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Mayor: Winston-Salem Will See More Small Businesses And Fewer Corporations In Future

photo credit: Paul Garber -- Winston-Salem mayor Allen Joines

Downtown Winston-Salem has undergone a major transformation over the past decade. Some might say it's thriving. 

Mayor Allen Joines says there's been more than a billion dollars in investment in the city center over the past 15 years.  He jokingly calls it Winston-Salem's 20-year overnight success. But he admits there's more work to be done.

WFDD's Keri Brown sat down with Joines to talk about the latest downtown projects and what he sees for the future.

In five years for instance, we want Winston-Salem to be one of the top 50 metro areas in the country, which means we have to increase the level of job creation here,” says Joines.

“If you look out a little more to the 10 to 15 year window I think you will see Winston-Salem as a city that's growing on entrepreneurship, smaller companies growing and starting here.  We won't see as many large corporations here 10 or 15 years from now because the economy is changing that way,” adds Joines.

The city is also looking at partnering with existing businesses and organizations to help jumpstart various accelerator programs for entrepreneurs.

When asked about other economic development projects in the works, Joines says one to keep an eye on is the proposed Brookstown District development around the BB&T baseball stadium. The mixed-use center would include retail and housing.

Another major focal point is the former Whitaker Park site. Earlier this year, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. donated its Whitaker Park campus to Whitaker Park Development Authority Inc. (WPDA), a nonprofit 501(c)3 corporation created in April 2011 by Winston-Salem Business Inc., the Winston-Salem Alliance and Wake Forest University.

Joines expects a major tenant announcement for Whitaker Park sometime next year.

But one major game changer for the downtown has been the development of Wake Forest Innovation Quarter.

"There are hundreds and hundreds of people employed there and revitalization projects like these were made possible by tapping into historic tax credits and other incentives," says Joines.

"We've got a lot of people in the city and community working hard rebuild after we lost a lot of manufacturing and industry. Those investments are now paying off," he adds.

As for managing the growing pains of economic development with more people living downtown and the expansion of the entertainment district, Joines says the city will continue to have conversations with business owners and residents.

He says one recent compromise involved street musicians and the hours of operation. The city made changes recently to its noise ordinance to create some guidelines, especially during late hours.

*Follow Keri Brown on Twitter @kerib_news

 

Keri Brown is a multi-award winning reporter and host at 88.5 WFDD. She has been honored with two regional Edward R. Murrow awards for her stories about coal ash, and was named the 2015 radio reporter of the year by the Radio Television Digital News Association of the Carolinas (RTDNAC).Although she covers a variety of topics, her beats are environmental and education reporting.Keri comes to the Triad from West Virginia Public Broadcasting, where she served as the Chief Bureau Reporter for the Northern Panhandle. She produced stories for the state's Public Television and Radio programs and was honored by the West Virginia Associated Press Broadcasters Association for her feature and enterprise reporting.She also served as an adjunct instructor at Wheeling Jesuit University and Bethany College in West Virginia. She worked with the Center for Educational Technologies in Wheeling, WV, and other NASA centers across the country to develop several stories about the use of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) concepts in the classroom.Keri's journalism career began at WTRF-TV 7 in Wheeling. She worked in several roles at the station, including the head assignment editor. She also was a field producer and assignment manager at WPGH-TV Fox 53 in Pittsburgh.Keri is a graduate of Ohio University. When she's not in the studio or working on a story, she enjoys watching college football with her family, cooking, and traveling.Keri is always looking for another great story idea, so please share them with her. You can follow her on Twitter @kerib_news.

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