Earlier this week, the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development released annual and cumulative reinvestment statistics for Virginia’s Main Street communities as part of the ongoing “report card” for the Commonwealth.
Marion was welcomed as a Certified Virginia Main Street Community in 1995, and provides monthly reports to the state agency, town council, and the volunteer board of directors for Marion Downtown, the non-profit arm dedicated to revitalizing and strengthening Marion’s historic downtown district.
Marion Downtown covers a 10-block area, from Sheffey Street to Chatham Hill Road, and from Lee Street to Cherry Street. The organization works with the Town’s Office of Community and Economic Development to implement and oversee the “Four Points of Main Street”: Economic Restructuring, Design, Promotions and Events, and Organization. The eleven member volunteer board helps plan annual events, festival and activities, oversees the downtown façade grant program to assist building and business owners with sprucing up their storefronts, assists with recruitment and retention of local businesses within the downtown district, coordinated Grand Openings and publicity for downtown businesses, coordinates the annual “Pop Up Marion” Entrepreneur Boot Camp for new and expanding businesses, and provides marketing and publicity support for downtown businesses.
“We are so blessed to have such a strong local business family, downtown and throughout town,” said Marion’s Director of Community and Economic Development Ken Heath. “It’s these great business owners, along with our property owners and volunteers, that make Marion grow, and these statistics for 2023 and for the 29-year running history of our program are testament to their hard work.”
Currently, Marion’s Downtown District is posting record low storefront vacancies. That’s both good and bad, according to Heath.
“It’s awesome to have nearly every storefront full and so many upstairs repurposed and reused as apartments to let people live downtown,” said Heath. “But it doesn’t give us a lot of options for new businesses that are looking to come join us. It sure keeps us on our toes as we welcome everyone to America’s Coolest Hometown.”
Over the years, Marion’s downtown commercial storefront vacancy rate has reached as high as 20%, according to Heath. But more recent years has seen that plummet to under 4%. “That is a strong indicator of a healthy, vibrant community,” added Heath. “When your downtown is empty, your shopping centers and even residential areas aren’t full either – and empty storefronts without a plan to refill them is the first sign of a struggling town.”
Last year, according to the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development, Marion posted 12 new businesses and those businesses created 41 new jobs downtown. Over $76,000 of private money was reinvested in renovating 15 projects, ranging from basic interior store painting to façade work. The organization partnered with others to host 28 special events, from the annual Chili Cookoff and Hungriest Mother Festival to cruise ins, the Marion Farmers Market, programs and classes at The Henderson School, First Fridays”, and “Second Friday Artwalks”, bringing in over 21,000 people to the downtown. Volunteers helping run these event donated an estimated $30,000 of their time to make it happen.
Cumulatively, since 1995, Marion’s numbers are even more impressive. Nearly $44 million in private dollars and $37 million in public funds have been invested in Marion’s Downtown District, from building rehabilitation to streetscape projects, with 304 private projects and 50 public projects in the books. Through the years, 379 businesses have opened in downtown, creating 1,179 jobs. Of course, not all those businesses survived. “That’s the ‘independent’ part of being an independent business,” said Heath. “We do all we can to help every business succeed, but sometimes they just don’t. So we work to recruit the next business, and start working with them. Overall, we’ve reduced the failure rate of a national average of 80% business failures in the first two years of operation to where over 85% of our local businesses are succeeding past that critical point.”
Marion’s downtown housing market has also changed in those nearly three decades. At the beginning of the program, there were only a handful of single bedroom apartments on the second floor of a few buildings. Now, Marion’s downtown features 120 apartments, ranging from single bedroom efficiencies to loft apartments, even repurposing old factories and warehouses into apartments. “Multiuse is the key for a successful downtown, “ added Heath. “The ability to lease out apartments helps property owners keep up their buildings, and the new tenants add to the critical mass necessary to support a strong downtown business community. They provide the 24/7 need for convenience stores, restaurants, shops and more, and for the consumer, it’s awesome to live just steps away from entertainment, dining, festivals and all the vibrancy downtown delivers.”
With only a month and a half into the new year, Marion’s downtown has welcomed three new businesses, with more on the way. A bakery, a ballet studio and a yoga studio have opened, and a new restaurant inside the General Francis Marion Hotel is set to open in the next month.
“We’re always excited to help, to work with our current business family to grow, and to welcome new businesses to town,” said Heath. “We’re fortunate that our setup allows us to concentrate on all businesses, from downtown to the shopping centers to the standalones anywhere in the town limits, and we’re always excited to see each and every one of them succeed. We’ve got great partners in the Smyth County Economic Development department, the Chamber of Commerce of Smyth County, the Smyth County Tourism Association, Hungry Mother State Park, the Lincoln Theatre, Emory & Henry College, Blue Ridge Job Corps, Wytheville Community College, the Marion EDA. our mayor and town council, our property owners, business owners and their employees, our tourists and especially our community – and these numbers show just what can happen when we all come together and work to build. These are exciting times, and the best is yet to come!”
For more information on Marion’s downtown program, or on information on how you can open your business in “America’s Coolest Hometown”, contact Ken Heath, Director of Community and Economic Development for the Town of Marion, at (276) 378-5026 or email [email protected].
