Case Studies

Empty Main Street, A Look At Clinton, NC

APRIL 27, 2020 

In April 2020, Hayes Group Consulting reached out to economic development leaders in higher education, on Main Street, and in local and regional roles to discuss the COVID-19 pandemic and how it’s impacting their work. We asked them to share strategies and techniques that are helping them during this crisis and to look into their crystal balls to tell us what they believe some lasting impacts could be.

“Main Street is Desolate.”

Downtown Clinton encompasses approximately 78 acres, or 12 city blocks, and is comprised of a healthy mix of service and retail businesses. As the county seat for Sampson County and with the courthouse sitting in the center of downtown, there are a good number of government-related businesses as well. There are five restaurants and twenty-two retail establishments, with most of them located on their courthouse square.

Like every downtown in the state, the bustling activity of Clinton’s Main Street has been put on hold, a result of the state’s efforts to curb the spread of COVID-19. Their courthouse, which sits in the center of downtown, is closed. Beauty shops, which make up a good portion of many Main Street areas, are closed. Restaurants are pick-up only. Only “loophole businesses,” those able to find a workaround in Governor Cooper’s orders, have been able to keep their storefronts open.

But the scene is not as desperate as it sounds.

According to Mary Rose, the city’s planning director who also manages its Main Street Program, roughly 20% of Clinton’s Main Street operations already had an online presence and, they are still doing good business and will come out on the other side in good shape. Rose is strongly encouraging the other 80% to get an online presence.

Main Street America, a program of the National Main Street Program, recently released results from a nationwide survey of small businesses. In North Carolina, 325 businesses submitted responses. Only 34.50% of those surveyed have an online presence and with 75% of main street businesses having suspended storefront operations, online sales are vital for their survival. Rose, and her partners at the Sampson Community College Small Business Center and the Clinton-Sampson Chamber of Commerce, agree. “More education and assistance related to creating and maintaining an online presence, which is easy to navigate, will be important as we move into the post COVID world,” said Rose.

Nearly 50% of those who responded to Main Street America’s survey report their revenue has decreased by more than 75%. In comparison, 4.90% report normal revenue and one business reported their revenue has increased since COVID-19 became a widespread concern in early March. Should business disruption continue at its current rate, most of the responders fear their business could close permanently in three to five months.

In fact, JP Morgan Chase Institute recently conducted research that shows the median small business has a twenty-seven day cash buffer. That’s less than a month’s worth of resources to keep their doors open. Notable for Main Street? Retail businesses have an estimated nineteen days of cash resources and restaurants have sixteen.

Rose, however, is optimistic about the long-term impacts on her small merchants. When asked which of Clinton’s downtown businesses are most at-risk, Rose answered, “It’s most likely going to be same 20% of businesses who would have closed anyway this year,” referring to the natural turnover that occurs annually on Main Street.

An “open” sign in Downtown Clinton before the Governor’s stay at home orders were issued.

Strong Team, Stronger Communication

Rose is spending most of her time these days checking in on her business owners and partners. Part of the role of a Main Street director is that of lifeline—giving business owners a place to vent, bounce ideas, and even a moment to share their burden. She is checking in on them personally as much as she is finding out what their concerns are and what types of assistance would be most helpful to them right now.

Clinton’s downtown merchants have the same concerns as other Main Street programs in North Carolina: paying the rent, making payroll, their employees’ financial welfare and losing work. What types of assistance are downtown business owners in need of? According to the Main Street America report, it’s mostly information on financial assistance and penalty-free extensions on expenses like rent and utilities. Rose is constantly educating herself, and then her team, on the financial programs being offered by the federal government.

Through her efforts to be knowledgeable on assistance programs being offered small businesses and her constant communication, Rose is establishing her organization as a reliable source of correct information Fortunately, Rose is not alone carrying the burden of outreach. By pushing the knowledge she gains to board members, they are able to assist her in reaching out to each business owner in downtown Clinton. She credits time spent developing a strong board of directors and working committees as the number one thing helping her navigate these trying times, and she is maintaining that strength through constant communication with her partners.

Mary Rose currently serves as the president of the board of directors for the North Carolina Downtown Development Association.

Post-COVID-19 Outlook
for Downtown Clinton

The Clinton Main Street Program is a quasi public-private organization. Their funding comes from multiple sources. The Clinton Development Corporation, their non-profit arm, organizes fundraising efforts to assist with project expenses. The rest of their funding comes from money raised by their downtown municipal service district, which collects a tax from the special district that outlines downtown Clinton.

