Becoming a Main Street City

With the establishment of Swiss Bear in 1979 and a local downtown effort in progress, under the leadership of Mayor Leander Morgan, City Planner David Rowland applied to the NC Department of Natural Resources and Community Development in 1980 for New Bern to be a participant in the state’s new Main Street Program.  In 1981, New Bern, along with Shelby, Washington, Tarboro and Salisbury were chosen out of a field of nearly 200 cities vying for the honor. The NC Main Street staff would provide guidance and encouragement but the degree of success would depend on the leadership invested in the program by the people of New Bern. Intensive training and technical assistance was provided during 1981 and the NC Main Street Center was available for follow-up consultation for two years. 

Based on the successful and comprehensive revitalization strategies developed in the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s three original pilot towns in the 1970’s, the Main Street program’s goal is to encourage economic development within the context of historic preservation.

The Main Street Program combines four elements to create a well-balanced program.*

• Organization: Building partnerships to create a consistent revitalization program and    develop effective management and leadership downtown. Diverse groups - merchants,    bankers, public officials, chamber of commerce and civic groups - must work together to improve downtown.
• Promotion: Re-establishing downtown as a compelling place for shoppers, investors, and visitors. This means not only improving sales but also rekindling community excitement and involvement. Promotion ranges from street festivals to retail merchandising, from community education to marketing and public relations.
• Design: Enhancing the visual quality of the downtown. Attention is given to the downtown  environment elements – not just buildings and storefronts but also public improvements, rear entries, signs, landscaping, window displays and graphic materials.
• Economic Restructuring: Strengthening the existing economic assets of the business district while diversifying its economic base. Activities include conducting market analysis to understand the changing market place, adapting vacant buildings that have outlived their original purposes for use as entertainment or cultural facilities and sharpening the competitiveness of Main Street’s traditional merchants.

The initial step was the visit of a resource team of five consultants for a three day evaluation and meetings with local leaders and elected officials. The following is a summary of their final report presented to citizens as a framework for New Bern’s revitalization effort.

• David Rowland and Kay Williams (Swiss Bear’s newly hired executive director) should serve as co-project managers for New Bern’s Main Street Program.
• The local government should continue to support Swiss Bear financially for at least the     next three years.
• The city government and Swiss Bear should establish goals and objectives and a year    by-year schedule of improvements in the central business district.
• Swiss Bear should expand its activities in the areas of promotion, recruitment and retention of businesses, development of a revolving fund and a low interest loan-pool and facade improvements.
• Swiss Bear and the merchant's association should work together closely.
• The Chamber of Commerce should pursue a more aggressive tourism program in conjunction with the Main Street project.
• The off-street parking areas need to be improved with paving and landscaping.
• Street and traffic lights need to be improved.
• Facade and sign improvements must be implemented as soon as possible.
• The urban renewal area should be treated as a natural extension of downtown.
• The urban renewal area should be developed for housing rather than office or commercial use.
• The community needs to adopt a sophisticated development approach to fill vacant buildings and upper floors.    

The City, County and the Swiss Bear board formally adopted the Main Street approach as its strategy for downtown’s revitalization effort and served as a pivotal role in the organization of the local Main Street Program. By emphasizing the Main Street theme of self-help, the program provided the framework and opportunity for the merchants, the city and county government and the business community, everyone who had a vested interest in downtown, to come together.

Like all plans/reports, the recommendations were meant to suggest appropriate and effective steps in developing a program of achievable goals and objectives. Decisions by the public and private sector over the long term on development and redevelopment decisions provided a unified sense of direction for downtown’s future. Thanks to the energy and leadership invested in the program by Swiss Bear, the City, County, Chamber of Commerce, other nonprofit organizations and the citizens of New Bern over the past 35+ years, New Bern’s downtown effort is widely recognized in the state and nation as an award-winning Main Street success story.

Strategies and projects will be related in future columns.

*The NC Main Street Program is under the Dept. of Commerce. www.nccommerce.com

Kudos to Jan Francouer, A Main Street Champion

Jan Francoeur
Owner of Carolina Creations

On Thursday, January 31, Janet Francoeur, owner of Carolina Creations will be recognized by the Secretary of the NC Department of Commerce as a 2012 Main Street Champion at the NC  Main Street Annual Awards ceremony in Salisbury.

As a member of the NC Main Street Program, Swiss Bear is given the opportunity annually to recognize a local Main Street Champion…a person who brings fresh ideas to downtown, is a reliable volunteer for a downtown special event, is a creative building owner whose renovation respects the architectural and history significance of the structure and is committed to the downtown privatization effort.

Jan Francoeur fits the description, for sure. Well-known, well-liked, an innovative entrepreneur, Jan and her husband own a business which is a recognized downtown destination. She and Michael are downtowners through and through.

We appreciate the many contributions of time and talent Jan has contributed to the downtown effort and are happy to add her name to the list of the many other Main Street Champions.

