SHARON, Pa. – Adrian Carroll opened Dot Ju’s at 42 E. State St. The shop, which carries organic teas, natural medicines and wax melts “that are clean, without additives” represents part of a family tradition.
“Downtown, we have a lot of family history. We’re third-generation Sharon business owners,” Carroll remarked. “My family has had businesses in Sharon since the 1800s, and we just love it here. It’s our roots.”
Carroll was pleased to hear Thursday morning about how those roots are going to be revitalized with the designation by state officials of downtown Sharon as a Main Street community. Local stakeholders are doing “amazing things down here,” and the designation is only going to help.
“The more we can do to bring awareness to downtown and the more we can do to drive foot traffic here, it’s better for all of us,” she said.
Carroll’s shop was among the stops officials made on a tour that followed Thursday’s announcement of the Main Street designation, which officials asserted represents just the beginning for the Mercer County city, local and commonwealth leaders agreed.
Lt. Gov. Austin Davis and Rick Siger, Department of Community and Economic Development secretary, joined other state officials and area business and community leaders to announce the designation Thursday.
“The new Main Street designation through our administration’s Main Streets Matters program is a recognition of the important work this city has already done and an investment in where it’s going next,” Davis told the group gathered at the greenspace where the former Huntington National Bank stood until its demolition in 2023.
“This designation is not the finish line; it’s the starting point for the next chapter of not just Sharon but Pennsylvania as well,” he added.
“Sharon’s designation as a Pennsylvania Main Street community is recognition of the work that has already happened, but perhaps, more importantly, it’s an investment in what comes next,” said Angie Urban, executive director of Sharon Community Development Corp.
Referencing the green space where Thursday’s event was taking place, Urban acknowledged that most in attendance likely saw it as “simply an open lawn.”
She and other stakeholders see more.
”We see music in markets, cafe tables and public art, something like the pop-up park we’ve created here today. We see families on an afternoon together hanging out, downtown employees enjoying their lunch along the river on their breaks,” she said. “We see community celebrations and neighbors running into one another and deciding to stay and hang out a while. We see the kind of place that makes people feel connected to their community.”
The designation will provide access to “priority funding opportunities” and programs, including certain DCED tax credits to support local growth, Siger said. It also will provide $225,000 in operational support for Sharon’s CDC.
“It means, importantly, that Sharon is part of an elite network of communities across Pennsylvania that have this designation, with access to technical assistance and networking opportunities,” he continued. “Put another way, it means Sharon has more opportunity and resources to chart their own path and become the best possible place to live, work and play.”
Among the tools that the designation will open access to includes resources to revitalize streetscapes, address blighted properties and improve utilization of properties that have been underutilized, Davis said. Since the Main Street Matters program’s creation in 2024, it has put $34 million into 137 revitalization projects in 40 counties across the commonwealth.
“We know that communities like Sharon are not just a window into Pennsylvania’s past but the front door to Pennsylvania’s future,” he said.
“It’s definitely an investment in the future of downtown Sharon. It offers some structure, some plans and really some focal points for a lot of different partners to be rowing in the same direction,” Urban said.
The five-year plan Sharon submitted to the commonwealth focuses on three areas: business activation and development, placemaking and foundation building.
Business activation and development means supporting existing businesses, working intentionally on new business attraction strategies addressing vacant storefronts.
“It means working with property owners to have more spaces that are move-in ready. It means using real market data to identify the kinds of businesses that our downtown can support, and it means connecting entrepreneurs with financing and technical assistance, grants and the resources that they need to give their businesses the best possible chance of succeeding,” Urban said. “It means recognizing that filling a storefront is not enough, right? We want businesses that can grow, that can employ people, bring customers downtown and become part of the fabric of this community.”
Foundation building might not sound as exciting as a new storefront or a beautiful public space, “but it’s what allows all of this work to last,” she said. It means building strong partnerships among the city, businesses and property owners, nonprofits, financial institutions, regional organizations, private investors, volunteers and the commonwealth, and building sustainable funding and resources.
