DUBOIS – The Downtown DuBois Revitalization Group recently sponsored a reception hosted by the Pennsylvania Downtown Center. The PDC is a non-profit group whose mission is to assist communities like DuBois in becoming certified as official downtown revitalization groups. They do this through various training efforts and evaluations. The Downtown DuBois Revitalization Group is a certified “Main Street” community which means they have achieved certain benchmarks originally established by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The meeting on January 14th was held to introduce the newest member of the Pennsylvania Downtown Center staff, Rick Viglione of Ridgway, as their Western PA Coordinator. Rick is a Ridgway native and former Main Street Manager. He has a background in the areas of planning and economic development. The reception was a chance for Western PA communities to meet and greet the new staff and hear about the plans and programs the PDC has in place for 2009. A special invited guest was newly elected State Representative Matthew Gabler who spoke briefly and welcomed the PDC staff. Any questions on our local downtown revitalization effort should be directed to Julie Stewart at 814-371-3064.
Pictured From top left are a few of the attendees: Jim Papp- President of the Downtown DuBois Revitalization Group (DDRG), Rick Viglione – Western PA Coordinator for the Pennsylvania Downtown Center, Linda Crandall-Owner of Merle Norman Boutique, Bill Fontana – Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Downtown Center, State Representative Matthew Gabler, Harry Howard-How2Consulting, Gregg Donahue-Owner of Uniformity, Mike Rudzinski – Owner of Mike’s Lock and Hardware, Bob Imhoff, President of the Ridgway Heritage Council. Lower left: Kay Boyd-Rowe – DDRG Board member, Julie Stewart – Program Manager of DDRG, Michele Bogacki – Ridgway Heritage Council, Erin Chorney – DDRG Board member.
