Spartanburg City News

  So far in our series on the economic power of Downtown Spartanburg, we've talked about a lot of the great things about our city's core that otherwise might fly a little under the radar at times. From the  one block, to the , to the staggering number of people who , it's pretty clear that Downtown Spartanburg is on a historic upswing.   One of the best ways to gauge the truth of that statement is to ask a simple question: how many people choose to live in Downtown Spartanburg? As it turns out, a lot.   Sure, you may be asking, but how many units in Downtown Spartanburg actually have someone living in them? How about 90 percent? On top of that great occupancy rate, there s the promise of more on the horizon with a new building on Broad St. currently under construction and more new developments on the horizon. Add all that up and it's clear that it's not that there aren't enough people to fill the units we have, it's that we don't have enough units for the people wishing to hang their hats in Downtown Spartan

In part one of our conversation with Spartanburg Medical Center President Phil Feisal, we talked about the hospital recently being named the , earning high performance rankings in nine specialty areas. Aside from the much-deserved notoriety the ranking brings to Spartanburg Regional, the report underscores how crucial Spartanburg Regional's position is in our community, serving not only as the city's largest employer but as an incredibly important resource for residents within our municipal borders and well beyond. Part of the leadership role Spartanburg Regional plays involves their involvement in the Northside Initiative. Today, on part two of our podcast, we ask Feisal about the importance of redeveloping the neighborhood into a place some of the hospital's 5,700 employees might one day call home. 

It's been an incredibly important part of our community for over 90 years, and recently Spartanburg Medical Center was named the , earning high performance rankings in nine specialty areas: cardiology and heart surgery; diabetes and endocrinology; gastroenterology and GI surgery; geriatrics; nephrology; neurology and neurosurgery; orthopedics; pulmonology; and urology.  Not content to rest on those accomplishments, the hospital also , replacing the oldest building of the hospital complex to make the center easier to navigate.  Today on the podcast, we sit down with Spartanburg Medical Center President, Phil Feisal about those topics and crucial SRHC's position in the Spartanburg community. 

City of Spartanburg citizens have a new, free, easy-to-use digital product they can use to report issues and ask for help. HeySpartanburg! is now available via the City’s website () or through the iTunes and Android stores for your mobile devices. The new mobile app will allow bring city services to the fingertips of citizens, allowing them to request services, such as a large greenwaste pickup, or to report problems or other issues such as potholes, damaged sidewalks, street light or traffic light outages, and downed trees. The requests are automatically routed to the appropriate City official.  HeySpartanburg! also allows citizens to attach photos of the issue they are reporting and see what other requests or inquiries have been submitted. Service requests can also be shared on Facebook and twitter, keeping the process transparent to everyone.  In turn, City officials will be able to use HeySpartanburg! to communicate with citizens, updating them on the status of the response to their inquiry or to ask for

  So far on in our series exploring the economic power of Downtown Spartanburg, we've talked about the economic importance of the area around Morgan Square, and spent some time discussing the large investments that have transformed one section of our city's downtown. But what about the walk between those sections of Downtown? Isn't there something the City can do to make that experience simpler and more pleasant? What about the family enjoying a walk down the Mary Black Foundation Rail Trail only to get to the corner of Henry and Union streets and find the trail ending, and a daunting crossing and an unpleasant walk standing between them and all that Downtown Spartanburg has to offer? How might improving the walkability along Church Street encourage visitors to the Marriott to take a stroll down to Morgan Square. As it happens, we think about those questions all the time, and rather than just pondering the possibilities, last year City Council voted to do something about it.  That plan promises to touch near

  It's tough to miss the three anchor developments in Downtown Spartanburg's northernmost reaches. , the , and  might not have all been built at the same time, but combined, these crucial pieces of Downtown Spartanburg's renewal represent an enormous investment. How enormous? Check out the infographic below:   Aside from being an enormous figure all by itself, the figure above barely scratches the surface. Additionally, the developments along that block provide jobs for educators, artists, hospitality workers,  and others, helping to provide a customer base for other downtown businesses, and the success each of these major developments has enjoyed encourages new development, like the kind  for a parcel behind the Marriott. It also helps make the Montgomery Building — long the most important potential redevelopment project in Spartanburg — more attractive for potential future owners. What's next for this example of the economic power of Downtown Spartanburg? Recently we sat down with Assistant City Manager Ch

