Selling Hartsville takes message to chamber

Organizers of the Selling Hartsville initiative took their message to the Greater Hartsville Chamber of Commerce Wednesday.

The branding and marketing effort highlighting “Hartsville — The Art of Good Living” is set to launch on Thursday, Oct. 2, in downtown Hartsville.

Leaders of the effort have been speaking to local civic organizations and other groups in recent weeks to better educate the public about the initiative.

Dick Puffer, executive director of The Byerly Foundation, and Johnna Shirley, chairman of the Selling Hartsville marketing committee, told chamber members during the chamber’s monthly All Member Lunch that the first audience the organizers want to reach is Hartsville area residents.

“We have to keep reminding ourselves that this town is not like any other small town,” Puffer told chamber members. He said the launch will offer residents the opportunity to get together downtown and spend time visiting with friends and neighbors.

The Byerly Foundation is sponsoring the Selling Hartsville project. “The Byerly Foundation felt the need for us to come together to market the community,” Shirley said.

Shirley said the marketing committee’s goal is to develop a comprehensive marketing campaign that presents Hartsville as a desirable place to visit, live and work.
“Economic development is a large part of this,” she told the chamber members.

She pointed to a study done by Sonoco that found that many of its executives and other new employees choose to live outside of Hartsville in places such as Florence, Camden and even Columbia, representing about $18 million a year in salaries going to communities outside of the Hartsville area. Other industries, such as Progress Energy, face the same issue, she said.

That’s money that could be coming into Hartsville’s economy but isn’t, she said.

“That’s a huge development opportunity that we’re missing out on,” Shirley said.

The initiative task force has a committee focused on recruitment of people to the area. Organizers have put together and trained a group of ambassadors to match with potential newcomers to the area to help in that effort, she said.

Shirley said the effort is focused on promoting five basic “pillars” of life in Hartsville: learning, legacy, leisure, lifestyle and livelihood. “There is a lifestyle here that we all take for granted,” she said.

Part of the marketing effort includes an advertising campaign, with ads promoting “Hartsville — The Art of Good Living” and Hartsville as a place where you can “Expect Pleasant Surprises.”

Puffer said the number of people who have joined to help in the Selling Hartsville effort offers one example of the kind of “pleasant surprises” unique to Hartsville.

Thursday’s launch event will feature activities, including live entertainment, throughout the downtown area from 6 to 8 p.m.

Shirley said downtown merchants are being urged to keep their stores open later than usual and to move some of their merchandise outside to the sidewalks. A number of other businesses not located in the downtown area will also be represented with information booths at the event, she said.

Opening remarks and other activities will take place in the new Charles E. Burry Park in Cargill Way. The city will formally dedicate the new park during a ceremony at the park beginning at 5 p.m.

During the festivities, Mayor Michael Holt will make a special presentation from the city of Hartsville to Coker College President Dr. Jim Dawson in recognition of Coker’s 100th anniversary celebration.

The Hartsville Fire Department will also tie in Fire Prevention Week activities with its 100th anniversary year during the celebration.

A number of other events are scheduled for that same evening and throughout the weekend that organizers say will offer good examples of “The Art of Good Living.” Those include an opening reception Thursday night for “The Artisans of the South Carolina Cotton Trail” at the Black Creek Arts Center.

Other activities through-out the weekend include Coker College’s homecoming celebration, the Jazz!Carolina Downtown Block Party on Saturday, Oct. 4, from 7 to midnight on East Carolina Avenue, the Good Living Market-place, Oct. 4, 9 a.m. - 2 p.m. and the Tournament of Bands at Kelleytown Stadium, also on Oct. 4, at 1 p.m., with the Hartsville High Red Regime Band performing at 7:30 p.m.