Business View Magazine | February 2019

to us.” Short adds, “Given the fact that Kinston has an older built environment, we do have op- portunities in the way of historic tax credits, and we always encourage business owners to take advantage of that.We also have some programs with the EPA, which can help put tax incentives on properties that have been cleaned up through the Brownfields Program.” As Kinston’s leaders look toward the future, Sears relates that the city is looking to attract Millen- nials and other young people “who want to be part of something that’s new–not an add-on to some other metropolitan area. They want to help create, to help build, to be the foundation that a community grows on,” he states. “That’s where Kinston is; that’s who we are. And for those people, we can’t tell you how excited we are about those individuals.We’re at the beginning; we’re starting that transition and the people who are interested in Kinston are people who want to be a part of our success story.” PREFERRED VENDOR ConsignedDesigns - www.sgallaher1.wixsite.com/consigneddesigns The concept of consignedDesigns came about because I love to refurbish old furniture and bring it back to its original glory “with a twist.” I started out small, renting booths and moving to small consignment shops but soon had enough vendors to move into the original Belk building from the 50s, a large 10,000 sq ft storefront. It has been very exciting being a part of Kinston’s downtown revitalization, selling, renting booths to local artisans and helping the community decorate their spaces. 195