Celebrating Our 2026 Accreditation!!

It's a great honor to share that on January 20th of 2026, Ortonville for the 20th year has been Accredited by Main Street America. The process of the on-sight evaluation consisted of different community representatives meeting with the evaluation team. This included DDA board members, volunteers, property owners, business owners, partners, elected officials, community groups, and more. Throughout the day, more than 40 local stakeholders met with the evaluation team. They then shared their involvements with the DDA in 2025 and their hopes for the future of Main Street Ortonville. To become or stay as an accredited community we must follow these guidelines:

• Program Director
• Transformation Strategy 
• Detailed Work plans
• Dedicated Budget
• Support from local Municipality Regular Reporting of Reinvestment Statistics
• Active Membership in Main Street America
• Annual Communication of Progress (to Main Street America)

We aim to hit all six standards that we're expected to have as an accredited community. These are the standards and how we as a community utilize them.

1. Broad Based Community Commitment to Revitalization Residents, Businesses, and local government actively support downtown events, planning and improvements.

2. Inclusive Leadership & Organizational Structure. A local board like the DDA and volunteers represent different parts of the community to guide decisions.

3. Diversified Funding & Sustainable Program Operations. The DDA, partnerships, and local investment provide ongoing funding for beautification and economic efforts.

4. Strategy Driven Work. Revitalization focuses on strengthening small businesses and maintaining a walkable, small town identity.

5. Preservation Based Economic Development. Historic buildings and the village character are maintained to attract visitors and support commerce.

6. Demonstrated Impact & Results. The. community tracks business activity, improvements, and encouragement to show progress and plan future growth.

We hope to keep this up within our community and we are looking forward to  stay on track to next years accreditation making it our 21st year!