SALISBURY — Downtown Salisbury, Inc. works to develop the 26 blocks that make up the downtown area, and in 2023 and 2024 that area saw approximately $5 million worth of private investments, 17 new business and 182 new jobs, according to the organization’s annual report.

The report was presented to the Salisbury City Council during its meeting on Tuesday by Downtown Development Director Sada Stewart Troutman, who said that a physical copy of the organization’s report is available at the DSI office and the report will be made available on its website as well.

“It has a lot of really good information, not only for people that we’re trying to recruit to downtown, whether it’s business owners, investors or developers, but I also think it does a good job of telling our story to those people who are already community members and who are either paying the (municipal service district) tax or who are passionate about our downtown and visit the downtown,” said Troutman.

The report for the past year stated that downtown saw approximately $5.3 million in private investments, including 12 facade improvements and nine building improvements, to go along with 17 net new businesses and 182 net new full- and part-time jobs. Troutman noted that the actual number of new businesses and jobs was higher, but some older businesses either shut down or relocated.

“I grew up here, and downtown Salisbury was incredibly vibrant in the ‘60s and ‘70s and there was a very active merchants association which sort of gradually disbanded. So, I think that what Downtown Salisbury, Inc. is doing, reviving the camaraderie among the downtown businesses, with everybody pulling in the same direction at the same time with the same purpose, has done a really good job for us,” said Council Member David Post.

Troutman also provided the downtown statistics dating back to the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. Dating back to 2021, downtown has received approximately $48 million in private investment, including 69 facade improvements, 29 building improvements and 21 public improvements. There are also 22 new housing units downtown and a 24-percent increase in property values throughout the municipal service district. There have been 76 businesses opened downtown and 399 full- and part-time jobs created, although Troutman said that those numbers were total, not net.

“The stats that you showed from COVID, when the world stopped and it was hard to rebuild, to what’s happened in the last three years has been fantastic. I’ll use Pottery 101 as an example, where Cheryl Goins started that business 16 years ago, so there has been a lot of weathering of storms there, and she is able to now retire, but the store is going to remain with one of her employees that’s been there for years. That is what’s so great about these businesses downtown,” said Mayor Pro Tem Tamara Sheffield, who serves as the city council liaison to the DSI board of directors.

Downtown Salisbury has several projects ongoing that DSI is involved in, including the revitalization of the Empire Hotel, the renovation and improvement of the Railwalk alley and surrounding district and the downtown streetscape project, said Troutman. The organization also hosts quarterly stakeholder meetings, five annual business development mixers and provides support with marketing and campaigns.