Paxton Main Street joins Illinois Main Street network
CHICAGO, Ill. (WCIA) — Paxton Main Street was recently welcomed into Illinois Main Street (IMS), a program that helps foster economic development and revitalization efforts in commercial districts across the state.
The IMS program opens new opportunities and helps provide goods, services, and jobs to its communities. It also allows members of its network to collaborate with 18 Illinois sister organizations and more than 2,000 programs throughout the Main Street America to help small-town tourism flourish. The Paxton community joins Aledo Main Street, the Downtown Neighborhood Association of Elgin, the Wood River Business Alliance, and the Village of Matteson as new additions to the network.
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Prior to their initiation into IMS, Paxton Main Street has already taken several steps to enhance the quality of their community’s infrastructure and connections. In June last year, Paxton Main Street was awarded a $30,000 T-Mobile Hometown Grant to install public wi-fi throughout their downtown district. This helps them actively promote local businesses and organizations on social media. They also host several traditional and brand new community events, encouraging kinship between locals, visitors, businesses, and the downtown district itself.
“Paxton Main Street is honored and elated to become an Illinois Main Street community,” Executive Director Donna McGuire Pepper stated in an announcement post from IMS. “The Main Street America network has proven to be an exceptional model for communities of all sizes and our organization is excited to learn more about developing tourism in Paxton, increasing our economic development and we hope to elevate the interest our community has in historic preservation.”
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