A lasting impact of the pandemic could be a change to Rose’s budget. With sales tax revenue declining, the budget for the Main Street program could be quite different for the 2020-2021 fiscal year. Rose just won’t know, though, until July how their programming might be affected, including her post-COVID-19 plans.

A surge of local support is having a positive impact on Clinton’s Main Street. Shoppers are showing their loyalty in a big way in an effort to keep downtown Clinton’s businesses alive and well. And this “shop local and loyal” force has Rose already thinking about the post-COVID-19 world. “How do we keep the momentum of supporting our businesses going forward,” Rose asked. Her answer? “Sampson Strong Together,” a promotional campaign aimed at educating citizens on the importance shopping local and loyal will be as they come through the crisis. The campaign is a countywide effort, part of the COVID Task Force that was created by the Clinton-Sampson Chamber and includes representation from Sampson County’s smaller communities. Concludes Rose, “Working together truly benefits us all!”

Sources

http://www.downtownclinton.com/

https://www.nccommerce.com/about-us/divisions-programs/rural-economic-development/nc-main-street-rural-planning-center

https://www.mainstreet.org/blogs/national-main-street-center/2020/04/14/just-released-data-from-the-survey-on-the-impact-o?CommunityKey=c40a84d1-46b2-465c-985c-c08ed69081ab&tab=

https://www.uschamber.com/small-business/small-businesses-5-99-employees-most-vulnerable-permanently-closing-poll-shows

Looking for ways to support your local small businesses in today’s world? Here are just a few options: take a break from the kitchen with pickup from your favorite local restaurant; buy gift cards now to spend later; donate the money from your theatre tickets, memberships, child’s art classes instead of asking for a refund; continue to pay your service providers such as hair stylist; share, share, share posts and promotions from your favorite local businesses on your social media channels. Find these and so many more with a quick “how to help small businesses during coronavirus” search online.

Mary Rose is the planning director for Clinton, NC and also manages their Main Street Program, a national and statewide program that works to stimulate economic development within the context of historic preservation using a comprehensive approach to downtown revitalization. There are nearly 50 North Carolina communities in the program and Clinton is one of the oldest, having been established in 1982.

***MOBILE DESIGN STARTS HERE***

Empty Main Street,
A Look At Clinton, NC

APRIL 27, 2020 

In April 2020, Hayes Group Consulting reached out to economic development leaders in higher education, on Main Street, and in local and regional roles to discuss the COVID-19 pandemic and how it’s impacting their work. We asked them to share strategies and techniques that are helping them during this crisis and to look into their crystal balls to tell us what they believe some lasting impacts could be.

“Main Street is Desolate.”

Downtown Clinton encompasses approximately 78 acres, or 12 city blocks, and is comprised of a healthy mix of service and retail businesses. As the county seat for Sampson County and with the courthouse sitting in the center of downtown, there are a good number of government-related businesses as well. There are five restaurants and twenty-two retail establishments, with most of them located on their courthouse square.

Like every downtown in the state, the bustling activity of Clinton’s Main Street has been put on hold, a result of the state’s efforts to curb the spread of COVID-19. Their courthouse, which sits in the center of downtown, is closed. Beauty shops, which make up a good portion of many Main Street areas, are closed. Restaurants are pick-up only. Only “loophole businesses,” those able to find a workaround in Governor Cooper’s orders, have been able to keep their storefronts open.

But the scene is not as desperate as it sounds.

According to Mary Rose, the city’s planning director who also manages its Main Street Program, roughly 20% of Clinton’s Main Street operations already had an online presence and, they are still doing good business and will come out on the other side in good shape. Rose is strongly encouraging the other 80% to get an online presence.

Main Street America, a program of the National Main Street Program, recently released results from a nationwide survey of small businesses. In North Carolina, 325 businesses submitted responses. Only 34.50% of those surveyed have an online presence and with 75% of main street businesses having suspended storefront operations, online sales are vital for their survival. Rose, and her partners at the Sampson Community College Small Business Center and the Clinton-Sampson Chamber of Commerce, agree. “More education and assistance related to creating and maintaining an online presence, which is easy to navigate, will be important as we move into the post COVID world,” said Rose.

Nearly 50% of those who responded to Main Street America’s survey report their revenue has decreased by more than 75%. In comparison, 4.90% report normal revenue and one business reported their revenue has increased since COVID-19 became a widespread concern in early March. Should business disruption continue at its current rate, most of the responders fear their business could close permanently in three to five months.