“It means having professional staff and strong leadership in place to coordinate projects, follow through on opportunities, track progress and keep people moving in the same direction. Revitalization cannot depend on one person, on one grant or one moment of momentum,” she said. “We have to build the structure that allows that movement to continue.”
Placemaking is about how the downtown feels when visitors come and walk through – the ability to comfortably walk from one destination to another or ride a bike safely, and to better connect with the Shenango River and eventually to expanded walking and biking and water trails. “And then there’s this green space, right? How do we take an open lawn and intentionally develop it into a true community gathering place?” Urban said.
“Main Streets are community hubs. They’re centers of commerce. They’re economic engines for regional economies,” Siger said. “While every Main Street is a little bit different, they also have a lot in common. They tell the story of the small business owners whose vision and drive grow our local economy. They tell the story of residents and visitors who gather with families and friends to enjoy a day or a night out, and while they often serve as the showcase for the history of an area, as [Davis] said, they’re also the signal for the future.”
The work that has taken place in downtown Sharon over the past few years has been “transformative,” according to Julie Fitzpatrick, executive director of the Pennsylvania Downtown Center.
The center, a statewide nonprofit focusing on revitalization in the commonwealth’s core communities, “has a dedicated history of standing alongside Sharon to be the best version of themselves. But the work that has happened in the last few years is transformative, with a sense of urgency and coupled with a strong sense of responsibility,” she said.
“It’s a testament to the hard work of dedicated individuals committed to robust public-private partnerships and creative opportunities to think outside the box, with new initiatives like urban agriculture, developing public art and placemaking and building an equitable entrepreneurial ecosystem. They all demonstrate that Sharon is serious about the quality of life and economic vibrancy of the community today and into the future,” she added.
“Our goal should be to create a downtown where people want to invest, where businesses can succeed, where residents are proud to bring their families and where visitors from all around the region have a reason to come and stay,” said Bob Fiscus, city manager. We want people to look at Sharon and see opportunity.”
For years – or decades, as some in the audience would say – community partners have been working toward a better downtown, “one that is once again the center of business and culture, connection and community life,” Urban said. It’s a process that has not always been easy.
“Revitalization rarely happens in a straight line. It happens one storefront, one project, one event, one investment and one relationship at a time. And it happens because people keep showing up,” she continued. “Even when progress feels slow, even when a building sits vacant, even when a project is taking longer than anyone had hoped and even when the next step is not entirely clear, we keep showing up. And that’s why today means so much.
Downtown stakeholders who took part in a tour of nearby businesses following the announcement voiced optimism about what the designation means.
“It’s very exciting,” said Jen Krezeczowski, co-owner of JCL Development, which has acquired and redeveloped several downtown properties over the years. “We’ve been working a long time to get to this next step for the town, so being able to get more resources and some help from the state is a pretty big deal to us. We’re excited to move forward and see what happens.”
One of the stops on the tour was Thyme in Your Kitchen, 79 E. State St. State officials spoke there with John Evans, who co-owns the kitchen boutique with his wife, Patricia, who was unable to be there Thursday.
The designation will allow local development officials to muster commonwealth resources to assist the area. “A rising tide,” Evans remarked.
“Having a thriving downtown like this is so important to us,” said Sandi Carangi, CEO of Mercer County Community Federal Credit Union and a member of the Sharon CDC board. The credit union has a branch nearby on Sharpsville Avenue that it recently invested $1 million into, so downtown is important to its business.
“When Sharon is noticed like this, it makes all the difference,” said Karen Winner Sed, CEO of the Winner Companies and another CDC member.
Winner also has invested in several downtown properties over the years. Those include the Winner Building, 34 W. State St., where the company’s headquarters is based and where The Winner, a women’s fashion store specializing in wedding and special occasion dresses operates. It was among the stops on the tour.
“Having that extra funding to get us to the next mark will be transformational,” Winner Sed remarked.
Pictured at top: From left are Adrian Carroll, owner of Dot Ju’s, Lt. Gov. Austin Davis and Angie Urban, executive director of Sharon Community Development Corp.