build stronger communities through preservation-based economic development.
For more information about Tri-Cities Main Street, visit www.tricitieskymainstreet.org, call 606.589.5151, or email mainstreet@blackbearmtn.org. Their office is located at 506 West Main Street in Cumberland.
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Tri-Cities Main Street is a non-profit organization that serves the areas of Cumberland, Benham, and Lynch.
Tri-Cities Main Street promotes small businesses and restaurants in the area. We help coordinate events and work to make the Tri-Cities better tomorrow than it was today.
Tri-Cities KY are part of the Main Street America program.
Main Street America has been helping revitalize older and historic commercial districts for more than 40 years. Today it is a network of more than 1,600 neighborhoods and communities, rural and urban, who share both a commitment to place and to building stronger communities through preservation-based economic development.
Main Street America is a subsidiary of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
