Starkville’s Main Street Association presented seven awards to local businesses and developers during its annual awards program on Thursday.
Greater Starkville Development Partnership Interim CEO Jennifer Prather lauded the Main Street Association for its work in helping to better the downtown corridor in Starkville. She said the area has seen tremendous growth in recent years, and even over the last year.
Prather said recent additions downtown, such as the lights in the breezeway near Starkville Cafe and the street pianos on Main Street that Mayor Lynn Spruill pushed for, have added liveliness that bolsters business in the area.
“Things like that are creating what we call sticky spaces that create a sense of place for people to want to be downtown and stay downtown, and they want to spend money,” Prather said.
She also said promotional events such as unWine, which drew 1,000 people across three events, have been very helpful. The Main Street Association and The Partnership also worked with Mississippi State University to draw visitors for university orientation, in the summer, into Starkville’s restaurants.
“We took about 4,000 people — 1,000 per session — and we gave them dine-around tickets funded by the university and The Partnership,” Prather said. “We invested over $40,000 into our local restaurants, only for the month of June.
“Not only did it create an impact on our city, but it also created a unique experience for visitors to our city who may have been in our community for the first time,” she added. “Now they want to come back, and they want to dive more into what we have going on here.”
Michelle Jones, the a now-past president of the Main Street Association Board, presided over her last meeting before the awards ceremony began. Jones served on the Main Street board for eight years and worked with the Convention and Visitors Bureau for six years before that. She said she’s seen substantial downtown growth in those years, and called Mississippi Magazine’s naming Starkville the Best Place to Live in Mississippi an affirmation of local efforts to improve the city.
“I moved to Starkville in 1998. At that point, when you drove downtown at 5 o’clock, there was no activity,” she said. “There was no night life. There was not a lot going on. Today, I showed up at 5:15 (p.m.) and almost couldn’t get a parking spot. It’s so exciting, and our sales tax base keeps increasing, which increases what our community can do. It’s all about economic development and protecting what is special and important to Starkville.”
The Main Street Association named Eat Local Starkville its 2018 Partner of the Year. The award noted Eat Local Starkville’s willingness to participate in local events, such as community market culinary demonstrations, and donation of event space for Main Street Events.
“Brian Kelley and Ty Thames have not only committed their restaurants resources to the betterment of Starkville, but they have also instilled in each of their staff members and understanding that what we do together will always be better,” Prather said.
Other award winners included:
■ The Pop Porium, Merchant of the Year;
■ Glo, Best New Business;
■ Jackson Square, Best Adaptive Re-Use Project;
■ The Gin and 550 Russell Street, Best New Development Project;
■ George Mary’s, Best Facade Rehabilitation; and
■ George Mary’s, Best Window Display.
Alex Holloway was formerly a reporter with The Dispatch.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 41 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.