Connecticut Main Street Center has presented the 2009 Connecticut Light and Power Company Award for Outstanding Contributions to Main Street Revitalization to Keith Kumnick, SIOR, at the CT Main Street Awards Gala recently.
CT Main Street Center established this award in 2001 to recognize individuals and organizations who dedicate themselves to promoting an awareness of the necessity of a comprehensive management approach to the revitalization of Connecticut's historic downtowns and neighborhood commercial districts. Previous recipients include the State Department of Economic & Community Development, Jack Shannahan (former state historic preservation officer), Webster Bank, The Hartford Courant (for PLACE editorials), Martha Hunt (former president & CEO of CERC), and the late Linda Osten, former principal planner with the Capitol Region Council of Governments.
In 2009, CT Main Street chose to present this award to Keith Kumnick, immediate past chair of the CT Main Street Center board of directors. Kumnick is principal of Colliers Dow & Condon, a commercial real estate firm located in Hartford, where he has worked since 1994. He achieved the SIOR industrial designation (Specialist, Industrial and Office Real Estate) awarded by the Society of Industrial and Office Realtors. With a background in the banking and marketing fields, Kumnick holds an MBA in Finance from University of Hartford and a B.S. in Accounting from Central Connecticut State University.
Keith Kumnick was elected to the CT Main Street Center board in 2001 and became the organization's third board chair, serving from 2004 to 2009. He became board chair as CT Main Street Center was rolling out its expanded membership campaign and its Downtown Revitalization Institute (DRI). Kumnick's tenure saw CT Main Street membership grow from 10 to 38 communities and annual attendance at DRI workshops increase by 86%.
Kumnick's chairmanship focused on engaging the CT Main Street Center board by the addition of guest speakers and experts in downtown development at board meetings, addressing board development and fundraising needs of the organization and establishing an employee retirement program. Kumnick remains in the position of director and immediate past chair of CT Main Street Center.
CT Main Street Center is dedicated to community and economic development within the context of historic preservation, and is committed to bringing Connecticut's commercial districts back to life socially and economically. CT Main Street Center currently serves 30 member communities and eight designated programs. Since the CT Main Street program began in 1995, participating programs have generated over $629 million in public and private reinvestment in their districts. Over the same time, 378 net new businesses have opened and 2,326 new jobs have been created. For every $1 spent on a local Main Street program, $64.09 has been reinvested in CT Main Street districts, making the Main Street initiative one of the most successful economic development programs in the country. For more information, visit www.ctmainstreet.org.