It’s an all-too familiar scenario for Mount Airy residents: confused-looking strangers approaching and asking for directions to attractions such as Mayberry Squad Car Tours or the local visitors center.
A $50,000 grant awarded to the city by a telecommunications giant is aimed at making that less frequent.
T-Mobile is known for its cell phone products, but also is aiding community revitalization in places such as Mount Airy through its Hometown Grants program.
The $50,000 awarded to this city through that initiative will be used to install wayfinding signage downtown to do just that: help folks find their way to various locations there.
“T-Mobile is going to make a difference in our downtown community and we appreciate that greatly,” Mayor Jon Cawley said Thursday night during a Mount Airy Board of Commissioners meeting.
The receiving of the $50,000 grant was the subject of a special announcement then by City Manager Darren Lewis, which had been kept secret beforehand.
Local T-Mobile representatives were on hand to help celebrate the occasion, including the presentation of a giant facsimile check written for that sum.
Mount Airy is one of 25 newly disclosed recipients nationwide for Hometown Grants as part of an annual program.
The $50,000 awarded locally will aid an ongoing wayfinding effort by municipal and tourism officials to point visitors in the right direction as increasing numbers of out-of-towners show up here.
In recent years this has included the installation of large eye-catching signs at strategic spots, including along U.S. 601 (Rockford Street) at Hampton Inn, N.C. 89-West (Pine Street) near Subway, Riverside Drive at Galloway Street and others.
Providing such wayfinding signage was identified as a top priority among local needs arising from a “Vision” committee initiative in 2021 which explored downtown, economic-development and other issues.
Downtown emphasis
As the wayfinding project began to take shape on key entry routes, Lewis pledged in 2023 that work would begin soon on specific “downtown signage.”
That is where the T-Mobile grant will play a role.
It is aimed at streamlining navigation, increasing traffic, enhancing the experience for both visitors and residents and boosting local business revenue.
“We could not be more thankful,” Lewis said at Thursday night’s meeting.
A list of T-Mobile’s 25 latest Hometown Grant recipients including Mount Airy contains only one other North Carolina community, Aberdeen, where the funding will create Aberdeen Garden Park.
It will be a first-ever green space boasting a pergola, water feature, benches, pathways and a pollinator garden for the community to enjoy.
Other grant recipients are scattered across the country, stretching to Idaho and Washington state.
The grantees are each receiving up to $50,000 in funding from T-Mobile — the sum garnered by Mount Airy — to kick-start local development projects that enhance communities.
These include building adaptive playgrounds, launching small business initiatives and beautifying downtowns, with rural America and small towns a focus.
The goal of the Hometown Grants program is to provide a total of $25 million over a five-year period, local T-Mobile representative Cindy Faulkner said during Thursday night’s announcement.
To date the total includes more than $13 million awarded to 300 communities across 47 states since the grant program began in April 2021.
“Hometown Grants is T-Mobile’s way of giving people in small towns a chance to build a more resilient future, and it’s incredibly inspiring to see the impact it’s had on 300 communities knowing there’s many more to come,” T-Mobile official Jon Freier said in a statement.
“When we started this program three years ago, we knew it had the power to make a difference, but to see so many people come together for their towns is truly extraordinary,” Freier added.
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