Spartanburg City News

As you might imagine, in his 21 years serving in Spartanburg City Government, outgoing City Manager Ed Memmott has seen our city go through some drastic changes. Coming to the the City in 1997 to serve as Community Development Director, Memmott then served as Assistant City Manager for five years before becoming City Manager in 2009 and has overseen one of the most important development periods in Spartanburg's history. The list of projects speaks for itself. During his tenure, Ed Memmott led City efforts on the Advance America headquarters building, One Morgan Square, QS/1, Marriott Hotel and Conference Center, the University of South Carolina Upstate - College of Business and Economics, Spartanburg Community College Downtown Campus, South Church Street Plaza, CC Woodson Community Center, AC Hotel, Montgomery Building, Aug. W. Smith, and the Northside Initiative. Beyond the impressive list of accomplishments that have shaped the present and future of our city, Memmott's true strength as City Manager was always the importance he placed on improving the lives of the people who call this place home. His emphasis on the absolute necessity of genuine, people-centered community development has been a constant, and the team he has built around those efforts is an impressive and lasting testament to his leadership and vision. Now, as he prepares to retire from his role here at the City, we've invited former City Communications Manager Will Rothschild to join us to help in the daunting task of trying to encapsulate a career that spans one of the most important periods in our city's story so far. Listen below for part one of our conversation.

At their last meeting, Spartanburg City Council unanimously approved a funding plan for the future T.K. Gregg Community Center to be built on the former site of Oakview Apartments on our city's Northside. The new center will feature an indoor aquatics center with two pools—one for competitive and exercise lap swimming and one for water therapy and swimming lessons—as well as an indoor gymnasium, fitness center, walking track, and community rooms. In all, the project is expected to cost around $16.6 million. The City hopes to earn New Markets Tax Credits for the project, which along with other outside funding sources as well as funding banked away for the project in previous years, would bring the City's outstanding portion down to $9.1-$9.4 million. The financing plan includes issuing bonds covered by future City Hospitality Tax revenue. No tax increase is planned to cover the project. Construction is expected to start later this year. Today on the podcast, we're talking with with Assistant City Manager, Chris Story and Community Services Director, Mitch Kennedy about new T.K. Gregg Community Center and the impact the facility will have on the Northside and Spartanburg as a whole. Listen below for more.

The summer heat is still here but summer for our city's children is about to come to an end as school begins next week, so today on the podcast, we're doing something a bit different. We packed up the recording equipment and set up shop at the Downtown Memorial Airport Park, which opened this spring, looking to get some thoughts from our local children on what they're looking forward too this upcoming school year. What did we learn? Listen to find out.

One of the City's primary stated goals is to address our community's longtime racial and class disparities, and while the strategies we use are as varied and complex as the problems themselves, one important approach is to help strengthen our local minority business community. What's our newest tool to tackle that problem? The EMERGE Business Accelerator for African Americans, a program designed to identify, prepare, empower and sustain African American entrepreneurs who desire to locate a business in the City of Spartanburg. EMERGE will guide participants through all stages of opening and expanding a business so they will be lender ready to up and running. A 10-week business training and development program, EMERGE will support entrepreneurs in identifying a business venture, business plan development, financial education, accounting, and securing financing. Classes will be held weekly beginning in September and will be taught by business experts and experienced entrepreneurs who share advice, guidance, and lessons learned. Two phases, start-up and growth, will be offered during the program year with approximately 10-15 business owners in each cohort. Today on the podcast, we're talking with Minority Business Development Coordinator, Natasha Pitts about the EMERGE program and about her work here at the City. Listen below for more.

When we here in local government are looking for an indicator of how the economy in Spartanburg is doing, one of the first metrics we turn to is Hospitality Tax. The two percent tax paid on prepared food and beverages is an excellent barometer for consumer spending in our city and the growth seen in H-Tax revenue over the past several years has corresponded well with what is anecdotally pretty clear to anyone paying attention; our city's business community is strong and growing. Beyond what it can tell us about the local economy though, H-Tax is an important portion of the City's revenue each year, and unlike most other sources of local government revenue, the H-Tax must be spent in a fairly proscribed manner. Today on the podcast, we're diving in deep to give you the lowdown on how the City uses these funds and how that next meal you have at a local restaurant helps pay for amenities and events enjoyed by thousands of visitors and locals every year. Listen below for more.

If you've spent any significant amount of time in Downtown Spartanburg in the last decade, there's a pretty good chance that you've encountered work created by one of the 33 artists brought to Spartanburg through HUB-BUB's celebrated Artists-in-Residence program. Over the years, the program's artists have created lasting impacts that are both physical (like Sparkle City Mini Putt) and cultural. Now, through a merger last year with Chapman Cultural Center, the former HUB-BUB Artists-in-Residence program is back. The retooled 11-month residency is set to bring two artists to live and work in Spartanburg this September, but before that happens, we're talking with Chapman Cultural Center Creative Placemaking and HUB-BUB Director, Eric Kocher about the revived program. Listen below to learn more!

Summer is here (not officially, but you know what we mean) and that means something very special for City Podcast regulars...it's time for the budget podcast. This week we've got Assistant City Manager Chris Story on to give us an overview of the most important ordinance City Council passes each year. The $40.8 million fiscal year 2018-2019 budget includes no tax or fee increases and shows four percent projected revenue growth, owing largely to growing in Hospitality Tax and Business License revenue. However, much of that growth is absorbed in the budget by necessary expenditure increases for the City's equipment replacement fund, facilities maintenance, and City Employee medical insurance and retirement fund increases. The new budget goes into effect July 1. Details include: • Three percent employee cost-of-living pay increase • Seven percent increase for the medical insurance fund • $250,834 for mandatory increases in employee retirement • Increase of $50,000 for City's legacy pension plan • $220,000 for building facilities maintenance • $1.49 million for equipment replacement Follow this link to download the full fiscal year budget.