Revitalizing Downtown Washington: Discover the Washington Harbor District Alliance
Washington Harbor District Alliance
A lot of towns have farmers’ markets, and many towns have artisans’ markets, but few have both with a goal to recruit and support businesses in the central business district.
Washington Harbor District Alliance (WHDA) is a non-profit organization focused on economic development in the downtown historic business district located in Washington, NC.
WHDA Executive Director, Meg Howdy, says that the organization works as the Main Street Program coordinator for downtown Washington. The Main Street America program strives to build stronger communities through preservation-based economic development.
WHDA supports the small business owners [in the harbor district] in matters that are meeting the Main Street goals. Those goals are economic vitality, organization, design, and promotion.
“We work hard at promoting our businesses. A few years ago, there were a lot of boarded up buildings downtown. Now I receive calls all the time looking for a certain type of space, and I have to say that I don’t have anything [available]. We have a few that are going to be remodeled or are in the process of being remodeled, but otherwise, everything is full. That’s a good problem to have.”
Howdy says that the Main Street Program contacted her during the Covid-19 pandemic and asked if some of the businesses would talk to them about having to close down. She told them that the District had five new businesses start up during that time.
“We just had our Main Street regional meeting, and I told the other Main Street Directors not to lose faith. Because if you do the work now, you will see, (and it might be five or ten years in the future), but the work you’re doing today, at some point, is gonna snowball. Years ago, there were a lot of community members and city staff that really put the work in to set the stage to where we are today.”
The WHDA also oversees the Harbor District Market, whose mission is to support local producers and artisans, provide fresh healthy food and local sourcing and nutrition, and build an inclusive community around locally sourced food and other products.
The Market hosts many local vendors and artisans that offer fresh local produce, flowers, local honey, handcrafted art, crafts, handmade décor and jewelry, wood, yarn & fabric art, fine art and photography.
The Market also has a demonstration kitchen where they hold cooking demos, classes, and other workshops about healthy cooking and how to prepare some of the local produce. The Harbor District Market hosts live music each Saturday morning.
The WHDA, along with the City of Washington, has recently launched a downtown Social District. This is a marked district that allows someone to purchase a beverage at a participating, ABC permitted business, and take it within the boundaries of the Social District, and shop at participating stores with that beverage. Specific hours and rules apply. Read here for more information about the Social District.
The Washington Harbor District Alliance houses the farmers and artisans markets, but is so much more than that. The organization recruits and supports small businesses and the community in Washington. For more information, go to ‘Visit Washington’ and find out all the fun possibilities that it offers!
