GREENVILLE, N.C. (WITN) - As the holiday shopping season continued on Saturday, the streets of Uptown Greenville were busy with those supporting local businesses.
“Whenever we can, that’s what we like to do,” Greenville residents Scott and Bree Wisseman said. “Since we live here in Greenville, we want to support Uptown and all the local shops here.” The City of Greenville took an extra step to support small businesses by providing a free ride on the Emerald Express Trolley on the shopping route. “The less time you have to spend in your car when you’re in Uptown, the better,” Scott said. “To just be able to park and end walk to hop on the trolley to go anywhere you want to go in town is awesome.” Riders were given gift cards to shop at stores such as the Emerge Gallery, where it was busy. “We’ve have had more folks in the first two hours that we’ve been open than we’ve had in quite a while,” exhibits coordinator Sarah Lazure said. “So, it’s been great!” At the Votre Boutique, the store had a makeover at just the right time. “We actually just moved everything around this morning,” Maggie Knuth said. “So we just want everyone to come in and get a fresh look at all of our new stuff. We get new arrivals every day, all week long. We try to keep everything on the mannequins current and in the windows to draw shoppers back in here.” Business owners said how local support helps more than just their business. “Well, it means we can support our local artists,” Lazure said. “They’re also depending on this, and where the big box chains have backups and shortages, all of our artists are here. They can provide the artwork. It’s a direct result. They get that money back in their pocket and it helps them out with the holiday and the new year as well.”
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WINTERVILLE, N.C. (WITN) - As local businesses compete against national chain stores this Thanksgiving and Black Friday, a business in Winterville hoped to tackle issues, such as the supply-chain crisis, by fully stocking their shelves.
“When it’s just coming from down the road it’s a lot easier than being shipped from far away,” said Justin Lawrence, whose parents own The Village Market on Winterville Parkway. “It’s straight to the source, you get to support your neighbors, and be a part of the community.” The Lawrence family said supporting neighbors is something they prioritize when running a business, with all of their items sourced from North Carolina. “It’s not uncommon for us to have business owners bring their products right in here to us,” said Sarah Lawrence after stocking the shelves with fresh peanut brittle from Jamesville. “It’s basically from the business directly to the store. So, we’re not facing those supply shortages that a big box store may face.” Customers browsed chocolate covered nuts from Goldsboro, barbeque sauce from the Blue Ridge Mountains, and handmade soap from Winterville on Friday. Elizabeth Coghill came to The Village Market as a repeat customer. She wanted a holiday gift for her neighbors today. “You can buy so much online now,” said Coghill. “This is something you can’t buy online.” The pandemic has changed the priorities of some Eastern Carolina shoppers on Black Friday. “We used to go out really early in the morning, like 6am,” said Coghill. “It’s just no fun when you’re fighting crowds.” The Lawrence family opened the doors of the village market in March 2021. After seeing the pandemic’s effect on area vendors, Justin Lawrence said he decided now was the time to make a change. “I saw a lot of the small businesses and local shops didn’t have the avenues to get their products out there and be seen as much as they were before,” he said. “So, that was the spur that we needed to make the dream come true.” The Village Market will host a free-to-enter vendor market each Saturday this holiday season, featuring food trucks, music, Christmas trees, and local suppliers of crafts, meat, treats, and more. The Saturday event will begin Nov. 27 at 9 a.m.
GREENVILLE, N.C. (WITN) - Supply chain shortages are affecting industries nationwide, and that includes food banks that work to help those in need.
Food banks in the east have seen an 11 percent since the start of the pandemic and that need is expected to grow during the holidays. Thursday, volunteers packaged sweet potatoes at the Greenville branch of the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina. While this item was plentiful, others are running low or completely gone. “We have had a real drop in our food drives and food donations that normally come from the public so the food bank is now in a position where we are going to have to purchase more food,” said branch director George Young. As the US Labor Department reported this month, the Consumer Price Index has risen 6.2 percent, the most since December 1990. Food banks rely on many different avenues for their goods: food drives, grocery chains, farmers, and food manufactures. “But right now, the food is not getting turned over as quickly because it’s taking so long to get the food to our distribution points and then back out to our food pantries,” said Young. Dr. Jon Kirchoff of ECU’s School of Business is an expert in supply chain management. “Suddenly, as consumers and customers are trying to get all of the things that we like to buy, they’re finding themselves in a pinch,” he said. It’s a pinch that is squeezing the holiday season, especially for those who use community donated resources. “There’s multiple factors challenging us presently,” said Young. “When the consumers are having the same issue, they ask themselves, ‘Am I going to provide for my family or am I going to donate some food to the food bank?’” With perishable goods, it is hard to expect companies to have the full stock after the past year of uncertainty. “It’s not like companies can stock up a lot on perishable products in anticipation of something that’s going to happen,” said Kirchoff. “They can stock up on canned goods, dried goods, and things like that which last longer, but even those have a shelf life.” Some supply chain experts estimate that the scales of supply and demand will even themselves out in 2023, but Dr. Kirchoff is more optimistic that things can return to normal at the start of 2022. Regardless of the prediction, this year’s holiday season will be upset by supply chain woes. Consumers are urged to buy early, if they can, consider alternatives for their specific favorite items, and to lend a hand to the less fortunate as they are able to.
