Holly Ridge Mayor Jeff Wenzel calls the specialized approach “a long term growth strategy” for the town.
“A lot of the people that live in Holly Ridge don’t work in Holly Ridge,” Wenzel said. “The more people that we can get to stay or even commute to Holly Ridge will continue to drive new small businesses to be formed and open to support people that are here during the day.”
Wenzel says the town is about halfway to its goal of $1.6 million in grants for Phase Two. Once the goal is met, the grant funds would be used to complete the public infrastructure work needed to lure more businesses to the park.