Congratulations to the 2022 Townie Award Winners
Pennsylvania Downtown Center (PDC) recently presented twelve awards during the organization’s annual statewide Townie Awards gala. The Townie Awards are a festive and venerable tradition designed to recognize the commonwealth’s core communities and individuals for creation and implementation of projects, programs and events that exemplify the goals of PDC’s community revitalization mission. Eligible communities consist of Pennsylvania Downtown Center’s nearly 200 member organizations, including Main Street and Elm Street programs, making the Townies a competitive award process each year.
Pennsylvania Downtown Center’s Executive Director, Julie Fitzpatrick, said “Each year we look forward to the Townie Awards presentation for its ability to excite and inspire our members to continue their community revitalization efforts. Our member communities work tirelessly to improve their cities and towns, and we love having the opportunity to applaud them for their efforts.”
The Townie Awards are a part of PDC’s annual statewide conference, which is held in a different commonwealth community each year in order to highlight the respective city or town’s accomplishments in community and neighborhood revitalization. This year’s conference and 35th Anniversary Celebration, held in downtown Harrisburg, was attended by close to 300 individuals and included borough and municipal officials, experts in community planning and landscape architecture, and dozens of Main Street and Elm Street managers.
In addition to the many conference sessions scheduled and the awards dinner, attendees of the conference took advantage of mobile workshops highlighting the city’s various redevelopment projects, bike and pedestrian infrastructure, murals, rain gardens and stormwater management solutions. Garry Gilliam, founder and CEO of the Bridge Ecovillage (and a Harrisburg native and former Seattle Seahawk) delivered the opening keynote on the critical role of investing in urban communities to achieving sustainability targets. Author Philip J. Merrill, CEO and founder of Nanny Jack & Company, an African American heritage consulting business, presented a breakfast keynote titled, “Telling the Fuller Story.”
2022 TOWNIE AWARD WINNERS
Main Street Mount Joy
Organizational Excellence: Community Partnerships
MSMJ Product Development Project
Lansdowne Economic Development Corp.
Organizational Excellence: Community Partnerships
Utility Works Makerspace & Launch Box
NeighborWorks Northeastern PA
Physical Improvements & Design: Program-Wide Façade Restoration
Beautiful Blocks
Downtown State College Improvement District
Physical Improvements & Design: Public Space Improvements
Calder Walkway Lighting Experience
Venture Lititz
Promotion & Marketing: General Image & Identity
Welcome to Lititz: Building a Website
Downtown Pittston Partnership
Promotion & Marketing: Special or Neighborhood Event
Downtown Chambersburg Inc.
Promotion & Marketing: Special or Neighborhood Event
Monongahela Main Street Program
Promotion & Marketing: Retail Promotion
Angelo’s Seasonal Rooftop
Main Street Hanover
Anchor Building
McAllister Hotel Redevelopment
Andrea Goodson
Volunteer of the Year
Main Street Hanover
JoAnn Durante
Volunteer of the Year
Easton Main Street Initiative
Bill Fontana
Teri Foster Lifetime Achievement Award