BEAUFORT COUNTY, N.C. (WITN) - To combat staff shortages, Beaufort County announced a competitive wage increase for substitute teachers and bus drivers.
The new pay is effective as of Nov. 3rd. Bus drivers will now make $18 an hour, up from $13.56 an hour, certified substitutes will make $153 a day, instead of $103 a day, and non-certified substitutes will make $130 a day, an increase of $50 a day. “I have been subbing in Beaufort County Schools for 40 years,” said Mary Cole. ”We need more money. We have been needing this for a long time. After all, I do enjoy what I do, but I want more money!” With teachers out for quarantine, disagreeing with masking policies, or changing career paths, empty desks need to be filled. “We are all hands on deck,” said Kelly Makepeace, P.S. Jones Middle School principal. “Admins are going into classrooms, counselors are going into classrooms, and it’s just taking all of us to go ahead and make sure that the students get the instruction that they need.” Providing instruction is just one struggle of the Beaufort County school system. The district is also scrambling to get students from their homes to the classroom with a shortage of bus drivers. “Right now, we have teachers driving buses, we have coaches driving buses, and we have one of our assistant principals that drives every single day because we do not have enough bus drivers,” explained Makepeace. With a return to the normalcy of in-person instruction, the administration hopes to also return to normal job duties, something that can’t happen with the lack of school staff the county currently faces. “With this pay increase, it makes us competitive with the other job opportunities that are within our county.” The competitive pay could be enough to entice both new and former employees to lend a hand. Tianna Spencer-McClain, a former teacher’s assistant, substitute, and bus driver in Beaufort County, said, “That’s a lot more of an incentive. I’ll come back and sub. $153 a day? That’s a lot of money.” As the price of gas and other goods rises, an increase in funds is necessary for some employees to stay afloat. “We need this increase, we really do," said Cole. Beaufort County Schools works on a monthly payment schedule, so for the hours worked in November, employees will wait until their December checks to see the bump. Applications are open and positions are available. Visit the Beaufort County Schools website or stop by the administration office at 321 Smaw Rd, Washington, NC 27889 for application information.
NEW BERN, N.C. (WITN) - New data from a Visit North Carolina report shows substantial declines in tourist spending in almost every county.
Martin, Pitt, and Craven Counties had the worst 2019 to 2020 reports. Local businesses in Craven County say they have had to be resilient to change for years. The destruction of Hurricane Florence in 2018 had many businesses just regaining their footing when the pandemic pulled the rug from underneath them once again. “I have personally worked downtown for probably over three or four years now,” said Hannah Gaskins, a sales associate at Silver Line. “But definitely within this past year, there were many, many days that there was no one in, at all. There would be no sales, we would close early, we would not even be open every day of the week... which was very unusual.” Craven saw just under $115 million in visitor spending in 2020. A 31.9 percent decrease from the previous year. Thankfully, visitors are taking interest in downtown New Bern once more. “It’s definitely dialed down some so people are getting more comfortable with getting out and shopping,” said Gaskins. For other businesses in the area, the pandemic marked a time to get creative. “We definitely saw a reduction of foot traffic downtown because people were staying home and staying safe,” said Natalie Kidwell, who works at Surf, Wind, and Fire. “Being forced in a position where you aren’t even relying on foot traffic or relying on tourism, we’ve kind of become more creative.” They opened up a bar and coffee hangout for shoppers and passersby to enjoy. “We had emergency toilet paper kits and we had hand sanitizer kits and we offered more than just retail,” said Kidwell. With anticipation brewing for events and festivals to hit the books again, these local spots are ready to get things back to the way they were. “We’re just excited to meet new people and have more life downtown than we have had in the past,” said Kidwell.
