The author, John Marek, is executive director of the Anson Economic Development Partnership.
On Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, nationally recognized downtown development consultant Hilary Greenberg visited Wadesboro and met with local community leaders, elected officials, business people and property owners to discuss the uptown and offer suggestions for how we can continue and expand upon the recent growth in Wadesboro. The visit was a continuation of Governor Cooper’s Downtown Strong program and was made possible by a grant from the N.C. Rural Center.
Greenberg said the fact that we received the grant is confirmation that we are on the right track, as they were only made available to communities that had already made significant progress toward downtown revitalization. In particular, she noted the REV Uptown project as an unusually innovative and forward-thinking venture for a town of Wadesboro’s size.
As far as suggestions for continued progress, Greenberg conducted a “leakage” analysis which identifies specific retail categories which would be a good fit for the uptown.Those included grocery and specialty food, sporting goods, variety stores and home decor. These findings were generally consistent with the categories we have been promoting to potential business owners.
In her meetings with property owners, the key issue raised was the cost of renovation relative to the potential return on that investment. In future visits, Greenberg plans to work with those owners to find sources of funding which can help defray those costs and make a stronger business case for investment.