Bobbie Theivakumaran, chairwoman of the Metuchen Downtown Alliance, summed up the outpouring of municipal pride occasioned by the town being named a Great American Main Street Award winner. Citing residents’ shared values, Theivakumaran called the victory “a testament to all of these things and the vision that customers don’t need or want to be an algorithm – that downtowns can be a democratizer with programming, events, and experiences like no other.”

The honor was bestowed during the opening plenary of the recent Main Street Now Conference in Boston by Main Street America, which recognizes downtowns for their excellence in community transformation, with criteria including: the strength of the Main Street Program in spurring community transformation; commitment to historic preservation; innovative programming; implementation of cross-sector partnerships; community outreach and stakeholder engagement; and commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.

At the core of this criteria is what is known as the Main Street Approach, which centers on strategies that articulate a focused, deliberate path to revitalizing or strengthening a downtown or commercial district’s economy. Main Street America says a program’s work should be organized around four points: Economic Vitality, Design, Promotion and Organization.

Metuchen was announced among eight semifinalists in September. Main Street America then selected three winners from those semifinalists. The other 2023 winners of the GAMSA award are the River District Association in Danville, Va., and Downtown Florence Main Street in Florence, S.C. The winners are selected by a national jury of industry professionals and local leaders in the fields of economic development and historic preservation.

Metuchen joins just two other New Jersey winners of the award, Westfield (2004) and Montclair (2015), which has been presented annually since 1995, with more than 100 communities honored during that time.

In recognizing Metuchen, Main Street America noted the borough’s welcoming, walkable and inclusive downtown as well as innovative and family programming, such as Lunar New Year, the Hispanic Heritage Celebration, Juneteenth, Pride on the Plaza, Kids Takeover and more, and a core commitment to “Shop Local” initiatives through the hosting of more than 100 retail promotions activities.

And while the small, tight-knit Brainy Borough is riding high after this huge honor, it is important to point out that it was not always this way, even in the not-too-distant past.

Mayor Jonathan Busch, also a resident and business owner in town who became mayor in 2017, stressed to NJBIZ that Metuchen has always been full of potential. But there was a point when it felt like the downtown was faltering with a vacancy rate of more than 20%. He highlighted the “bold and strategic” vision of former council members Jay Muldoon and Allison Inserro who led the push for a dedicated Special Improvement District, using that Main Street Approach, as a way to galvanize the downtown resource and turn things around.

“And the more that we learned about Main Street and the Four Points Approach, we said, ‘now that’s what we need to do,” Muldoon explained in a video that was played at the conference to announce Metuchen’s win, which also told more of the story of how this recognition all came together.

The MDA was established in 2016, and is part of the Main Street New Jersey Program, which is administered by the Department of Community Affairs’ Office of Local Planning Services. Isaac Kremer served as the founding executive director, spearheading many of the efforts that led to this honor. He left the MDA in October, shortly after Metuchen was announced as semifinalist, to serve as executive director of Princeton’s new Special Improvement District, Experience Princeton. In that winning video montage, Kremer also echoed the sentiments about Muldoon and Inserra’s part in not only helping to establish the MDA but making sure it was set up to succeed.

“So, we’re going to build downtown housing by our train station, and we’re going to also set up a Main Street Program,” Kremer explained. “But they said Main Street wasn’t enough. We need a Main Street Program and also stable funding. So, they established what we call a SID – a Special Improvement District. And with that stable funding, but also the passion of the volunteers and the Main Street Approach, that was the formula for revitalizing the town.”

Kremer said the vision when the MDA was established was to make Downtown Metuchen welcoming, walkable and inclusive. “That’s what we set out to do six years ago and that’s what we delivered on in Metuchen,” Kremer said in the video.

“One of the reasons why Metuchen has been so successful is that they have a strategic plan that they use very closely to help guide their actions and where they’re going to focus their resources,” said Gina Fischetti, state coordinator for Main Street New Jersey.

“And sure enough, we’ve seen over 387 apartments, $170 million of investment and 150 business starts in the last six years,” said Kremer.

“Metuchen Downtown Alliance’s ability to leverage the Main Street Approach to achieve such a remarkable change in just seven years is astounding,” said Main Street America interim President and CEO Hannah White. “Their unwavering commitment to transparent organizational leadership, inclusive place activation, and ‘shop local’ community identity provides an inspiring model for success.”

“You almost get emotional thinking about the work that these people put into this town,” said Busch. “There are many volunteers that put these events together that work with the businesses to ensure their success. These things don’t just happen. They happen because people are so dedicated to this place.”

And in that time since the MDA was established, which has also included a life-altering pandemic, that vacancy rate has remarkably dipped to the low single-digits now. Folks around town – from business owners to residents to officials – acknowledge how important the MDA was during the depths of COVID-19 to help keep the downtown afloat.

“If we didn’t have the Metuchen Downtown Alliance during the pandemic, so many of the businesses that we know and love would have shuttered,” said Busch, explaining that many of the grants and funding businesses received were only given to those in SIDs. “In many ways, we established this SID in the nick of time.”

Despite the remarkable progress and huge honor, there is still much more of that potential for Metuchen to tap into with a number of significant projects taking shape throughout the downtown area, including the forthcoming MexiModo restaurant right on the Town Plaza, which officials expect will activate that area; a new Manasquan Bank with the surrounding area to eventually include a pocket park; the potential revitalization of the Forum Theater with a corresponding Arts District; and other new businesses.

