MOULTRIE, Ga. — The Moultrie Main Street Program was named a quarterfinalist late Monday in the 2016 Independent We Stand “America’s Main Streets” contest.

Independent We Stand, a national small business movement, invites the public to vote for their favorite quarterfinalist and move a deserving Main Street one step closer to the grand prize of $25,000.

“Downtown Moultrie is the HEART BEAT of Moultrie/Colquitt County, Ga.,” according to a press release from Moultrie Main Street announcing the contest. “The Moultrie Main Street Program has been an increasing economic engine for the community. In 2015, 45 jobs were created in Downtown Moultrie. Both city and county governments have made substantial investments in downtown including new construction and major renovation projects. Over the past 20 years, over $13 million has been invested through public and private projects including renovations of our 114 year old courthouse, which was voted ‘prettiest courthouse’ in the State of Georgia.

“Moultrie’s Main Street Program works closely with the very active Downtown Moultrie Merchants Association and The Downtown Development Authority in order to foster and develop growth in the district. Each year, over 20 events are held in the downtown area bringing in over 50,000 visitors to our unique town,” the press release said.

“It is very humbling to be one of the top 25 in this contest,” said Moultrie Main Street Director Amy Johnson.  “We are asking everyone to log on to www.mainstreetcontest.com each day and vote for Moultrie Main Street.”   

“The goal of this inaugural Independent We Stand ‘America’s Main Streets’ contest is to promote the importance and strong economic benefits of Main Streets and the small businesses that help them thrive,” says Independent We Stand co-founder Bill Brunelle. “We are so pleased to see how passionate people are about their Main Streets. It’s evident by the broad range of nominations we saw representing 44 states in the first round. Now, it’s time to rally and vote again for these terrific quarterfinalists.”

 More than 150,000 votes were cast for 253 nominees during the nominations phase. The quarterfinalists in alphabetical order are:

• Ames Main Street Cultural District, Ames, Iowa

• Cedar Lee Business District Ohio, Cleveland Heights, Ohio

• Corning’s Gaffer District, Corning, N.Y.

• Dover-Foxcroft Downtown, Dover-Foxcroft, Maine

• Downtown Brookings, Brookings, S.D.

• Downtown Development Authority of the City of Tifton, Tifton, Ga.

• Downtown Laurel, MS, Laurel, Miss.

• Downtown Lynden, Lynden, Wash.

• Doylestown, PA, Doylestown, Pa.

• Gateway to the Great North Woods, Millinocket, Maine

• Grapevine Historic Main Street, Grapevine, Texas

• Historic Downtown Franklin TN, Franklin, Tenn.

• Jacksonville Main Street, Jacksonville, Ill.

• Main Street Greenville, Greenville, Ohio

• Main Street Libertyville, Libertyville, Ill.

• Main Street Madison Indiana, Madison, Ind.

• McKinney Main Street, McKinney, Texas

• Moultrie Main Street, Moultrie, Ga.

• Sterling Main Street, Sterling, Ill.

• Stuart Main Street, Stuart, Fla.

• Third Street, Beaver, Pa.

• Venice Main Street, Venice, Fla.

• Water Street, Gardiner, Maine

• Wellsboro Main Street Pennsylvania, Wellsboro, Pa.

• Woodstock, Georgia, Woodstock, Ga.

 Semifinalist voting began Monday at MainStreetContest.com and runs through May 29.

 The winner of the 2016 “America’s Main Streets” contest will be announced June 3.

Contest prizes include:

• $25,000 grand prize

• STIHL Equipment Certificate for $1,000 worth of STIHL equipment good at any STIHL dealer in the U.S.

• $500 Tire Pros certificate towards a set of Continental tires

• $500 Do it Best Corp. shopping spree

• $500 PPG Pittsburgh Paints shopping spree

• Public relations and social media recognition

• An Alignable small business social media “Neighborhood” on the site

• Special plaque for winner to proudly display