Businesses across the Charlotte region are feeling the impact of COVID-19, including those in University City, an area that boasts an expanding business community with 75,000 employees and 11-million-square-feet of office space.
University City Partners promotes the area – which includes UNC Charlotte’s campus – as a center for employment, living, education, commerce, and entertainment. In an interview with Charlotte Business Buzz, Darlene Heater, executive director of University City Partners , talks about the business district, the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and what lies ahead.
Why is University City the right fit for Fortune 500 companies located in the area?
You know when we talk with people who are growing their business here or with companies that are interested in locating in University City, the no. 1 reason that they choose University City is accessibility, for location, and talent, talent, talent.
Our proximity to the University and that talent generator that is the University, the access to research and academia, those are huge selling points for us in University City.
What impact has the LYNX Blue Line extension had on University City area businesses?
Once the rail line started, construction and people – especially businesses realized that this was going to happen – the floodgates opened, and I would say within the last two years, we have just seen remarkable investment and interest in University City.
You know there are a lot of contributors to this perfect storm, but we know that the Blue Line extension catalyzed that. The Blue Line extension to University City, all of the media attention that goes with that, plus all of the investment that the city, the county, in the state are making in University City to connect light rail to our institutions, to our businesses, and to our residential areas. Without a doubt the Blue Line has catalyzed significant investment for us.
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact businesses across the Charlotte region. How has University City fared?
Like the rest of Charlotte and the rest of the nation, we've seen a pretty dramatic change in the way we live, work, play and learn. University City is not different from other places. We've seen our university and our K-12 system go to more online learning.
We see a whole lot less traffic and cars on our streets because we have a significant population that is working from home. We are seeing you know tremendous change in people's recreation habits. This stay-at-home order has certainly created hardship for a lot of our retail businesses and business support services that rely on that customer traffic to fuel their business, and so we've been working really closely with some of our communication partners to kind of pivot and figure out how do we better to support those businesses who rely on foot traffic and now don't have that foot traffic.
We're seeing the same type of impact both in our business environment as well as in our residential environment. The way we live our lives every day, we've had to learn a new way to live, work, play and learn.
“You know one of the things we pride ourselves on in University City is our diversity and being in a very inclusive community and being a welcoming community”
Many businesses are responding with innovative approaches to the challenges they face. What are some of the innovations you're seeing in University City?
With our retail businesses especially, they've had to think quickly on their feet. They're realizing now the potential, and even I think a new business line for curbside service and how do we deliver curbside service that creates some type of experience for their users.
I work in partnership with a nonprofit organization called Envision Charlotte. … Envision Charlotte is collecting all of the plastic containers that are now being used because of all of this curbside service, and we are instituting in downtown and in University City places for people to recycle those plastic containers.
Envision Charlotte was given a piece of machinery that will take those plastic containers, melt them down into filament, and that filament is used to create PPE for our medical services.
We're also seeing organizations like the UCity Family pivoting and figuring out new collaborative ways to deliver services to those most in need in our communities.
We have seen a really strong surge in volunteerism and folks who want to figure out how we help – not just our medical community and those who are serving the frontline – but the folks who, because of COVID, don't have access to the same resources.
What advantages does UNC Charlotte create for the area?
Well, every year you welcome back part of our population that comes to University City. … You're a major employer. You have 4,000 faculty, staff and workers that all come to University City for employment.
The access to academia and research cannot be undervalued that a lot of our businesses that are in the University Research Park tap into that. We have a lot of research intense businesses in University City, and certainly proximity to the University is a big driver for that.
Recent studies are showing that despite the pandemic, business owners remain optimistic. What are you most optimistic about in University City?
I’m most optimistic about this community. When I took this job to become the executive director of University City partners, I had a lot of experience coming from Center City Partners in building a city that you know that is a lot of block and tackle, but what I said I was most interested in is as we built this city, I want to build community.
And I have seen this community come together in so many wonderful ways. You know one of the things we pride ourselves on in University City is our diversity and being in a very inclusive community and being a welcoming community, and we're continuing to build on that brand asset that is very specific and very unique to University City. I'm so excited to think about all of the ways that our community can grow to be more inclusive and to be more welcoming and to really support each other both in business as well as through the way we live, work, play, and learn.
Note: The interview has been edited for clarity and space. The full interview is available through Charlotte Business Buzz.
About the Belk College of Business
The Belk College of Business at UNC Charlotte is North Carolina’s urban research business school. Accredited by AACSB International, the Belk College of Business offers outstanding business education at the undergraduate and graduate levels, along with executive education. The Belk College has been educating future business leaders for nearly 50 years. With more than 4,600 students, almost 160 full-time faculty and staff, and more than 33,000 alumni, the Belk College is one of the Carolinas’ largest business schools.
