[peaceful acoustic music]
- [Doug] Marion used to be heavily textiles.
And the textile industry really just disappeared
several years ago and it left a very difficult time
for the locals.
- So Marion took a terrible hit with that.
- [Cody] And downtown Marion was
not a very nice place to be.
- They're starting to pick up the pieces
and starting to create a new identity for the town.
- [Voiceover] The new identity on main street
is a direct result of a downtown revitalization plan
created by the Marion Business Association.
That program is called GEM, an acronym
for Growing Entrepreneurs Marion.
- [Steve] Over the years,
like everybody else, we kept searching for the magic
formula that would make our downtown thrive once again.
- [Mike] And this program helps a new business owner,
someone who's never ran a store or a restaurant before,
it helps 'em get started in the business.
It tells them what they need to do,
what they need to know.
- [Freddie] We knew that we needed
to grow our own entrepreneurs and our own business owners
because there wasn't a, it wasn't a destination
for people to come and start a business.
- They set you up with resources
and gave you the confidence to start fresh and start anew.
- [Freddie] In creating the Growing Entrepreneurs Marion,
our GEM program, and helped people
to understand the commitment that is required
to run a business and help guide them through it
and give 'em just a little bit of seed money
was just what we needed to grow those entrepreneurs
and get those people excited about being in downtown Marion.
- Ladies, welcome to The Makery, how are y'all doing today?
- Well. - Good,
so you've selected barn quilt,
one of our favorite projects here.
- [Bruce] I think the revitalization of,
of downtown Marion, is just due to us getting some different
businesses in downtown.
And the willingness to work together
to make downtown a better place.
- [Voiceover] The new influence of young entrepreneurs
brings new and exciting businesses
that you typically won't find in a smaller community.
- Well have we had mead before?
- No. - Okay.
- No, it's new. - All right, let me tell ya
a little bit about it, we've got--
- [Kathryn] The Meadery is a dream
for my partner Charlie and I.
Started with actually one hive.
We're new, we're different.
There's not another meadery with a tasting room
in close proximity in western North Carolina.
- [Voiceover] In addition to Keeper's Cut Meadery,
visitors will also discover local eateries,
ice cream shops, coffee shops,
a music store, movie theater, tap room,
donuts, arts and crafts, various retail stores,
and a live music venue at the Spillway Bridge Company.
♪ The honey bees buzzing on the breeze ♪
♪ Senoritas and ice cold tea ♪
♪ Sounds like a perfect day to me ♪
- [Freddie] Spillway Bridge Tap Room is a great
entertainment venue with a wide variety of entertainment
that people like to go
because it's always something different.
- Just a good entertaining place for
the citizens of Marion and people of western North Carolina
come in and enjoy some live music.
- [Voiceover] Now that downtown Marion is thriving,
it's not surprising there's always something going on.
- [Freddie] Marion has developed its own identity as being a
town that does a lot of festivals and special events
which has been very exciting.
We have 24 street closure events this year
plus the events that we do that we don't have
to close the street for.
So we have a very, very busy calendar for this year.
- Marion's a town where you feel safe.
And where you can enjoy yourself and
anybody that you meet's going to go out of their way
to be of some help to you.
- [Steve] The thing that sets us apart is people
who have enthusiasm and who have a cooperative spirit.
Here, we work well together.
And I think that's what separates us.
People have a good attitude,
an inspiring and an enthusiastic spirit.
[peaceful acoustic music]
- [Deborah] To find out more about downtown Marion,
go to marionnc.org.