Herkimer Now Ready For Next Step

    It's taken three years but the group Herkimer Now is ready to do more. Currently they are just a committee made up of Herkimer citizens and their goal was revitalizing Main Street but now they're ready to take on bigger tasks and become a non-profit.

Committee Member Stefanie Noble says, "Right now we're just a committee, and we're just a group of people that get together somewhat regularly. If we become a non-profit that allows us to formalize, it allows us to be the group that would go after grants to get some of this work done."

The idea is to become an advocacy group with the focus of improving not just Main Street but the Village of Herkimer as a whole and area businesses agree that it could make a real change.

Area business person Kristie Griffith says, "Oh it would help the whole village, you could get everybody on South Main (Street) and everybody to come and shop, stay local instead of going to Utica or anywhere else." Noble added, "It would be great for people to you know to be able to come and sit outside at a cafe on Main Street. And you know not have to drive as far to do some of the things that families like to do and maybe that does make it like they used to do when they were little, but hopefully we'll have some new and exciting business here and it will be a place that people from outside the area will want to come to."

            Currently Herkimer Now is working with a lawyer to finalize the necessary paperwork to become a not for profit organization.