City of Marion - Where Main Street Meets the Mountains


The City of Marion partners with the Marion Business Association to offer various programs to help support local businesses. Programs offered through the Marion Business Association include: MBA façade grant program NC REAL Small Business Course Microenterprise Loan Program Grant Writing Support Small Business Counseling In 2007, the City of Marion was selected by the NC Rural Center as a demonstration site for the NC Small Towns Economic Prosperity Program. The program provided the City with funding for economic development planning and implementation. As a result the City partnered with the MBA to identify initiatives that would have a direct and sustainable benefit on the local economy. Through the program, local business owners have been granted funding to help purchase merchandise and equipment for business expansion, employee retention, and business marketing.
In addition, seed funding was provided to leverage additional public and private funding for the development of a permanent shade pavilion for the farmer’s tailgate market; fund architectural plans for the interior renovation of the McDowell Arts Council Building, the creation of a marketing study of Marion, the design and installation of directional signage, and much more. For more information on the NC STEP program please contact the Marion Business Association at (828) 652-2215 or visit their website at www.hometownmarion.com or follow the link below to view the NC STEP plan.