Milton Rhodes, President and CEO of the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Arts Council said the vibrancy study shows that number restaurants in the downtown area has increased from 50 to 81 since 2006.
Milton said there’s also a lot more to do in the city.
“We were able to get a group of interns from Wake Forest University, from Walford College and the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill to do studies from 2006, 2008 and 2010-2011 and the number of events went from 670 events to 2,500 events in that five year period,” said Rhodes.
Over the past five years, the Arts Council through community contributions has given $12.5 million in grants to help spur growth in the arts. The grants have been awarded to several organizations in the downtown including the North Carolina Black Theater Festival, the Winston-Salem Symphony, the Hispanic Arts Initiative and the North Carolina School of the Arts.
Mayor Allen Joines said a big investment in the arts means more jobs.
“ We are rebuilding our economy on knowledge based companies in finance and medicine etc. and in order for us to be successful in that regard, these companies have to feel like they can to retain and attract young professionals or professionals in their company because they want to say you are coming to a vibrant city so it will certainly help us in our recruitment of new companies and new companies in their recruitment of new staff,” said Joines.
The study also shows downtown retail businesses increased from 15 to 76 over the past five years.
Meanwhile, The Arts Council said it plans to work with the community to attract more events that will run from the winter through the spring.
