About Downtown Garner
About Downtown Garner
Downtown Garner is the historic heart of the community—originally shaped by the railroad and local commerce, and today a walkable, welcoming district where small businesses, events, and civic life come together. While the downtown continues to evolve, it remains rooted in its small-town character, historic buildings, and strong sense of place.
Downtown Garner Association (DGA)
Founded in 2005, the Downtown Garner Association (DGA) leads efforts to strengthen and revitalize Historic Downtown Garner. Working in close partnership with the Town of Garner, local businesses, property owners, and community stakeholders, DGA focuses on economic vitality, reinvestment, promotion, and placemaking to ensure downtown remains a thriving destination for residents and visitors alike.
DGA develops a Plan of Work each fall during the board’s annual retreat to set priorities for the coming year. In addition, the Historic Downtown Garner Plan (2010) and the North Garner Plan (2003), developed with input from the community and adopted by the Town of Garner, continue to provide a long-term vision for this area.
2026
Board of Directors
MARY SMALLING
STEVE CICCI
KELVIN STALLINGS
TORREY BEATTY
KATHY BEHRINGER
KAREN PUNTCH
JOYCE STEPHENs
Main Street Program
North Carolina Main Street Rural Planning Center
The NC Main Street & Rural Planning Center is a Main Street America™ Coordinating Program. Main Street America™ is a program of the nonprofit National Main Street Center, a subsidiary of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. As one of the first Main Street America™ Coordinating Programs designated in 1980, NC Main Street inspires placemaking through building asset-based economic development strategies. The NC Main Street staff is charged by the NC Department of Commerce to facilitate downtown economic development using the Main Street America Four-Point Approach. The Main Street Approach™ focuses on economic development strategies to transform downtown. These strategies articulate a focused path to revitalizing or strengthening a downtown economy. A Designated NC Main Street community’s work is organized around the Four-Point Approach: Economic Vitality, Design, Promotion, and Organization.
Learn more about the NC Main Street & Rural Planning Center
The National Main Street Program | Main Street America™
Main Street America™ has been helping revitalize older and historic commercial districts since 1980. Today it is a network of neighborhoods and communities, rural and urban, that share both commitment to place and to building stronger communities through preservation-based economic development. Main Street America is a program of the nonprofit National Main Street Center, a subsidiary of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Main Street America™ is a movement. It is the leading voice for preservation-based economic development and community revitalization across the country. Made up of small towns, mid-sized communities, and urban commercial districts, Main Street America represents the broad diversity that makes this country so unique. Working together, the programs that make up the Main Street America network help to breathe new life into the places people call home.
Learn more about Main Street America
Community Engagement
The Community Engagement committee builds on the DGA’s role as the downtown advocacy ORGANIZATION to create a strong foundation for a sustainable revitalization effort, including cultivating partnerships, community involvement, and resources for the district.
Event
Planning
The Event Planning committee uses the principles of PROMOTION to position Garner’s downtown district as the center of the community and hub of economic activity, while creating a positive image that showcases the community’s unique characteristics.
Design &
Public Art
The DESIGN & Public Art committee supports Downtown Garner’s transformation by enhancing the physical and visual assets that set the commercial district apart.
Downtown Development
The Downtown Development committee is modeled on ECONOMIC VITALITY, which focuses on economic and financial tools to assist new and existing businesses, catalyze property development, and create a supportive environment for entrepreneurs and innovators that drive the local economy.