Press Releases
THE CITY OF CONWAY, THE CONWAY AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND CONWAY MAIN STREET USA PARTNER TO SPONSOR A COMMUNITY PLANNING WORKSHOP
Public Input Requested To Chart The Course For Conway’s Future
February 5, 2008, Conway, S.C. — The City of Conway, The Conway Area Chamber of Commerce and Conway Main Street USA have partnered to sponsor a community planning workshop, which will be conducted February 26-29, 2008. Columbia, S.C.-based Community Design Solutions (CDS) has been commissioned to facilitate the project, which will address Conway’s downtown and outlying districts from the standpoint of market analysis, branding and marketing, design and planning, and strategic implementation strategies. The overall goal is to successfully identify ideal markets to target for tourism promotion, business recruitment and economic development that will positively benefit the residents of Conway. All interested in the future of Conway are invited to participate in a general input session scheduled on Tuesday, February 26 at 6 p.m. upstairs at Conway City Hall. Corporate sponsors of the planning process include A&I, Inc., Burroughs Companies, Carolina First Bank, Conway Ford, Mary Kendall Bittle State Farm Insurance, Prudential Burroughs & Chapin Realty Incorporated, Peoples Underwriters, and Tyson Sign Company.
“Everyone involved in the coordinating of this workshop is so excited about the opportunity to work together,” said Bridgette Johnson, Executive Vice President for the Conway Area Chamber of Commerce. “We’ve all had ideas on how best to promote Conway and plan for the future, but now, upon the completion of this workshop, our entire community will be working towards the same goals, singing from the same hymnals. It’s an amazing opportunity for Conway and I am in hopes that the community will jump on board and provide the input that is needed to make it successful.”
Specifically, the Community Planning Workshop will address the following:
• Develop conceptual design recommendations for the issues and opportunities, such as enhanced connections between downtown and the riverfront, building façade enhancements, streetscaping initiatives, gateways into Conway, signage, and potential infill or redevelopment opportunities;
• Conduct downtown market analysis to understand the market opportunities and challenges to help guide marketing and promotional activities of Conway;
• Develop a marketing campaign for the City of Conway, the Conway Area Chamber of Commerce, and Conway Main Street USA with messages for each of the internal and external markets. Implicit in this process is the analysis and potential branding of a marketing identity for Conway;
• Develop an implementation strategy that will provide a clear, phased, and prioritized road map for accomplishing the recommendations of the workshop.
The workshop team’s response to the input gathered during the public input sessions will be in graphic, computer-rendered, and written form to be shown at a public presentation at the conclusion of the workshop. A bound report will be provided to the City, the Chamber and Conway Main Street USA and will include all graphics and recommendations.
More information on the community planning workshop and how to get involved is available by contacting the Conway Area Chamber of Commerce office at 843-248-2273.
