CHARLESTON, W.Va. — An over two decade old local non-profit focused on the ongoing efforts of revitalizing the East and West ends of the Capitol City is now undergoing some major changes.
Following a several-month process of strategic planning, the organization formally known as Charleston Main Streets made the decision to restructure and rebrand themselves, now officially changing their name to Charleston Urban Works.
Executive Director of the now Charleston Urban Works Ric Cavender came back on WCHS Radio’s 580 LIVE Monday to discuss the move further following the organization’s official announcement of the name change at its annual Oktober West event Saturday. He said it’s a move they all agreed was time to make to the non-profit that’s been serving the area for 21 years.
“It’s always smart when an organization has been in operation for that long to periodically take a look and see where things are and what needs to change, what needs to evolve,” Cavender said.
Throughout those years, the organization’s plans of action have been enhancing the exterior design on the faces of buildings and other infrastructure in the East and West sides of the city, attracting new visitors and businesses to those areas, and retaining and assisting small businesses.
Cavender said while their name may have changed their overarching mission remains the same, with the exception of a few adjustments on how they will now better navigate that mission.
“Part of what you will be seeing here in the next coming weeks through the announcements you will see on our Facebook page, we are still going to be very focused on the urban development of the East End, the West Side, what we call the urban business districts, but we’re going to be taking a much more block-by-block approach,” he said.
Cavender said while before the organization was focused on entire swaths of businesses and properties within the urban areas, from Washington Street East all the way down to Washington Street West, they now plan to take a step back a bit.
Through survey work they plan to start conducting, their goal now is to concentrate on more limited sections of the urban areas, working with individual business and property owners to address specific needs and priority blocks.
Cavender said this change will help them utilize a more strategic approach to meeting individual revitalization needs one step at a time. He said they will do this through three main objectives– business development, public space enhancement, telling the story and marketing.
“We’re going to have a whole team of working members, community members, devoted to how we can better tell the story of the urban districts of Charleston, the urban core if you will, and how we can better be of marketers for those businesses and those properties,” Cavender said.
A final objective Cavender said is to focus on increasing engagement with the projects they set forth, addressing how they can increase those engagement numbers from within the organization and throughout the community.
Cavender said they plan to keep the baseline program they’ve already been using the same, along with the continuation of the various projects they started and the events they host.
He said they still have much work to do on restructuring the organization following the name change, but they are ready to get started.
“We’re really excited about the new name Charleston Urban Works, and you will be seeing some really interesting and really exciting projects that will be happening starting in 2024,” he said.
Cavender said some of the projects they’ve already started that they plan to continue with their new name include the Gateway Lightening Initiative, which is expected to be complete in January, and the façade and sign grant program.