Do you work in or near Downtown Spartanburg? If you do, you're definitely not alone. It might not make headlines the way our county's industrial titans (justifiably) do when they announce an expansion, but thousands of people spend their workdays in and around Downtown Spartanburg. How many? Check out the infographic below to get a little perspective.     Pretty impressive, right? And it's not just the numbers; it's the economic diversity. Many folks in the private sector such as attorneys, accountants, and executives spend their days working within a stone’s throw of artists, educators, nonprofit, and public sector workers. Employees and business owners of all types create and share in the web of activity our downtown offers.   Today on the podcast, we're talking with Assistant City Manager Chris Story to get a little perspective on those numbers. What do those thousands of workers bring to Spartanburg, and why is it important that we not only celebrate the economic success of Downtown Spartanburg today, bu

Barnet Park is the perfect setting for Spartanburg's Independence Day celebration,   On the stage at the Zimmerli Amphitheater starting at 6 p.m., visitors can enjoy patriotic music by the Spartanburg Community Band starting, and then at 8 p.m., it's time for a set from one of the best up-and-coming guitarists in country music, as  takes the stage. Don't forget to come early and come hungry to enjoy some great food before the skies darken and we light them back up again with our spectacular fireworks show!   Today on the podcast, we're talking with Special Events Manager Mandy Merck to get the details.

At their meeting on Monday, , a spring-fed stream that has been piped underground through the neighborhood for decades. An important part of the Northside Initiative, plans call for the creek to run through the neighborhood from VCOM to the proposed site of the new TK Gregg Center, currently the location for Oakview Apartments. Ninety percent of funding for the project would come from the Federal Aviation Administration, as part of the environmental impact mitigation required by the City's planned runway extension at the Downtown Memorial Airport, which will require a nearby creek to be piped and covered. Federal wetlands protection regulations require the City to mitigate the impact to this stream by purchase of mitigation credits or by the construction of a qualifying offsite stream protection project. What does all that mean? Today on the podcast, we've got City Manager Ed Memmott on to give us the details. Listen below and enjoy!

In recognition of Father’s Day,  will present a free concert-in-the-park Saturday, June 14, at 7:30 p.m. at the Zimmerli Amphitheatre in Barnet Park in downtown Spartanburg. It will feature one of the hottest and most-promising vocalists currently making international headlines in both classical and pop music — Kaitlyn Lusk, a 25-year-old soprano. This pops concert — Father’s Day Concert: A Hollywood Celebration! — will offer a wide variety of music from patriotic songs Armed Forces Salute and American Salute to Disney tunes from The Little Mermaid, The Jungle Book, and Aladdin; and the classics Somewhere Over the Rainbow, Moon River, The Sound of Music, and Singin’ in the Rain. Lusk will also sing songs from the Lord of the Ring movie series, including May It Be, Breaking the Fellowship, and Into the West, which won an Oscar for Best Original Song for a movie. Today on the Podcast, we're talking with SPO Music Director Sarah Ioannides about this great free event. Listen below for more details.

It's been called the  owing to its association with the well-known San Diego craft beer maker, but for craft breweries throughout South Carolina, a bill on its way to Governor Nikki Haley's desk could transform their industry. Under the new law, breweries that bottle and sell beer offsite will now be allowed to sell unlimited quantities on site so long as it is in conjunction with restaurant service, something many craft beer makers say is crucial to growing their brands.   The new law allows the state to attract large craft brewers from elsewhere (like Stone) that typically have restaurants attached to their brewing operations, potentially bringing millions of dollars in economic development along with hundreds of jobs. It also would allow potential entrepreneurs to grow their businesses from small brewpubs to lager operations that can sell their beer offsite through distributors, something previously illegal in South Carolina.   But what does it mean for the homegrown craft brewers already up and running he

The growing season is well underway here in Spartanburg, and that means it's time for the  to kick off it's 2014 season at the Magnolia Street Train Depot on May 17 at  8 a.m. (). Now entering its ninth year, the market routinely draws hundreds of people out to the old train depot looking to buy everything from local vegetables like kale, cabbage, and broccoli, to fruits like peaches and strawberries, to animal products like local honey, eggs (chicken and duck) and grass-fed beef.  Today on the podcast, we're talking with Hub City Farmers' Market Interim Executive Director, Brendan Buttimer about the upcoming season, as well as their upcoming move into a new space at the Northside Healthy Food Hub, which is under construction now. Be sure to like the  to stay in the loop on all of their latest news. 