GREENVILLE, N.C. (WITN) - The city of Greenville has proposed a plan to spend the $24.7 million it is receiving from President Biden’s American Rescue Plan Act.
The largest portion of allocated funds sits at $22.6 million with the intended use of enhancing entertainment and recreation activities in the city. This will include improvements to Guy Smith Stadium, the 2016 Town Common Master Plan, the expansion of Thomas Foreman Park, and a trail connection between Town Common and Wildwood. Some in the community have taken to Facebook to share their opinions on the spending plan. Pam Etheridge is a Greenville resident and moderator of the Greenville, NC/Pitt County Moms Facebook group. Yesterday she shared the city’s post about its allocation plans and scheduled a Zoom session across a few platforms to get people talking. “Our voices needed to be heard because it kind of felt like we were an afterthought, that a proposal was already made by the city,” said Etheridge. In her opinion, these “pet projects” can wait and the funds would be better served directly supporting the communities hit hardest by COVID-19. “That’s not bringing any help to our impoverished community, the people most affected by COVID,” said Etheridge. “Most of those are people of color and women. We need more money because we need more jobs here.” Etheridge has personal experience working hard to make ends meet for her family. She says she’s had to stretch $40 a week for food and gas for her and her 5-year-old and that struggle is difficult to manage. “Do I think some of the money should be going to these things? Yes,” she explains. “But we need to be doing common sense spending.” Greenville Assistant City Manager Michael Cowin presented the allocation plan to the council earlier this month. He said there are additional dollars being spent that will directly impact marginalized communities in the area. “There’s a lot of funding for the community that may not have been clarified in the post that was on Facebook,” said Cowin. “That will be explained as part of the public input sessions tomorrow night.” Cowin said that explanation comes with a budget of $2 million for home funding from the federal government as part of the American Rescue Plan Act. “Those dollars will be going directly towards an affordable housing project for those that are either at risk of homeless[ness] or are homeless,” said Cowin. “We also have dollars that are going to street improvements.” The Zoom public input session will be the first in a series of community engagement activities to gain support and input on the funding. “The first one is on Zoom tomorrow evening and then we’ll be holding two live input sessions in the month of October so that we can start to prep for providing more input to council at its October workshop,” explained Cowin. “Hopefully the council will be in a position in November to actually consider the adoption of the plan.” The event will be held virtually on Thursday, Sept. 30, 2021, from 5-7 p.m. Those interested can register at this link.
GREENVILLE, N.C. (WITN) - City employees met with local residents at Greenville City Hall Wednesday morning to board the Jolly Trolley and enjoy a taste of the town.
As part of Greenville’s Minority Enterprise Development Week, the event was sponsored in collaboration with the city and Greenville Utilities Commission. The tour included stops at The Breakfast Bar, Cinnamon Bistro, and Villa Verde. This week is meant to shed a special highlight on businesses that experience inherent disadvantages within the community. By taking this tour, local foodies had the chance to show their support and contribute to the city’s theme of “Back in the Black: Putting Our Dollars to Work.” “The pandemic caused a lot of businesses to pivot and restructure and they were drastically impacted,” said MED Week Organizer Danisha Harris. “Our MWBEs (Minority Business Women Enterprise) are already experiencing challenges just unique to their positions so now more than ever it is so important that we invest and support these MWBEs so they can sustain and grow.” Owner of restaurant Villa Verde, Jay Bastardo, is happy to be a part of the city event, especially with this month being National Hispanic Heritage Month. “I’ve been given the easiest tool there is to get people to like you, which is food, right?” said Bastardo. “We celebrate our heritage by doing what we’ve been trained by our moms and dads and our heritage... which is to work hard and do it in a way that honors God and honors our family and our heritage. So, we are just proud to do it.” Bastardo grew the Villa Verde franchise from an empty suitcase and five dollars in his pocket to a successful area food truck. Now, he owns both locations of the brick and mortar restaurant and his success does not stop there. He is now the proud owner of Harvey’s Breakfast Place on South Memorial Dr. “We get to continue to write the story, but we honor the one that’s been written for us.” Villa Verde is part of the city’s “In the Black” challenge. Customers can upload their receipts online from purchases made this week to compete for prizes from the city. The goal of city hall is to support minority and women-owned enterprises with $11,000 spent by the community for the 11th year this week is being honored. |
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