Oakland County Celebrates 25 Years of Main Street Program
(Crystal A. Proxmire, June 23, 2025)
Rochester, MI – For 25 years, downtowns and main street across Oakland County have benefited from a program called Main Street Oakland County, designed to provide resources and support for communities striving to provide a sense of place to attract business and maintain that hometown feel that makes downtowns special.
Each year MSOC participants gather to celebrate successes, and this year the Main Event was extra special as it celebrated 25 years of this effort.
Oakland County Executive Dave Coulter was there to help celebrate. Prior to being elected Executive, Coulter had been Mayor of Ferndale, so he saw firsthand what Main Street organizations can do. In 2010 Downtown Ferndale earned national recognition as a Great American Main Street. The honor was also bestowed on another Oakland County community in 2013 – Downtown Rochester.
“For 25 years, Main Street Oakland County has been a shining example of progress and partnership between the county and its thriving communities,” said Oakland County Executive David Coulter.
Governor Gretchen Whitmer also passed along her congratulations in a video for the event, as did Main Street America CEO Erin Barnes and Main Street Founder Mary Means. Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG) also shared in the love with a video illustrating the economic and social impact of downtown and historic commercial corridors in Oakland County.
Awards are given each year in a number of categories
Downtown Oxford was awarded the Spirit of Main Street Award. They were also recognized for their video submission, We Are Community, which earned the top award and a $2,000 cash prize from Genisys Credit Union. The video highlights Oxford’s commitment to honoring its historic roots while fostering an inclusive and vibrant community atmosphere.
“Congratulations to Oxford for the Spirit of Main Street Award and to all the downtowns that continuously strive for excellence and the vibrancy that make our communities distinct,” Coulter said.
Historic preservation has been a core component of downtown revitalization efforts. Winning the Achievement in Community Character or Historic Preservation Award was Downtown Highland for it’s Odds & Ends Historic Restoration. For this project, Downtown Highland worked with the local business to provide a facade grant, and through their MSOC connection they were able to leverage of the expertise of Oakland County’s Preservation Architect Ron Campbell to honor the past while providing a modern use for the 1906 structure.
Another mix of past and present came to life with the Masons Corner project in Downtown Farmington. Through crowdsource funding the DDA was able to create a community space in front of the 1876 Masonic Lodge. The project added seating, art, and even a fire-lit sculpture to “warm hands and hearts.” This project won the District Placemaking Award.
Kate Knight, who managed Downtown Farmington from 2017 to recently departing this year, was honored with the Main Street Leader Award.
Volunteer of the Year went to Ben Giovanelli of Downtown Rochester. Rochester also was recognized for the Community Event of the Year for their Kris Kringle Market. The Business Innovation and Entrepreneurship Award went to Hometown Bakery in Rochester which made national news for their life-size Amon-Ra St. Brown cake, honoring the Detroit Lion’s player for his famous headstand.
Attracting shoppers to Main Street is an important part of the process. The Promotion Power Unite effort in Wixom won the Main Street Jubilee Award. And for Outstanding Partnership Wixom teamed up with South Lyon, Lyon Township, and Highland for the Burger Battle on Main Street.
Also attracting attention was Pontiac’s Make It To Scale Incubator Kitchen, winning the Small Business Retention and Attraction Award. Whole Hearted Winery in Lyon Township earned the Main Street Resilience after surviving the pandemic. In Ortonville, Hamilton’s of Ortonville earned the Legacy of Main Street Excellence Award.
The event also welcomed Beverly Hills as the 29th community to join Main Street Oakland County and unveiled a proposed new MSOC logo. Special recognition was given to longtime leaders and contributors to the Main Street movement in Oakland County and Michigan.
The Main Event, which took place at The Roxy in Downtown Rochester, was supported by SMART (presenting sponsor), Genisys Credit Union, DTE Energy, Oakland County Business Finance Corporation, Giffels Webster, the Rochester DDA, the Community Foundation of Greater Rochester, and the Michigan Downtown Association. More than 225 community leaders, volunteers and stakeholders attended the celebration.
Since its inception in 2020, MSOC communities have attracted over $1.2 billion in public and private investment, created nearly 8,400 jobs, and opened more than 1,500 new businesses. For more information, click here.
