The city of Manning got some great news Friday.
Clarendon’s county seat is one of eight cities and towns in South Carolina to be awarded a $25,000 Hometown Economic Development Grant by the Municipal Association of South Carolina.
The city will use the funds to pay for its Retail Development Initiative, begun earlier this year with the hiring of Retail Strategies out of Birmingham, Alabama.
“Most of it we will apply to our fees for this partnership, and travel to conferences and recruiting shows for our Retail Development Initiative,” said Manning City Administrator Scott Tanner.
City Council approved the initiative in May, and Mayor Julia Nelson and Councilman Clayton Pack traveled to Alabama to train with the company to interact with small retail chains, Tanner said.
Nelson said in May that the training shows the steps to take at nationwide conferences where such chains gather in order to get small towns noticed. She and Pack also traveled to Nevada in May for a larger conference.
“We found out about this international association of small shopping centers from a developer who worked on the Tractor Supply store,” Tanner said. “Councilman Pack went to Charlotte earlier this year and attended a smaller event like the one they attended in Nevada where anything from restaurants to stores to boutiques attend.”
Scott said that, thus far, the city has seen a few leads come from their partnership with Retail Strategies.
“I think it will go well for the city, it’s just going to take some time to see the fruits of it,” he said. “But it’s a worthwhile project, if we want to see growth in this community.”
The Retail Development Initiative is in line with the mission behind the Municipal Association grants, which must be used to implement economic development projects making a positive impact on the quality of life in the awarded communities. The grant program also seeks to promote and recognize innovation in economic development practices.
The Municipal Association board of directors created the program 2015 to fund projects that will produce measurable results, can be maintained over time and illustrate best practices for that can be replicated in other cities.
Along with Manning, the board chose Beaufort, Clinton, Gaffney, Ridgeway, Walterboro, West Pelzer, Pelzer and Williamston for the grants.
Cities and towns receiving the grant must provide matching funds. Matching amounts, determined by a city's population, will range from 5 to 15 percent of the grant award. Cities can use in-kind contributions or other grant funds as their match. Manning City Council provided for $12,000 in the 2016-17 fiscal year budget for the Retail Development Initiative, more than enough to cover the cost of its grant match.
Seventy-six municipalities applied for the grants, which were evaluated by a committee comprised of former local government and state agency professionals.
Manning, like other winning communities, will have to submit reports to the Municipal Association on the progress and success of its chosen project, along with financial details of exactly how the grant funds were used.
"These grants will help our cities and towns continue to strengthen their economic development efforts to attract and retain businesses to downtowns," said Municipal Association Executive Director Miriam Hair.
