Economic Development Year in Review 2020-2021

PAWGreensboro LLC $250,000 Urban Development Investment Grant for the redevelopment of 800 Pastor Anderson Way Developers intend to spend $3.6 million to repurpose the building, in the East Market Street Reinvestment Corridor, into a hub for music makers named RhythmWorks and create the equivalent of five full-time jobs. It will include recording studios, rehearsal rooms, video production, editing capability, podcasting rooms, meeting space, and outdoor performance space. Projected completion is in late 2022.

DGI PROVIDES PANDEMIC SUPPORT

PIEDMONT BUSINESS CAPITAL (PBC) TACKLES EQUITABLE LENDING For the sixth consecutive year, PBC received City funding to provide services and loans targeted at micro-businesses – particularly those owned by women and minorities – facing barriers to capital. This year PBC approved $163,700 in loans to 12 businesses to help create 38 jobs and sustain 174 existing jobs. The loans ranged from $3,700 to $25,000. PBC’s current traditional loan portfolio includes 53 loans made to Greensboro businesses. About 93 percent are minority-owned and about 48 percent women-owned.

In response to COVID-19 restrictions limiting indoor capacity, Downtown Greensboro Inc. (DGI) helped 10 restaurants build outdoor seating areas secured with painted barriers and ornamented with planter boxes. To counteract the pandemic, DGI also created a new commercial with

“Open and Safe”messaging and a 12-week campaign that encouraged downtown business patronage through weekly prizes. It also installed a customized digital kiosk at the Tanger Center for Performing Arts to drive visitors to businesses downtown.