The Road to MainStreet for Los Ranchos

Join us for the Village of Los Ranchos Anniversary December 29, 2024!

The Village of Los Ranchos is on an exciting journey to revitalize our downtown and create a thriving, vibrant space for businesses, residents, and visitors alike. The New Mexico MainStreet program is designed to support local communities like ours, helping us build an economically viable business environment while preserving the cultural and historic treasures that make Los Ranchos unique.

By working together, we can create a downtown that not only fosters economic growth but also enhances the quality of life for everyone in our community. Our path to becoming a designated MainStreet community involves several key steps, and we invite you to be a part of this transformative process.

The New Mexico MainStreet Program fosters economic development in the state by supporting local MainStreet revitalization organizations and their local government partner in their economic work in downtowns and adjacent neighborhoods.

New Mexico MainStreet provides resources, education, training and services for asset-based economic growth that builds local knowledge and skills based on the Main Street Four-Point Approach®, which preserves and enhances the built environment, supports district businesses and entrepreneur development, and conserves and interprets local culture and heritage resulting in increased economic vitality in local MainStreet districts.

New Mexico MainStreet is designated a “Main Street America Coordinating Program” by the National Main Street Center, Inc., a program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The New Mexico Economic Development Department is licensed and accredited annually to administer the program. New Mexico Economic Development Department. Local partners (local revitalization organizations and local governing bodies), join their resources (human, social and financial) to support the economic development of the district. New Mexico MainStreet assists communities in building capacity in community economic development that creates jobs, supports commercial property owners, mitigates leakage, grows businesses, encourages entrepreneurs, and improves the quality of life for residents.

New Mexico MainStreet Programs Include:

In 2023, New Mexico MainStreet (NMMS) developed a new pathway for local communities to achieve Main Street designation. Organizations and/or communities interested in becoming a Main Street program must first apply to participate in a NMMS project-based initiative. For the Village of Los Ranchos, this would be a Rural Communities Initiative.

Upon successful completion of a project-based initiative, applicants interested in moving toward Main Street designation will be invited to submit an application for a second project and development of a Revitalization Action Plan that will include both local priorities and benchmarks established by NMMS to guide the applicants progress toward MainStreet designation. Revitalization Action Plans should include actions and projects within each of the four points of the Main Street Approach (Organization, Economic Vitality, Promotion, Design), including actions specific to resource development, such as fundraising/ grant writing, volunteer recruitment, and securing a MOU/service contract with the local municipality.

Upon successful completion of the second project and the Revitalization Action Plan, the applicant will be eligible for the NM MainStreet Accelerator program designation. As an Accelerator program, the designee will embark on achieving the benchmarks established by NMMS and contained within this document. Over a 12 to 18 month time frame, NMMS will provide guidance and technical assistance throughout the Accelerator process to move the designee toward designation as a MainStreet America Affiliate program.

The path to becoming a MainStreet America Affiliate program takes time, but is seen as necessary to ensure that a program has the needed resources and relationships for long-term success. MainStreet New Mexico has many resources available every step of the way.

Applying for a Rural Communities Initiative project requires having a non-profit entity that will eventually be the MainStreet organization. The entity follows these steps to apply:

Because the number of projects accepted each year is dependent on legislative funding, a sound approach is asking for GRO funds to EDD/NM MainStreet for a project in Los Ranchos.