Happy New Year!

Happy New Year from Downtown DeLand!  2016 was a good year for your MainStreet organization and Downtown DeLand.  Thank you to everyone who found their way to the heart of DeLand to shop, dine, and to be entertained.  When you spend your hard earned money in Downtown, the whole community benefits. 

In 2016, special events brought hundreds of thousands of people to town.  Merchant Events like Wine, Women, and Chocolate and the DeLand Elf Patrol created fun opportunities to explore the downtown shops.  Our Build Your Business Group and Tech DeLand offered meetings and workshops to improve business and computer skills.  Our Definitely DeLand image campaign continues to bring visitors from across the region.

DeLand hosted the State of Florida Main Street Conference and showcased our community to our Florida Main Street peers.  We completed a new Historic Mural Book that is available at our office, the West Volusia Tourism Office, or on the MainStreetDeLand.org website.  We administered the CRA grants in which $20,000 in grants turned into more than $140,000 in private investments.  We also worked with many other groups and organizations to help make their Downtown events successful.  We could not have done this without the great support of the City of DeLand, our Marketing Partners, Sponsors, Volunteers, and Members.  

Looking forward to 2017 we see more great things coming our way.  Events will continue to improve and grow, and we’re looking at a couple of exciting new events.  We will be working with the City to find ways to work with the homeless in the area.  We will develop a new business directory for the Downtown, participate in the Georgia Ave. streetscape project, and move forward with the new Rufus Pinkney mural.   We also want to encourage upper floor redevelopment and increased residential density in and around Downtown and much more. 

To find out about Downtown happenings signup for our weekly email newsletter on our website.  You can also become a Member or volunteer while you’re there.  Don’t miss the 10th Annual Taste of DeLand on January 21st.  Tickets are available online at www.MainStreetDeLand.org, the MainStreet DeLand office and at the West Volusia Beacon office.  

See you Downtown in 2017,

Wayne Carter
Executive Director
MainStreet DeLand Association