Maysville – The State of North Carolina just announced that the Town of Maysville was awarded two grants from the North Carolina Rural Transformation Grant Fund that will help bring economic development to the town’s Main Street. The first grant is for $850,000 from the Downtown Revitalization category, and the second grant is for $ 49,999 from the Rural Community Capacity (RC2) category.  

“Christmas has come to the town!” exclaimed Maysville Mayor Wayne Sayland. 

“These grants will allow us to address one of the town’s top priorities, to revitalize the buildings on our Main Street,” stated Sayland.  “The entire community, everyone in, and everyone who drives through our town sees that something needs to be done, and these grants will give us the ability to do just that.  Renovate, rejuvenate, and revitalize our downtown.” 

The Rural Transformation Grant Fund, the centerpiece of a broader Rural Engagement and Investment Program from the NC Department of Commerce, addresses a wide variety of needs, from revitalizing downtown districts, building the capacity of local government staffs, revitalizing neighborhoods, fostering small business recovery, and generally supporting economic growth initiatives. 

Maysville’s Town Manager, Schumata Brown, was instrumental in the town being awarded the grants, according to Sayland.  Brown, along with the Jones County Economic Developer John Bender, attended R2C training program that met at Appalachian State University for a few days each month for six months sponsored by the Commerce Department. 

“We would never have been awarded these grants without Schumata’s willingness to attend, learn and apply the lessons taught,” Sayland said.  “He made this happen!” 

In an NC Commerce Department press release announcing the grants, NC Commerce Secretary Machelle Baker Sanders said, “extensive preparation and planning are the key ingredients for economic development success; I’m pleased to see this second round of grants go out to help our rural communities reach the next level of growth.”  

The Town of Maysville has been working on those key ingredients. Brown explained that the town, over the past few years, had been working towards solving the problem of dilapidated buildings with an eye on “saving them, bringing them back to life, and making them the centerpiece of Maysville.” 

“We have worked with the NC Rural Center, ECU’s Department of Regional Planning, and the NC Governor’s Mainstreet program to help us develop the best solution possible to bring business opportunities to our town.” 

The plan laid out by ECU students Love Ott, Laney Rivera, and Lionel Cruz and presented as a class project laid out solutions for the town, while the awards from the Rural Transformation Grant Fund will give the town the means to implement the solutions recommended. 

“The students realized that Maysville is “A Town of Possibilities,” and their work helped us as a town see what those possibilities are,” Brown reinforced. 

“The plans developed by the Department of Commerce’s Main Street and Rural Planning Center that came out of our participation in the Governor’s program gave us an architects vision of what our Main Street could look like,” explained Brown. 

“A big part of being able to apply for and be awarded this grant was the support of the Town’s Board of Commissioners,” Brown stressed. “The town had to have control of the buildings, own them, to make all of this possible, and the Commissioners saw the possibilities, understood the vision, and allowed me to negotiate the purchase of the properties.” 

The town purchased the property on October 28th for $45,000 after lengthy negotiations with the owners of the property’s heirs.  “It was a challenge to sit down and show that we, the town, was offering a fair price and that gaining control of the property was necessary for the town to apply for and eventually be awarded the grants to save the property,” explained Brown. “It was a win for both of us, the heirs and the town.” 

The town’s $850,000 revitalization grant is targeted to do just that. 

Last year the town opened its Main Street Marketplace to transform vacant property on Main Street into a space that highlights the town’s possibilities.  The Market Place, comprised of 6 storage sheds that are rented to vendors, was recognized by the NC League of Municipalities at their annual conference with their “Rural and Small-Town Innovation Award.” The town will use the $49,999 R2C grant to add a small amphitheater that was part of the plan for the site to enhance community events at the Marketplace. 

“I am on Cloud 9”, concluded Brown.  “We have worked long and hard to develop plans to improve our town, to have that work recognized, to have the plans verified as being good plans, plans that will enhance our vision for our town is rewarding!” 

While he is awaiting instructions from the state as to when the funds will be available to be used, Brown is ecstatic that the town has been awarded these funds. 

“This is a generational change for our town! We are so grateful for the Commerce Department believing in our town as much as we believe in our town.”