Business View Magazine | May 2019

298 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE MAY 2019 Samsung, which is at half staff right now and will reach a potential of 3,000 employees. The downtown core is another scene of forward- thinking development. “We’re very proud of the work we’ve done in the downtown district over the last couple of years,” says DeWitt. “We only have a handful of empty storefronts and with very active and engaged downtown merchants. Most businesses are fairly new and progressive, and the Opera House generates a lot of foot traffic. Our downtown is vital to the city’s success. We’ve spent the last eight years investing in our downtown, making it more pedestrian-friendly - simple things like the addition of benches, nice trash cans, pedestrian way-finding, and bike racks. We also did façade improvements. The City of Newberry can’t physically run the businesses, but we can make downtown a cool place to do business. We really feel that these aesthetic- type cleanups have done that. It’s evident in the amount business investment we’ve attracted.” Bookending the downtown are new apartments – eleven on one end, nine on the other, created above storefronts, which will be made available sometime this summer. Investors are also interested in developing the upper floors in other buildings. Newberry Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Director, Scott Sawyer, speaks to another important demographic: “Retirees – they like to have an entertainment element. Along with the Opera House, we have a booming Newberry Arts Center downtown. It’s in the old hotel that’s being renovated to include second floor apartments and meeting space. We also built a tennis center in the last year-and-a-half that’s very popular. We’re making sure to market that for kids, right up to active older people. Our healthcare offerings have gotten much better, too, many things to attract people who are looking to retire.” Connectivity is a key focus for this growing community. DeWitt reports, “A vital element is the fiber network we’re building. We’ve known for a long time that technology is vitally important pictured above Newberry Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Director, Scott Sawyer