Nyack Mayor Jen White and Benjamin Moore President and CEO Robert Merritt shared a brush to put the first strokes of paint on the exterior of Irini Wednesday morning as part of the kickoff of the Main Street Matters program in the village.
Nyack is the first of 20 communities across North America to have the exteriors of some of its small businesses painted by Benjamin Moore, a project that is expected to be completed by Oct. 6. Local officials joined representatives of the Montvale, NJ based paint company in Veteran's Memorial Park on Nyack's Main Street to celebrate the start of the painting project.
"It's been a hard time for many downtowns, probably most across our nation, between the recession, crazy weather and in Nyack's case, the wallop of Sandy just about a year ago," White said. "Our downtown merchants are struggling. We all do what we can to support them. I can tell you that three fourths of what I'm wearing, including these fabulous P. Ross shoes, were purchased in our downtown, but it's still a tough time. A gift like this from Benjamin Moore lets us know we are not alone in this struggle. We have friends in corporate America who see the struggle of small business and want to help.
"Our Main Street matters and it is so powerful to have it acknowledged in such a generous way by Benjamin Moore. I can't thank you enough."
"We are active in the communities where we draw our customers," Merritt said. "For us, Main Street Matters is a logical campaign. Last week we had 35 volunteers go repaint the FDNY facility and a year ago after Sandy, we had volunteers going house to house in affected areas, passing out supplies and talking to each individual, so this is our blood and our spirit."
Benjamin Moore will be painting ground level exteriors of businesses on Main Street in Nyack between Broadway and Cedar Street, but the company is also making vouchers for $10 off per gallon of paint for up to 10 gallons to all Nyack small businesses.
"We picked 10 gallons because we think that's enough to complete just about any job in town," said Benjamin Moore Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer David Melancon.
Melancon announced that Benjamin Moore will be bringing in corporate partners with other programs to help Nyack businesses over the next three weeks, though he said he could not say what those will be Wednesday.
"This is the first town," Melancon said. "We have several corporate partners who haven't jumped in yet because they said get Nyack off the ground and we'll be there.
"I can tell you it is part of revitalizing Main Street. A coat of paint is a first step because it's a beautification process, but it's also about helping businesses be better small businesses. Helping them attract more customers. Helping them understand how to compete in this marketplace. We're looking at things that might do all of those things."
Melancon said it was important to start with a community so close to Benjamin Moore's headquarters in Montvale as the first community painted.
"We needed a town to be a pilot," Melancon said. "We needed a town where we could learn. Hilo, Hawaii is also on the list, but we couldn't work with them as easily because they are so far away. Nyack turned out to be the perfect pilot."
Spilatros Painting, the Chestnut Ridge-based contractor Benjamin Moore is using in Nyack, had already said they would offer discounted painting services in the village. White announced Wednesday that Michael Spilatros, the company president, has agreed to paint the entrance to the Nyack Center, something she called "an important and deeply-needed gift."
The village also found a way to connect to the project to Edward Hopper,
"As the home of Edward Hopper, a guy who understood the value of a good coat of paint, we want to present all of you at Benjamin Moore with the Edward Hopper Gold Paintbrush Award, the first ever," White said as she presented a plaque to Merritt.
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