SALEM, Oregon – Main Street America announced Sheri Stuart, Main Street Coordinator for Oregon Main Street, as a 2025 Mary Means Leadership Award recipient. This prestigious award is the organization’s top honor recognizing individuals who demonstrate outstanding leadership in the field of comprehensive preservation-based economic development and commercial district revitalization. The award highlights the impact of these individuals and amplifies the critical role that leaders play in shaping the Main Street Movement. The 2025 Mary Means Leadership Award was presented at the closing plenary for the Main Street Now Conference in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

“Sheri Stuart is an incredible example of what Main Street leadership looks like in action,” said Erin Barnes, President and CEO at Main Street America. “Her purposeful approach to statewide coordination, her ability to spark innovation in rural and urban communities alike, and her tireless advocacy for reinvestment in Oregon’s Main Streets make her an exemplary recipient of this award.”

Sheri Stuart’s Main Street career spans the local, state, and national level and includes being an Executive Director of a local Main Street organization, Program Officer for the National Main Street Center providing technical assistance to several state coordinating programs, and she currently serves as the Coordinator of Oregon Main Street (OMS), a Main Street America™ Coordinating Program that Sheri has led since 2009.

Sheri was nominated by participants in the Oregon Main Street Network with Lise Grato, Executive Director of Albany Downtown Association, and Rebeca Hollenbeck, Executive Director of Historic Willamette Main Street, leading the nomination effort.

“While impact of her work can be seen in the economic impact numbers, the grant dollars, the technical assistance she provides, the greatest impact she has is on the humans that make up the Main Street Network,” says Lisa Sumption, Director of Oregon Parks and Recreation Department. “The personal connections she forms with Main Street Managers and Board Members and the people first approach she implements is by far the greatest impact she has.”

About Oregon Main Street

Oregon Main Street (OMS), a Main Street America™ Coordinating Program, leads a network of over 100 communities across the state implementing efforts to build community, support local businesses, and create an attractive and vibrant environment for workers, visitors, and residents. Led by Coordinator Sheri Stuart, OMS provides training and technical assistance to communities that have achieved substantial results since the program began in 2007. Oregon Main Street is part of Oregon Heritage in the state’s Oregon Parks and Recreation Department

A recent OMS impact study reported that between 2011 and 2021, the Oregon Main Street network:

• Supported the creation of more than 2400 jobs throughout the state
• Boosted statewide tax revenue by 3.5 million dollars
• Contributed an additional $266 million dollars of revenue statewide

One of the tools available to Oregon Main Street Network Participants in the Oregon Main Street Revitalization Grant established by the Oregon Legislature in 2015. This grant program to date has awarded over $17 million for over 100 building improvement projects in Oregon’s downtowns. See a summary of the impact of this grant program here.

Learn more about Oregon Main Street by visiting www.oregonmainstreet.org.

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