In fact, JP Morgan Chase Institute recently conducted research that shows the median small business has a twenty-seven day cash buffer. That’s less than a month’s worth of resources to keep their doors open. Notable for Main Street? Retail businesses have an estimated nineteen days of cash resources and restaurants have sixteen.

Rose, however, is optimistic about the long-term impacts on her small merchants. When asked which of Clinton’s downtown businesses are most at-risk, Rose answered, “It’s most likely going to be same 20% of businesses who would have closed anyway this year,” referring to the natural turnover that occurs annually on Main Street.

An “open” sign in Downtown Clinton before the Governor’s stay at home orders were issued.

Strong Team, Stronger Communication

Rose is spending most of her time these days checking in on her business owners and partners. Part of the role of a Main Street director is that of lifeline—giving business owners a place to vent, bounce ideas, and even a moment to share their burden. She is checking in on them personally as much as she is finding out what their concerns are and what types of assistance would be most helpful to them right now.

Clinton’s downtown merchants have the same concerns as other Main Street programs in North Carolina: paying the rent, making payroll, their employees’ financial welfare and losing work. What types of assistance are downtown business owners in need of? According to the Main Street America report, it’s mostly information on financial assistance and penalty-free extensions on expenses like rent and utilities. Rose is constantly educating herself, and then her team, on the financial programs being offered by the federal government.

Through her efforts to be knowledgeable on assistance programs being offered small businesses and her constant communication, Rose is establishing her organization as a reliable source of correct information Fortunately, Rose is not alone carrying the burden of outreach. By pushing the knowledge she gains to board members, they are able to assist her in reaching out to each business owner in downtown Clinton. She credits time spent developing a strong board of directors and working committees as the number one thing helping her navigate these trying times, and she is maintaining that strength through constant communication with her partners.

Mary Rose currently serves as the president of the board of directors for the North Carolina Downtown Development Association.

Post-COVID-19 Outlook
for Downtown Clinton

The Clinton Main Street Program is a quasi public-private organization. Their funding comes from multiple sources. The Clinton Development Corporation, their non-profit arm, organizes fundraising efforts to assist with project expenses. The rest of their funding comes from money raised by their downtown municipal service district, which collects a tax from the special district that outlines downtown Clinton.

A lasting impact of the pandemic could be a change to Rose’s budget. With sales tax revenue declining, the budget for the Main Street program could be quite different for the 2020-2021 fiscal year. Rose just won’t know, though, until July how their programming might be affected, including her post-COVID-19 plans.

A surge of local support is having a positive impact on Clinton’s Main Street. Shoppers are showing their loyalty in a big way in an effort to keep downtown Clinton’s businesses alive and well. And this “shop local and loyal” force has Rose already thinking about the post-COVID-19 world. “How do we keep the momentum of supporting our businesses going forward,” Rose asked. Her answer? “Sampson Strong Together,” a promotional campaign aimed at educating citizens on the importance shopping local and loyal will be as they come through the crisis. The campaign is a countywide effort, part of the COVID Task Force that was created by the Clinton-Sampson Chamber and includes representation from Sampson County’s smaller communities. Concludes Rose, “Working together truly benefits us all!”

Sources

http://www.downtownclinton.com/

https://www.nccommerce.com/about-us/divisions-programs/rural-economic-development/nc-main-street-rural-planning-center

https://www.mainstreet.org/blogs/national-main-street-center/2020/04/14/just-released-data-from-the-survey-on-the-impact-o?CommunityKey=c40a84d1-46b2-465c-985c-c08ed69081ab&tab=

https://www.uschamber.com/small-business/small-businesses-5-99-employees-most-vulnerable-permanently-closing-poll-shows

Looking for ways to support your local small businesses in today’s world? Here are just a few options: take a break from the kitchen with pickup from your favorite local restaurant; buy gift cards now to spend later; donate the money from your theatre tickets, memberships, child’s art classes instead of asking for a refund; continue to pay your service providers such as hair stylist; share, share, share posts and promotions from your favorite local businesses on your social media channels. Find these and so many more with a quick “how to help small businesses during coronavirus” search online.

Mary Rose is the planning director for Clinton, NC and also manages their Main Street Program, a national and statewide program that works to stimulate economic development within the context of historic preservation using a comprehensive approach to downtown revitalization. There are nearly 50 North Carolina communities in the program and Clinton is one of the oldest, having been established in 1982.