On Thursday, January 29, Joyce Lee Blackley was honored as a 2008 Main Street Champion at the North Carolina Main Street Annual Awards Dinner in Statesville, N.C. She was selected for this special recognition by the Clayton Main Street program in appreciation of her exceptional contributions to the downtown revitalization process. Along with Champions from 35 other communities, Blackley received a certificate commemorating her designation, presented by N.C. Secretary of Commerce J. Keith Crisco (left), Assistant Secretary of Commerce Cleveland Simpson,(right), Main Street Assistant Coordinator Teresa Watts and Office of Urban Development Director Liz Parham.
Each of the state’s active Main Street programs is given the opportunity annually to recognize a local Main Street Champion. The dedication and hard work of countless volunteers is required to make a local Main Street program successful, and the Main Street Champion designation acknowledges the extraordinary efforts of those persons who have played pivotal roles in the revitalization of their downtowns.
“Main Street is a grassroots effort and, in order to be successful, every local program must utilize its community resources—both financial and human,” said Parham. “The human resources come in a number of forms: volunteers, Main Street board members, city staff, elected officials and others. There are no greater supporters of Main Street than those people who we honor here tonight, individuals who have taken their dedication to downtown to the next level—our 2008 N.C. Main Street Champions.”
“Main Street Champions are the people who take on the early tasks, the pioneers who go where others often fear to tread, who step forward when others are stepping back, who make the tough calls and those risky investments. They embody the term “community leader”, and they do this because they love their communities. There would be no Main Street successes without Main Street Champions,” she said.
In nominating Blackley for this honor, the Clayton Downtown Development Association offered the following:
Clayton Main Street Champion Joyce Lee Blackley is the owner of Blackley’s Printing Company. She started the business in her garage in 1976 and moved it to the center of downtown Clayton in 1986, where it has been located ever since.
Joyce has been active in downtown activities since the mid-1980s. In 1989, she was one of the original town appointees to what was then known as the downtown advisory committee. One of her passions is the annual Tree Lighting Ceremony, and she has been in charge of that event for 18 years. Joyce has served as chair of the Clayton Downtown Development Association for the past three years.
Just prior to her term as DDA chair, the town created a staff position and hired a downtown manager. Since that time, Joyce has overseen a number of organizational changes and the town’s application and ultimate selection into the Main Street program. Joyce has been strongly involved in improving the appearance of downtown and pushing to get a new entrance sign into the downtown district.
On top of running a busy and successful business, she is also involved in her church, belongs to the Rotary Club and serves on the board of the Clayton Woman’s Club.
Joyce’s tenure on the DDA has come to an end this year, the “victim” of term limits imposed several years ago, but she plans to remain an unabashed champion of downtown Clayton.
We are pleased to honor Joyce as Clayton’s 2008 Main Street Champion.
Main Street is a downtown revitalization program for smaller towns based on economic development within the context of historic preservation. The North Carolina Main Street Program, which provides technical assistance to its communities, is part of the Office of Urban Development in the Department of Commerce’s Division of Community Assistance.
In 1980, North Carolina was one of six original states, selected from 38 that applied, to launch the work of the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s National Main Street Center. The North Carolina Main Street Program began working with its five original cities – New Bern, Salisbury, Shelby, Tarboro, and Washington – in September 1980 and has since grown to include 57 communities across the state.
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