By Natalie M. Zeigler
City Manager
The unmistakable signs of a new school year are upon us. At the S.C. Governor’s School for Science and Mathematics and at Coker College, you may have seen students moving in, bringing with them their luggage, their cars and their frequently apprehensive parents. If you spend time around any of our public or private schools, you might be glad to see them come back. Hartsville can seem like it’s really missing something over the summer without them.
Coker’s Destination Downtown took place earlier this week, a time for its students to familiarize themselves with our community’s various local restaurants and shops. Downtown development organization Main Street Hartsville did a great job of helping bring together business owners to set up welcome booths for the incoming students. Especially when introducing ourselves to new people, it was a great chance to make first impressions and selling them on Hartsville. We enjoyed seeing large groups of new Coker Cobras stop by the City government’s welcome table at City Hall.
The students certainly deserve a warm welcome. Governor’s School students come here from every corner of the state and Coker College students travel here from many points around the world. Our long-term visitors have an undeniable impact on our economy and culture, and they are really a major piece of what make Hartsville Hartsville.
Between these institutions, the Hartsville campus of Florence-Darlington Technical College, and all our public and private schools, it’s been said that one of Hartsville’s defining characteristics is that it is both a college town, and in a broader sense, a knowledge town.
Our potential as a college town – the promise of education’s driving role in our future, alongside entrepreneurship, arts, culture and entertainment – became one of the major concepts explored in Hartsville’s most recent Master Plan. The college-town feel, the plan explained, involves everything from walkability to recreational, cultural and retail opportunities appealing to people of every age group and background.
Downtown’s development is key in this, and it’s an area where we have been making great strides. The City is rebuilding roads and parking lots, and increasingly, business activity has taken shape as well. Just since the beginning of this year, downtown has seen 16 businesses open their doors or be announced by their entrepreneurs. From new kinds of food service to more expanded hours, we are really starting to see more businesses catering to a student service economy.
One of the joys of having a Hartsville connection is that you can often find people who went to school here, graduates who keep fond memories of the place. This process often works to our advantage, especially when Hartsville lures them back. It’s a process that begins again every August, so just as in years past, it’s good to see the students again.
Natalie Zeigler is the City Manager of Hartsville. For more information, call City Hall at 843-383-3015 or email info2@hartsvillesc.gov.