“The last thing you want is to win an award in recognition for all the work that’s been done to date and then become satisfied,” Busch explained. “The objective is to have the award assist in propelling you forward to the next level. No one is satisfied with where we are. We want to continue to improve our downtown. There’s lots of unfinished work to do, and there always will be. Because one of the ways Metuchen has been successful over the years is the way it’s been able to maneuver, become nimble, and remain flexible through various economic turns.”

“Downtown Metuchen was designated a Main Street New Jersey District in 2016, and in a relatively short time, with exceptional creativity and organization, has become a leader not only in the New Jersey Main Street community but the National Main Street Community as well,” said Fischetti, who lauded the past leadership of Kremer and the current leadership of Dawn Mackey, who took the helm as MDA executive director in October.

“I had nothing to do with this win. I came in after they were already nominated,” said Mackey. “So, to just bear witness to the culmination of all the hard work that I see these people do. I feel like a proud mama watching them get the accolades they deserve. And I am just so excited that I get to be a part of this team for what’s next.”

Mackey described this honor as a “community win.”

“This could not have happened without the throngs of tenacious volunteers, without the residents who decided to put their money locally, without the businesses who bought into the concept, the property owners who have embraced the refresh,” she said. “So, this is a real community win. And you feel it. You feel the sense of pride.”

And that feeling was palpable throughout Metuchen leading up to, during, and after the announcement.

Each semifinalist had to film a video that would be played if their community won the GAMSA. Several days before the announcement Metuchen held a video and photo shoot, closing Main Street, as huge crowds turned out to show their town pride and celebrate, at that point, a hypothetical win.

From that moment, the buzz continued to grow throughout the borough. And while a contingent of Metuchen representatives attended the conference in person, a watch party of the announcement was held at Che Pizza right on that main Town Plaza, near where the MexiModo restaurant will open this summer.

At a watch party at Che Pizza in Metuchen, the Brainy Borough learns they have been selected as a Great American Main Street Award winner @NJBIZ pic.twitter.com/6OkDFULL2L

— Matt Fazelpoor (@MattyFazNJ) March 27, 2023

“I think it’s huge. This is going to be fantastic for the town,” Michael Schutz, owner of What’s the Scoop ice cream shop on Main Street in Metuchen, told NJBIZ during that watch party.

“It’s an incredible honor. And it’s great to see how other communities across the country will learn about Metuchen, such a small town,” Joanne Cruz, owner of Creative Twist Events and Newmarket and MDA board member, told NJBIZ. “But I think that, again, it’s the amazing work that’s been done by all of the volunteers and the business owners.”

“What it really is a reflection of all the hard work that’s been done downtown,” Metuchen Councilman Daniel Hirsch told NJBIZ. “This is really the culmination of all that effort. It’s been decades of work.”

Gov. Phil Murphy also offered his congratulations. “Huge congrats to @mayorbusch and @MetuchenNow on winning the Great American Main Street Award by @NatlMainStreet,” he tweeted. “Metuchen’s downtown is a magnet for young families and an iconic staple of New Jersey #DiscoverMetuchen.”

Reaction, pride and reflection continue to stream in from all sides of the Brainy Borough, ranging from long-time residents, business owners and volunteers to those newer community members.

“I have lived or worked in Metuchen for almost 60 years now and I can say without hesitation that Metuchen has never been a better place to be around,” said Gary Tilbor, vice chairman, MDA, and owner of SeeMore TV and Appliance Center.

I have lived or worked in Metuchen for almost 60 years now and I can say without hesitation that Metuchen has never been a better place to be around.
– Gary Tilbor, vice chairman, Metuchen Downtown Alliance, and owner of SeeMore TV and Appliance Center

“I moved to Metuchen in 1990 and the downtown has never looked better. It is exciting that Metuchen is being discovered by the outside world,” said Eric Berger, MDA founding chairman, and a Metuchen property and business owner. “For decades, I was involved in discussions about forming a SID, but it took Jay Muldoon to make it a reality. MDA has achieved far more in the past six years than the founding stakeholders ever dreamed.”

“Metuchen’s downtown had a high vacancy rate when my wife and I moved here almost 15 years ago. My wife grew up in the area, and we could see the potential for reinvention that could draw in new families and bring energy to the downtown, so we bet on the borough and bought our home just off Main Street,” said Daniel Cea, chair of the MDA marketing team. “When the Metuchen Downtown Alliance was formed, we immediately volunteered to help.”

“It has been exciting and inspiring to watch and feel part of Metuchen’s growth. Being a part of a small town that focuses on shopping locally, watching the businesses work together and support each with the wonderful diversity that this community represents is what a Great American Main Street is all about,” said Robin Greenberg and Jerry Pasichow, residents and volunteers.

“Since we first opened our doors in late 2019, we’ve been humbled by the warm welcome from the Metuchen community. It’s truly something special to be part of a town that is so supportive of small businesses,” said Elaine Fazaldin, owner of Club Pilates Metuchen/EdisonLAFitness. “We look forward to what the future holds in Metuchen.”

“Being a new business owner in Metuchen also means being a part of a close-knit community. Whether it’s through local events such as the weekly farmers market or simply getting to know our amazing members, or the support of our business neighbors, Che Pizza and Cinnaholics, we quickly found that there’s a sense of camaraderie that makes being a business owner in Metuchen a unique and rewarding experience,” said Erin Garcia, who owns StretchLab Metuchen. Garcia recalled that she received a warm welcome to the community. “There’s a lot of pride in the town and its businesses, and the Metuchen Downtown Alliance creates a supportive network of business owners who are invested in the success of the town as a whole.”

“We were welcomed to the town and the MDA with open arms,” said Erik Diamond, owner of the recently opened Beans and Bread. “Their support and enthusiasm helped make our opening a success. For a small business owner, having this extension to the business is invaluable.