Hartsville wins Main Street/SCRC pilot grant; city reports higher holiday attendance

Hartsville was selected as one of three South Carolina pilot towns for a Main Street SC and Southeast Crescent Regional Commission program, City Manager Daniel Moore told the City Council during its Dec. 9 meeting.

"It's a $300,000 grant. We received roughly a third of that," Moore said, describing a package of storytelling and branding initiatives, a digital marketing campaign, community micro-sites, an ambassador team and an apprenticeship program aimed at talent attraction in health care and education. He said the city plans a January 2026 launch and that details will be released to the public in the coming weeks.

The grant will be administered as a pilot, Moore said, naming two other participating South Carolina communities in his report. The program is designed to highlight rural towns and support workforce-recruitment and place-branding activities.

Moore also presented attendance metrics for recent holiday events based on cell‑phone "placer" data. He said downtown parade traffic rose from about 5,300 cell phones last year to more than 6,000 this year. He reported the holiday open house rose from roughly 7,900 to about 8,500 cell phones — an increase Moore described in the meeting as roughly 8 percent — and that the children's carnival added about 1,000 attendees year over year. He credited city staff and volunteers for the higher turnout.

The Main Street/SCRC package and the attendance figures are part of the city's broader effort to promote downtown activity and support local businesses, Moore said. Officials said they will share marketing materials and outreach plans ahead of next month's recruitment events.

The council did not take a vote on the grant award at the meeting; Moore presented the award as an informational update and preview of the program's launch and deliverables.