Businesses finding purchase in Snow Hill
It's been almost a year since the town of Snow Hill hired Michael Day to reverse its sinking economic fortunes the way he did in Berlin.
Time to check in on his progress.
It can be found taped to the inside of a window along North Washington Street, announcing that a new coffee shop is "coming soon." It is proclaimed in glossy brochures for a new stand-up paddleboarding event taking place this weekend. It can be seen at SnowHillOutdoors.com, the new website touting the area's bounty of ecotourism attractions.
But it's also apparent in his budget, which was set at $20,000.
"I'm way over that," he admits.
Day, one of the architects of Berlin's blossoming, is quick to point out that he's only getting started and that Snow Hill presents a far bigger challenge than "America's Coolest Small Town."
It's 15 miles farther away from the region's population focal point at Ocean Pines and tourism hub at Ocean City. The town government doesn't have the financial resources of its neighbor to the north. And Berlin had more of what he calls "vibrancy" at the outset than what Snow Hill has even now.
So far, Day's efforts are getting relatively high marks from local elected officials and business owners, though.
“Fantastic" is Mayor Charlie Dorman's response when asked about Day's progress. "Without him, we were struggling."
“There’s such a difference," says Lorissa McAllister, a Snow Hill High graduate and owner of the soon-to-open Daily Brew Coffeehouse. "I think there was a lot of opposition to breathe some life into Snow Hill. Michael Day was just able to turn that around and put a new perspective on it."
"It's the first time I've felt a real positive change in this town," says Jerry Nolte, who has owned a copy shop in town along with his wife for more than a decade. He also does woodworking and runs a river tour on his pontoon boat.
But some folks say the town still has a long way to go.
Anne Coates, who owns the Bishop's Stock art gallery, says the only reason her business survives is because she can afford to lose money on the venture. She keeps plodding along because of her deep roots in the area and a hope that some day things might get better.
Day has yet to prove he can lead the community there, she adds.
"He had very good luck in Berlin, but Berlin has other things going for it," Coates says.
Down to business
Day was Berlin's Main Street program coordinator for several years before becoming its first economic development director in 2009. The Salisbury resident retired at the end of 2014. But he was coaxed out of retirement in June 2015 when Snow Hill came calling with an offer for a consulting gig he couldn't refuse.
He would do it, he told town leaders, but he didn't want to be micromanaged. They agreed.
"I said I would do it part-time, but it doesn't seem to be part-time," he says over a lunch of shrimp salad at the Harvest Moon Tavern.
The location is a testament to the work left to be done. It's the only sit-down restaurant open during daylight hours in the downtown area.
“We went after him. That’s true," Dorman says in a telephone interview. “He knows so many people from him being in the business for so long.”
In addition to Snow Hill and Berlin, Day has held similar posts in Pocomoke City and Salisbury. (He was a city councilman in his home city from 2002-2005, but he is not related the city's mayor, Jake Day.)
Why his redevelopment efforts gained traction in Berlin and not so much elsewhere: "Berlin saw what I was doing and started putting money behind it," Day says. "Whatever we needed for an event, the town said 'Do it.' "
Search for a brand
Day has applied the same playbook in Snow Hill.
That approach can be divided into three primary acts: rebranding the community, steering small business owners toward government grant money to fix up their storefronts and creating special events to bring outsiders in.
The town is using $10,000 in state money for a rebranding campaign led by South Carolina-based Arnett Muldrow & Associates, the same firm that recently created Salisbury's new image. Salisbury's new motto, "The Comfortable Side of Coastal," appears in blue letters beneath the name of the city and a new logo depicting a sun melting into a wisp of water.
READ MORE:The Arnett Muldrow-led metamorphosis of Salisbury's brand.
Day envisions a new identity for Snow Hill tied closely to the Pocomoke River and surrounding wild areas, including the river's eponymous state park. Lined for most of their length by cypress knees and piney woods, the gin-clear waters are treasured by paddlers of various stripes — canoers, kayakers and stand-up paddleboarders.
The town's current tagline embraces its watery lifeblood, but Day finds "Life on the River" to be "too generic."
"Too many towns can say that," he says.
He expects to receive the Artnett Muldrow report soon. Once that's complete, he plans to draft an "outdoor activities" and strategic marketing plans for the community, he says.
In the meantime, he's busy coordinating a new event for the town. Dozens of paddleboarders have signed up to participate in the inaugural Return to Goat Island sports festival, taking place Friday through Sunday. The weekend is centered around two river races on Saturday and one on Sunday.
About the name: Yes, paddlers will be plying past a 2-acre island in the middle of the river just across from Byrd Park that's home to a goat.
How it wound up there is the stuff of local legend. A survivor from a storm-stricken boat? A descendant of a landowner's long-forgotten herd?
Day is in talks to buy four more Nigerian dwarf goats and let them loose on the swampy spit of land. Town employees will take care of them, just as they do with the existing goat, he says. He also would like to add a couple picnic tables to the island, which already has one picnic table and a pier.
In the fall, the town also plans to compete for a piece of the action during the Delmarva Bike Week and OC BikeFest. In a nod toward the famous annual motorcycle rally in South Dakota, Snow Hill plans to host a "Ride the Sturgis" event. (In its own Sturgis Park, of course.)
"Events are the economic driver," Day says. "As much as I thought I was overwhelming myself with events (in Berlin), it was paying off. They bring people into town. They bring money into the stores. And they bring people back into the town, which is the key thing. The people who came to the event would come back when there wasn't an event."
"Two reasons to come to Snow Hill"
On this Friday afternoon, Snow Hill's downtown is characteristically quiet after the lunch rush tapers off at Harvest Moon. So when a couple strolls out of Coates' gallery with a bag in tow, they cut a conspicuous figure.
Debbie and Tom Shuster of West Ocean City hadn't arrived by accident. They had bought a Bishop's Stock gift certificate at a charity auction and used it to buy two bottles of wine.
Their visits to Snow Hill are "kind of irregular," says Tom, who retired a couple years ago from being the parks and recreation director in Ocean City.
"Here are two reasons to come to Snow Hill. You got called here for jury duty or you come here for some social or religious reason," he adds.
Town officials are trying to change that.
The owners of four buildings have used $25,000 grants to spruce up their storefronts. Day and other town representatives persuaded the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development to set aside $125,000 for the town last year instead of the usual $50,000.
Renovations of a building on Pearl Street led to the opening in April of the Green Pearl Art Gallery. A shop selling candy and ice cream on Green Street vows to open its doors this fall.
The town also took matters into its own hands, undertaking a $260,000 structural overhaul of the Mason's Opera House building. More work is needed before the town can offer the vacant building to tenants; officials hope it turns into an arts and entertainment complex with a restaurant.
READ MORE:The old Opera House nearly didn't survive.
The number of empty downtown storefront has dropped from nearly two dozen a year ago to about a half dozen, Dorman estimates. He and other boosters also are excited about a proposed excursion train that would rain between the town and Berlin, but that would likely be years away if it happens.
In the meantime, McAllister can be found making preparations for a July 2 opening at her coffee shop.
A mixture of grants helped her get this far. Now, it's up to the recent Salisbury University graduate's restaurant experience and Snow Hill's fortunes.
"There’s not really much for people to do. We’re hoping to fill that need," she says.
Contact reporter Jeremy Cox at 410-845-4630 or on Twitter @Jeremy_Cox.