Other Benefits

We offer many other benefits for being in the Main Street District that you won't find in other parts of Toccoa, and in other cities! Take a look at the comprehensive list below. We would love for YOU to locate your business downtown.

• Free Design Work: Main Street Toccoa works with the Georgia Department of Community Affairs’ Downtown Design Studio and will pay the fees for any exterior design renderings if you are interested in applying for a façade grant.
• Free Main Street Toccoa Membership: Unlike many other cities in the State of Georgia, which require you to pay an annual fee to be a part of their Main Street programs, simply locating in Historic Downtown Toccoa means you are part of the Main Street district and all the benefits associated with it!
• Free Advertising Opportunities: Main Street Toccoa releases several different publications on a revolving basis. Being located in Downtown Toccoa means you have the opportunity for free advertising. This includes:
  • Weekly Update: As a downtown business, you are entitled to free advertising in our email blast weekly update, distributed to over 1,400 individuals every week. Send us your ad or special to be featured at no cost.
  • Bi-Monthly Newsletter: Every other month, our office distributes 950 newsletters to our downtown businesses and tourism destinations in Northeast Georgia. Each newsletter includes a special business spotlight. We’d love to feature your business at no cost.
  • Living on Main Street Tourism Magazine & Downtown Directory: Every year, our office prints 4,000 high-quality 36-page gloss paper magazines. Magazines are distributed to tourism destinations across the State of Georgia, including the state’s Visitor Information Center (VIC) on I-85 in Lavonia. These professionally-designed magazines feature articles and tourism information regarding Toccoa-Stephens County. We also hire a professional photographer to come and take photographs of our downtown businesses to be featured in the magazine. The magazine also includes a full business directory organized by type that will include your business, number, and email address, for no cost.
  • Downtown Toccoa Historic Plaque Walking Guide: Every year, our office prints 500 high-quality gloss paper booklets that are distributed to tourism destinations across the State of Georgia, including the VIC on I-85 in Lavonia. This booklet includes descriptions and historic photographs of our downtown buildings as they were and as they are. In addition to the booklet, full narratives are placed on our official website and a plaque dedication is held for each plaque when placed that is covered by local media. If you don’t have a plaque on your building yet, contact us about receiving a FREE bronze historic plaque. We’ll do all the work!
  • Downtown Toccoa Walking Guide: Every year, our office prints several hundred pamphlets that promote the things to do and places to see in Downtown Toccoa. This walking guide includes a professionally-designed business listing and map. Being located in Downtown Toccoa means you are included at no cost.
  • Downtown Toccoa Directory Listing: The City of Toccoa owns the downtown passageway where the public restrooms are located. This passageway is also home to a large map of Downtown Toccoa with a business directory and listing. This map is updated yearly, and your business may be located on it at no cost.
  • Ritz Theatre Advertising: Main Street Toccoa manages the Historic Ritz Theatre in Downtown Toccoa, a regional events venue that sees over 100 shows annually and that hosts over 20,000 people on a yearly basis. As a downtown business, you have the opportunity to advertise for free on the Ritz screen before any movie being shown. Contact us to find out how!Phone App: We offer free downtown business listing in our Main Street Toccoa phone application, available for iPhones and Android phones.
• Free Booth Space: Main Street Toccoa hosts over 30 yearly events and Downtown Toccoa hosts over 100 events every year, seeing over 80,000 people. For any Main Street event, you have the opportunity for free booth space for simply locating in Downtown Toccoa. A few of these events include:
  • Toast of Toccoa: This annual event features a celebration of the arts, regional wine, and craft beer. It also includes live music, a classic car show, food trucks and vendors, and more. As a downtown business, you are given free booth space in front of your business to sell or advertise for free.
  • Ida Cox Music Series: Every Saturday in June, July, & August, Downtown Toccoa is home to the Ida Cox Music Series, a weekly event series featuring different genres of music. Doyle Street is closed as patrons enjoy good food, beer and wine, and high-quality music. As a downtown business, you have the opportunity to set up a booth to sell or advertise for free.
  • Toccoa Harvest Festival: This annual event sees over 12,000 individuals in Downtown Toccoa over two-days. Featuring hundreds of vendors, food trucks, and live entertainment options, the Harvest Festival is Toccoa’s biggest event. As a downtown business, you have the opportunity to set up a booth to sell or advertise for free.Small Business Saturday: Every year, Main Street Toccoa participates in Small Business Saturday, a celebration of our local brick-and-mortars. At no cost to you, we provide vouchers to the Ritz Theatre that you can give out on that day, contingent upon your own sale thresholds. Each voucher is worth $10, and we provide at least ten to each business that participates.ChristmasFest: This yearly event sees several hundred residents come out for the lighting of the tree, a downtown ice skating rink, caroling, horse-drawn carriages, and more. As a downtown business, you have the opportunity to set up a booth to sell or advertise for free.
• Main Street Website: Our website also includes a business directory of all of our downtown businesses, events, and more. We are proud that our vacancy rate in Downtown Toccoa is less than 8%. If you feel the need to put any downtown property up for sale, rather if be whole properties or loft apartments, we also have an Available Properties list that we are happy to use to promote your building.
• Main Street Support Structure: Main Street Toccoa is here as a downtown infrastructure to help your business stay successful in Downtown Toccoa. In addition to these aforementioned incentives, we also provide various small business services through the University of Georgia to help you with your business plan, marketing strategies, and more. The Main Street Office is only a call (or very short walk) away, and we want to do whatever we can to help you to be successful!

Please feel free to contact the Main Street Office for more information. Toccoa is the heart of Northeast Georgia, and Downtown Toccoa is the very center of it all. Come be a part of something special!