UPPER 14^TH AND KENNEDY STREETS MAIN STREET MISSION

In the fall of 2017, two 401(c)(3) non-profit organizations, the Community Association for Upper Fourteenth Street (CAUFS) and the Kennedy Street Development Corporation (KSDC), jointly won a Main Street grant designation for Upper 14^th Street NW (from Spring to Colorado/Kennedy) and Kennedy Street NW (from 14^th to North Capitol). Through the Main Street program, CAUFS and KSDC will focus on coordinating sustainable, community-driven commercial and cultural revitalization efforts in the designated footprint by engaging in small business retention and recruitment activities, providing small businesses with technical assistance, organizing promotional and marketing activities, and engaging in public space design and management. The key objectives for the Main Street project are:

·       Retaining existing businesses and recruiting new businesses

·       Improving commercial property facades and interiors

·        Improving streetscapes and keeping streets clean along the commercial strip

·       Attracting new customers and creating new jobs within the Main Street corridor

·       Promoting and marketing the commercial districts and the businesses that operate within

This is a local, community-based economic development project that will require CAUFS and KSDC to create broad-based support from local residents, businesses, government, and the non-profit community.