5. City of Marion Comprehensive Plan and
Land Use Community Meeting
6:00 PM, Thursday, February 22, 2007
Marion Community Building

6.  30+ Sub-committee meetings
 Weekly Updates
 Minority Outreach
 Organized Data
 Determined Priorities
 Set STEP Goals

7. Project 1 – “Made in McDowell” Branding
 Develop ”Made in McDowell” brand
 Matching grant funds for construction of farmer’s
market to promote “Made in McDowell”
 Logo/Wayfinding Signage
 Local business development assistance to
promote “Made in McDowell”
 Marketing grant opportunities for “Made in
McDowell” promotion/marketing campaign

9.  13 Small Business Grants
 2 Bldg Expansions
 2 Sign Purchases
 9 Inventory Expansions
 15 employees retained or hired
 Very Successful Program

10. • Free WiFi in Downtown Central
Business District

11. In 2010 they hosted E-3 Forum for Economic
Development in McDowell County
In 2011 they sponsored the Best of McDowell
Photography Contest with over 100 entries. It was
very popular event and highlighted the best things of
the community.

15.  $2.5 million Improvement for
Commercial Development Sugar Hill
Road, Wal-Mart Development Grandview
Station 195,000 sq. ft. Wal-Mart
Supercenter & 14 new business spaces

16. • Supported McDowell Arts Council as
an arts & business development
center in downtown district.

17. • To obtain brownfield funding in the
future, Marion added adaptive reuse of
brownfield sites to the NC STEP goals.
No STEP funds were allocated, the
adaptive reuse was a priority of the
Visioning Committees.

18. Although Marion has completed the
the NC STEP program, it is not over.
Marion is in the final drafts of an
updated comprehensive plan that is the
direct result of NC STEP.
Marion has adopted
Vision and Goals for Marion 2030.
This will be the growth plan for the
next twenty years for Marion.
We have just begun.