Former Urbana resident John Bry has been elected to serve on the Main Street Leadership Council by 46 of his national peers for a three-year term.

Bry will serve alongside other elected national level Main Street coordinators from New Mexico, Washington, Louisiana, Iowa, Pennsylvania, Alabama, Vermont, Colorado, South Carolina and Minnesota. The role of the national Main Street Leadership Council is to serve as an advisory board and provide guidance to the board, staff and leadership of Main Street America.

The organization is comprised of over 1,600 Main Street communities and 46 coordinating level programs such as the one Bry leads in Oakland County, Michigan. Main Street America was founded in 1980 as a preservation-based economic development program to revitalize downtowns across the U.S.

Tipp City, Piqua and Troy are designated Ohio Main Street communities nearby.

Bry has been the Administrator of Local Business Development and Program Coordinator for the Oakland County, Michigan, Main Street Program for the past eight years. The Oakland County Main Street Program is 24 years old, and serves 28 different Main Street communities, ranging in population from 400 to 60,000.

Oakland County has a population of 1.3 million covering 900 square miles (roughly the size of Rhode Island). Twelve of Oakland County’s downtowns are nationally accredited in Main Street, and two are Great American Main Street Award winners.

Oakland County is the only countywide Main Street Coordinating Program in the United States. Most coordinating programs in the country are at a state level, as found in Ohio through Hertiage Ohio, with some major cities also having their own coordinating program, such as Boston and Orlando.

Bry leads a staff of 7, including a staff architect. The Oakland County Coordinating Main Street Program provides funding and technical support on everything from small business development in downtowns, market analysis, training, design services, and organizational development at no cost to their communities. The program is housed with the Oakland County Economic Development Office.

During Bry’s tenure, the Main Street Program in Oakland County has grown to its largest number of communities, the biggest budget, and has the most partnerships in program history. Oakland County Main Street is also leading the conversation nationally for advanced downtowns called “Main Street Next Gen,” and launched the first Main Street-oriented shopping platform in Michigan for Main Streets. Bry also led the effort to gain $5 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding for 12 Oakland County communities to complete transformative public space projects in their downtown districts.

Bry is nationally certified in Main Street development, and has served as a local downtown director, including for Urbana from 2000-2004 over his 30-year career. Years later, Bry introduced the developers of Flaherty-Collins to Urbana to renovate the historic Douglas Hotel and North and South Elementary Schools. Bry is one of the three Founders of the Champaign County Preservation Alliance, and his late mother Connie led the establishment of the Historic Home and Garden Tour now in its 30th year.

In 2023, Bry became the fifth person in the U.S. to receive the Mary Means Main Street Leadership Award, which is the highest honor in the nation recognizing excellence in leadership in the downtown development and preservation profession.

Bry spends some time in Urbana and volunteers with the Barbara Howell Park Conservancy, the Urbana Black Heritage Festival, working to place Oak Dale Cemetery on the National Register of Historic Places and maintains a Facebook Page called “Historic Urbana” where he researches and writes about Urbana’s rich heritage.

He is also is engaged in consulting work in Indiana and New York. Bry considers Urbana his “second hometown” and enjoys spending time locally when time permits.

Submitted by John Bry