RECRUIT & RETAIN
NEW SPINS ON BUSINESS AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT BY NEIL COTIAUX PHOTOS BY MADELINE G R AY, M I C H A E L C L I N E SPENCER & TERAH WILSON
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HEN RIVERFRONT PARK HELD ITS GRAND OPENING ON JULY 4, THE CITY OF WILMINGTON MARKED ANOTHER MILESTONE IN ITS QUEST TO MAKE THE PORT CITY AN EVEN MORE ALLURING DESTINATION FOR VISITORS.
Six months later but with much less fanfare, civic leaders are celebrating the steady arrival of new businesses that are setting down roots as the pandemic wanes and business leaders select “Wilmington and Beaches” as their home. The region’s increasing popularity with business can be credited to any number of attributes including a comfortable climate, strong work-life balance, the availability of a skilled and knowledgeable workforce in key industries – and, behind the scenes, the hustle of a growing number of economic development professionals. For decades, Wilmington Downtown Inc., the organization that manages the city’s Municipal Services District, had an events-focused mission and produced 15 nights of concerts a year to attract more visitors. But with the Wilson Center’s emergence as a M A G A Z I N E
respected entertainment venue and the amphitheater opening this past July – not to mention live performances at downtown bars and restaurants – it didn’t make sense for WDI to continue focusing on concerts, said Holly Childs, who in January became the organization’s president and CEO. “The board made it clear that they wanted to be more directly involved in downtown transformation,” she said. “We have made a thoughtful and intentional decision this year to get out of the concert-production business and start spending our time and energy on identifying transformative downtown projects to push forward for a better downtown.” While the Port City’s Central Business District is generally defined as “bridge to bridge, river to Fourth,” Childs said, neighborhoods outside the CBD are included in DWI’s planning, and the organization’s leadership is now collaborating with other economic development players to recruit and retain businesses both inside and outside the district. The CBD, which has the same footprint as the Municipal Services District, is currently home to 487 businesses. The occupancy rate for downtown retail stands at 98.1%; office space, 96.1%. “These numbers make a further case for both new construction and adaptive reuse of space,” Childs said.
