SALEM, Oregon – Oregon Main Street (OMS) just designated the Sutherlin Chamber of Commerce as the new Sutherlin Area Regional Main Street Hub of the Umpqua. They join the two initial pilot Rural Regional Main Street (RRMS) hubs of the Oregon Frontier Chamber of Commerce and Wallowa County Chamber of Commerce (initially housed with Northeast Oregon Economic Development District).

“I am absolutely honored and beyond excited for the Sutherlin Area Chamber of Commerce to be designated as the next Oregon Main Street Rural Regional Hub,” said Jessica Cannon, Executive Director, Sutherlin Area Chamber of Commerce. “This opportunity is deeply needed, and this program is powerfully designed to uplift rural communities like ours, strengthening main streets through revitalization, development, networking, and real-time support. We are filled with pride and ready to hit the ground running!”

The Sutherlin Area Regional Main Street Hub of the Umpqua will initially include Sutherlin, Winston, and Oakland.

OMS created the RRMS tier to provide a pathway for rural communities to better connect with the services and support offered by OMS in a structured way that helps these rural communities build and sustain momentum. One of the key features of the RRMS tier is to allow maximum flexibility in how the hubs want to organize to take into account the differences in each region.

“Based on the success of working with our initial two pilot regions, we decided to make the RRMS tier a permanent tier in the OMS Network,” said Sheri Stuart, State Coordinator, Oregon Main Street. “In our pilot program, we were able to connect rural communities with some of our resources like the Oregon Main Street Revitalization Grant that they previously hadn’t accessed. We are very excited to have the Sutherlin Chamber of Commerce see value in joining the Network.”

The selection process included submitting a letter of intent to apply last fall and then completing an extensive application that described the communities that are interested in being part of their hub, previous efforts to improve their downtowns, commitment to implementing the Main Street Approach™, board development efforts, partnerships, in addition to other criteria.

The OMS Network provides training and technical services to Oregon communities desiring to strengthen, preserve, and enhance their historic downtown and traditional commercial neighborhood districts. Learn more about Oregon Main Street at www.oregonmainstreet.org.

Currently, there are over 100 communities in Oregon participating in the Oregon Main Street Network. There isn’t a fee to participate. Oregon Main Street is part of Oregon Heritage in Oregon Parks and Recreation Department.