January through March of 2027, the Office of Downtown Development will be meeting with Regions 1, 2, 5, and 7 to conduct one one-on-one annual assessment reviews. Each Classic Main Street designated program will be required to select a time slot to meet with our team. Each program is required to give a presentation during its time slot and must have a manager, a city or organizational representative, and a board member present.  Each time slot will be two hours in length. The presentation itself should not run more than 1 ½ hours in length, leaving time for discussion and questions.

Who you should bring:
At a minimum 3 people, the Main Street Manager should lead the presentation, bringing at least a board member, and city representative/supervisor.

Who we will bring:
We will have the Georgia Main Street staff (approx. 4 or 5) present for your visit and your DCA Regional Representative.

Questions:
If you have any questions about the application or the site visit as you prepare, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us!

(GEMS communities will be contacted directly regarding the 2027 accreditation process)

*If your region is not included in this list above, this means you will not meet face-to-face with ODD staff for a presentation. For those communities that will not be presenting, you will complete the  online Self Assessment through Main Street America and the  2027 Annual Assessment Checklist and Affidavit with required documentation. The Self Assessment Worksheet and Community Evaluation Framework Guide can help you fill out the online assessment.

Recording on how to use the online self assessment platform will be uploaded here when available.

Meeting Dates and Locations: 

January 27-28, 2027: Bartow History Museum, 4 E. Church St., Cartersville, GA 30120

February 3-4, 2027: Historic City Hall, 117 Jesse Jewell Pkwy., Gainesville, GA 30501

February 10-11, 2027: Monroe Museum/Welcome Center, 227 S. Broad St., Monroe 30655

Sign up for your presentation time slot here. 

Each community will have two hours to meet with the Office of Downtown Development staff. During this time, the local program manager will provide ODD staff with an overview of their local program using the provided PowerPoint presentation template.  The information provided should be on events and programmatic accomplishments that occurred in 2024 – 2026. Presentations should last no longer than one hour. After the presentation, ODD staff will walk through the elements of each community’s annual assessment document with the community representatives present in order to gain a better understanding of their current Main Street program’s standing. Communities will leave knowing their designation status for 2027 as well as any recommendations for the program moving forward.

What your presentation should cover:
Make sure you brag on yourself and your projects and feel free to make this your own. Incorporate your own branding, colors, and design. If you customize the presentation to fit your brand, please make sure you still answer all the questions, and please keep the questions in the same order. ​ ​ You can use more than one slide to answer a question.  You will have an hour and a half max to present. ​ The use of pictures, visual examples, and videos are highly encouraged. ​ Be mindful of acronyms. We are all guilty of using them… but new members on our team may not be familiar with the acronyms you use to identify the multiple organizations and programs you have in your community. The PowerPoint isn’t due until your presentation day, however please upload it to your Dropbox folder prior to your presentation day just in case there are technical difficulties.

Click on images below to view examples of past presentations

Thomasville:

Gainesville:                                                                         

Thomaston:

Warrenton:

The 2027 annual assessment will be based on projects and accomplishments made throughout the 2026 calendar year. Communities that are designated as Affiliate, Classic or GEMS Main Street cities will be required to submit the online Self Assessment through Main Street America and the  2027 Annual Assessment Checklist and Affidavit with required documentation. The Self Assessment Worksheet and Community Evaluation Framework Guide can help you fill out the online assessment.

Recording on how to use the online self assessment platform will be uploaded here when available.

These documents include:

• Completed and signed 2027 Annual Assessment Checklist and Affidavit* with required documentation

• 2026-2027 MOU

• Annual Work Plan using DCA or approved template

• Board Roster using DCA board roster template*

• All Board Meeting Agendas

• All Board Meeting Minutes

• Training Log for Manager and Board Members*

• Annual budget(s), showing program revenue/expenses

• Main Street Program’s Organizational Chart

• Main Street Program Bylaws

• Mission and Vision statements

• Map of Main Street Program’s District Boundaries

All the documents outlined above should be uploaded directly to your program’s shared Dropbox  and filed under the appropriate folders. If you do not currently have access to your program’s shared Dropbox folder please reach out to Ellen Hill at ellen.hill@dca.ga.gov and we will work to get you connected.

*These templates have been updated, please ensure you are using the most up-to-date version available.

All Main Street programs are required to keep and maintain a Dropbox folder with all their program’s historical information. This Dropbox folder is set up by DCA and access is shared with the local Main Street manager, board members and key city staff as needed. Due to the volume of information maintained in these folder the Office of Downtown Development does require each program to adhere to a certain organizational structure within Dropbox for all files and supporting documentation. Attached you will find a link that will illustrate for you visually how your program’s Dropbox folder should appear along with a list of each item that should be visible within the individual sub-folders.

To request access to your program’s Dropbox folder please contact the Georgia Main Street team at mainstreet@dca.ga.gov

This is a simply formatted excel document that allows for Main Street Managers to track the training events and hours participated in by both the board and the manager, throughout year. Please also make sure to upload a copy of any supporting documentation such as certificates or awards to the folder of the current year you are in.

The Board Roster template is an editable pdf that serves as a record of who in your Main Street community is currently serving as a member on your Main Street Board. This document is required to be updated annually and a copy of it should be uploaded to Dropbox under “Board Roster” of the current year. It is important to make sure that this document is filled out in it’s entirety to insure complete accuracy.