Townie Awards

"The Townies," as they have come to be called, is an annual awards dinner and ceremony wherein communities across the Commonwealth are recognized for noteworthy projects, campaigns or events completed during the previous year. Nominees for the awards must be PDC members in good standing but may be nominated by any individual or entity. A specific community or individual may be nominated in more than one category. Historically, the Townies dinner and ceremony is a formal event held on the Tuesday evening of our annual conference.

There are eight categories of entry and some categories have sub-categories. The categories are:

• Organizational Excellence
• Physical Improvement & Design
• Promotions & Marketing
• Economic Restructuring
• White Elephant
• Outstanding Achievements by a Program Manager
• Lifetime Achievement Award (Teri Foster Award)
• Volunteer of the Year Award

Under Organizational Excellence there are two sub-categories for Organizational Development and Community Partnership. The Physical Improvements & Design has five sub-categories, one for Storefronts, Program-Wide, Individual, Public Space Improvements, and Safe & Clean. The category of Promotions & Marketing also has sub-categories, which are General Image, Special Events, and Retail Promotions.

The Awards Guidelines include a description of each category, the process for completing an application, and an application form. These guidelines may be downloaded from the website. If you have any questions about the Townie Awards, please feel free to contact the Pennsylvania Downtown Office at 717-233-4675 or padowntown@padowntown.org.