Blog: Investing in North Carolina's Main Streets

Statement

Blog: Investing in North Carolina's Main Streets

Earlier this week, we announced grants to eight small towns across North Carolina to help them revitalize their downtowns. Downtown is the heart and soul of a community. Revitalize downtown and the community comes to life.

I've seen it happen in my hometown of New Bern, where in the 70s downtown didn't have much more than dusty streets and boarded-up storefronts. But a few people with big ideas saw great potential to breathe new life into New Bern's downtown and these days New Bern is bustling.

Today I visited Burlington, one of the eight grant award winners. Burlington's "Main Street Solutions" grant will help open the Company Shops Market on E. Front St. Initially the project will create 25 full-time and part-time jobs and 59 construction jobs at a time when jobs are precious. But those jobs are just the beginning.

The Company Shops Market will be a shot in the arm for downtown Burlington, as it draws more foot traffic and more customers to local businesses -- sparking a Main Street renaissance. In the past several months a dozen or more businesses have opened nearby and the market isn't even open yet.

That's the type of small town/small business revitalization I want to see throughout North Carolina. We are making it happen in eight small towns this week, but I want to continue to invest in Main Streets across the state.

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