Susan Moffat-Thomas

Executive Director

Main Street Organizations/Public Funds

I thought readers would find the following information interesting in regard to what other NC Main Street programs receive in appropriations from local government.

Of the 55 Main Street cities recently surveyed by the NC Main Street Center, 49 receive city funds. Twenty of the cities have a population of 10,000 and under. The population of the cities range from 2,000 to 59,200, with an average budget of $166,021 ranging from $13,000 - $686,790.

Fifty percent of the cities are within the City structure as a department. City staff with full city benefits operate the quasi-public/private partnerships 501c3.

Others are 501c3 nonprofits like Swiss Bear, who work in partnership with the city but are separate entities and are responsible for all operating costs and projects. They receive appropriations from the City and in many cases, from the County.

The nonprofits in cities of comparable size to New Bern that receive funding from the city’s general fund or municipal district tax fund (or both) in addition to other sources are: 

   Garner (25,745 population)        

            $75,000 General Fund (GF)

   Kinston (22,360 pop.)                  
            $105,800  GF  -   $55,000  MSD --  Total budget $394,485

   Salisbury (32,000 pop.)            
            $98,000 GF -  $133,000 MSD -- Total budget $291,700

   Shelby (21,366 pop. )             
            $33,500 GF - $120,000 MSD -- Total Budget $211,800

   Goldsboro (40,000 pop.), a Main Street city since 1984 is a quasi
   public/private partnership. City staff operates the nonprofit
   Wayne   County Downtown Development Corp. Their annual
   budget is $686,790.

   Sanford (28,094 pop.) has the same arrangement as Goldsboro, a
   quasi public/private partnership operated by City staff with a 
   budget of $458,768. 

The revitalization and on-going development of a city’s downtown creates jobs, attracts new businesses, increases the tax base, expands and creates numerous events and festivals and up-grades public infrastructure benefiting all of the residents in the City and County.

Cities fund their Main Street Programs because it is a sound investment.

Your comments are welcomed.

Susan Moffat Thomas

Executive Director

Meeting Accreditation Standards

We were just notified, Swiss Bear Downtown Development Corporation has received accreditation again, as a National Main Street Program, for meeting the commercial district revitalization performance standards set by the National Trust Main Street Center®.

The NC Main Street Center, under the Department of Commerce, evaluated our organization’s performance in 2011 and determined we met the criteria and all ten performance standards. These standards of performance help keep the Main Street Program strong and focused state-wide and nationally.

The ten standards of performance Swiss Bear met for accreditation are:

·  Having a broad-based community support for the commercial

    district revitalization process, with strong support from both the

    public and private sectors.

·  Developed  vision and mission statements relevant to community

    conditions and to the local Main Street ® program’s

    organizational stage.

·  Have a comprehensive Main Street ® work plan.

·  Possess and exhibit a historic preservation ethic.

·  Have an active board of directors and committees.

·  Have an adequate operating budget.

·  Have a paid professional program manager.

·  Conduct a program of ongoing training for staff and volunteers.

·  Report key statistics.

·  A current member of the National Main Street Network®

    membership program. Information about the National Trust Main Street Center

Established in 1980, the National Trust Main Street Center® helps communities of all sizes revitalize their older and historic commercial districts. Working in more than 2,200 downtown's and urban neighborhoods over the last 30 years, the Main Street program has leveraged more than $53.6 billion in new public and private investment.  Participating communities have created 448,835 net new jobs and 104,961 net new businesses, and rehabilitated more than 229,164 buildings, leveraging an average of $18 in new investment for every dollar spent on their Main Street district revitalization efforts.

Susan Moffat Thomas
Executive Director

Creating A New Market ... It Takes A Community

The downtown effort has been a combined effort of many groups to achieve desired development goals and objectives. Over the past three decades, Swiss Bear worked with many civic groups and non-profits who joined in the effort to expand the tourist trade.  Tryon Palace placed new emphasis on marketing to increase the number of visitors.  The New Bern Historical Society, New Bern Preservation Foundation, New Bern Area Chamber of Commerce and the Craven Arts Council and Gallery joined the effort.  A National Register and local historic district was established and a Historic District Commission created.  Historic neighborhoods were rehabilitated and old home tours were developed.  The Chamber of Commerce opened a Visitors Information Center which led to the creation of a Tourism Development Authority and a hotel/motel room occupancy tax to support tourism programs.  Swiss Bear and the City became participants in the National Main Street Program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation which emphasized the preservation and restoration of the City’s historic assets.  Swiss Bear supported and worked with the Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture Extension Service to construct a Farmer’s Market in the downtown area which operates year round. As tourism numbers grew and meeting space was in demand, the County constructed the New Bern Riverfront Convention Center in 2000. In 2010, visitor spending generated $108.3 million.

Susan Moffat-Thomas

Executive Director