At their , Spartanburg City Council gave unanimous approval to a measure paving the way for a new $7 million mixed-use development behind the . The hotel's owners, Jimmy Gibbs and Andy Cajka, have plans for a new, complimentary project on the adjacent property, though no specifics are yet being disclosed. Under the approved agreement, the City will sell the lot to SMR Hospitality II for $1 if a development assessed at least $7 million is constructed.    While full details on the project aren't yet finalized, today on the podcast, we're talking with Assistant City Manager Chris Story to get the details on deal and what this latest development means for the continued momentum around Downtown Spartanburg. 

At a workshop held after their most recent meeting, for demolishing the Sunshine Inn, a blighted motel across from Wofford College, and a crucial piece of the . On the heels of recent news of the  for around $600,000, staff recommended to Council that the City allocate $200,000 in Community Development Block Grant funding toward demolishing the dilapidated motel. Once demolition is complete, the site will become a new gateway into Northside redevelopment area, with plans calling for Evins Street to be extended from Wofford College into the neighborhood (). Today on the podcast, we're talking with Assistant City Manager Chris Story about the nuts and bolts of this important project, and what it could ultimately mean for connecting the Northside redevelopment area with the rest of the city.

Despite what it may feel like today, spring is here. After the coldest few months in recent memory, winter's brown is yelding, finally, to a verdant new season. Sounds like the perfect time for a barbecue festival, and as it happens, Downtown Spartanburg's very own is back for its second year this weekend. Kicking off Friday at 10 a.m., and running through Saturday at 10 p.m., the Hub City Hog Fest will be held at RJ Rockers () in the Grain District. The event includes music, food venders, and a chance to sample offerings from some of the teams in this year's competition. You don't want to miss this one.

Think of it as craft beer with a side of entrepreneurship...or maybe the other way around. Either way, one of the coolest ways for Spartanburg's budding entrepreneurs to take that idea they've been kicking around and grow it into something special is the bi-monthly "Grain Ideas" session at Grower Haus (). Today on the podcast, we sit down with Growler Haus owner Craig Kinley to get the details, so give a listen below and be sure to check out the Grain Ideas for more details.

In case you've missed it, earlier this week we . In all, 15 businesses representing 12 different business concepts move on to the next round, 10 of those businesses representing some kind of restaurant or other food and beverage concept.  Those semifinalists will now have to submit formal business plans and other information to support their application by April 18. After that, the selection committee will narrow the field to at least six finalists, who will make a presentation to the selection committee in early May, followed by a final pitch to the public at The Main Event on May 22, when the winners will be announced.   Today on the podcast, we're talking about those semifinalists, and the possibilities they represent for Downtown Spartanburg. How does this year's pool compare to last year's? What are the ideas that have seem to have the most obvious buzz in our ongoing, informal poll? Listen to the podcast below to find out.

Let's say you've got an idea for the next "Great American Novel," an idea so great that it's practically begging to leap from your imagination to the page. Where do you start? Even if you've got writing chops to put the story down in black and white, what then? How do you go about getting an agent who can nail down the book contract your masterpiece deserves? Today on the podcast, we talk with Hub City Writers Project Executive Director, Betsy Teter about "The Writing Show," a monthly series of panel discussions with writers and publishing professionals being held in partnership with Spartanburg County Public Libraries. Held at the , the program allows writers and aspiring writers to hear advice from panelists in a casual, talk show format and to get specific questions answered about a different topic each month. This month's edition of "The Writing Show," on getting a book contract, is being held February 20. For more information, listen to the podcast below.

It's perhaps one of the most enduring images of childhood. Mention kite flying to just about any adult and you'll see a nostalgic gleam in the eyes as images straight out of Norman Rockwell painting fill the imagination. For the briefest of moments, we're all just kids again, hoping for a nice breeze. Wouldn't it be great to spend a sunny afternoon just flying a kite again? Thanks to the Chapman Cultural Center, the City of Spartanburg, and more than 20 other partners and sponsors, you can. is a community-wide initiative being held through April to build civic pride with a series of playful activities and cultural events using kites as a theme. Aside from a series of community kite-flying days sponsored by the City and Partners for Active Living, Spartanburg Soaring! also includes poetry readings, movies, an exhibit featuring kites from the collection of local enthusiast, Chuck Holmes, and much more.

Have you ever wondered what it takes to turn a great business idea into a successful startup? Designed as a way to bring creative people together to turn innovative concepts into startups over the course of a grueling 54 hours, Startup Weekends have been held in more than 400 cities in over 100 countries worldwide, and on February 21–23, Spartanburg will get its chance to join in on the fun with its first ever . The event is being held at 's Showroom and , and today on the podcast we sit down with Kate McCarthy of the Iron Yard to get the skinny on Spartanburg's newest chance for potential entrepreneurs to get their ideas off the ground.