By Natalie M. Zeigler
City Manager
From new construction to new renovation to established businesses gaining new management, downtown Hartsville has become a hotbed of fresh entrepreneurship in recent memory. We’re only getting started, however, because the Start-Up Hartsville business competition, a program which offers $12,000 in rental assistance to winners as well as guidance for planning out a business, is now accepting another round of applicants just as its initial winners are opening their doors in our historic business district.
Start-Up Hartsville is partially the product of the downtown development organization Main Street Hartsville, an entity which has lately been pushing everything from special promotions and collaborations among businesses to events and grants for new signage and exterior paint. The Duke Energy Center for Innovation, also collaborating to bring us the Start-Up Hartsville competition, has been helping entrepreneurs turn dreams into practical operations since 2013. Its first graduate business, FME Nuclear Solutions, LLC, opened its office in our downtown last year.
In the spring, the first round of Start-Up Hartsville threw open an amazing opportunity to Hartsville’s business-minded innovators, not just to win the prize money to be used in opening a storefront but also to workshop their concepts with a panel of experienced entrepreneurs as they advanced through the competition. Of the two winners, the handmade accessory boutique Seersuckergypsy has already opened at 211 N. Fifth St., and the refurbished furniture shop/wine bar Retrofit sip-n-seat will soon open on Mantissa Row.
Although those startups won the privilege of launching their ventures with a boost from prize money, they weren’t the only winners of Start-Up Hartsville. Finalists Brian and Wanda Forté impressed the crowd with their ideas for dinner theater at the proposed MezzoForté Restaurant during the final presentations and left with the cash prize for the People’s Choice Award. Another Start-Up Hartsville finalist, The Grooming Lounge, an upscale barber service owned by Brian Ham, expanded upon its unique vision during the competition process and will cut its ribbon and open its door at 114 W. Carolina Ave on Oct. 31.
Even without the Start-Up Hartsville competition, the entrepreneurial landscape of downtown Hartsville has fundamentally shifted for the better. Still, the upcoming round holds the promise of more great things to come, and more opportunities for those wanting to invest in Hartsville’s livelihood.
The competition application may be found at www.mainstreethartsville.org/start-up-hartsville/. Applications are due Dec. 7, with winners determined next February, who must then open in downtown next July. Eligible entries include more than just new startups; they also include existing businesses wanting to enter new markets and even established businesses looking to move to Hartsville. Many commercial enterprises have invested in Hartsville recently, but we are always glad to see more still contribute to our community.
Natalie Zeigler is the City Manager of Hartsville. For more information, call City Hall at 843-383-3015 or email info2@hartsvillesc.gov.