Main Street Grant Solves Business Growth Challenge in Warrenton


Quilting students attend the first class held in Quilt Lizzy's refurbished downtown facility in Warrenton

Quilting students attend the first class held in Quilt Lizzy’s refurbished downtown facility in Warrenton

Supporting business growth means clearing away obstacles that hinder companies from growing in your community. Especially when a company is poised for explosive growth and your community stands to benefit from all the economic benefits that follow such potential.

In Warrenton recently, the bustling business facing an obstacle was Quilt Lizzy, which provides extensive supplies and training for quilt fabrication. Business owner Susan Harris offers a unique service to the region, meeting head-on a shortage of quilting equipment dealers and expertise in the eastern part of North Carolina and southern Virginia. Her business quickly outgrew its first downtown location. Could a solution be found to help her meet the demand for expanded space?

N.C. Commerce’s Main Street Solutions Fund offered the answer – providing a grant to assist with the purchase and rehabilitation of a nearby abandoned building. The rehabilitation of that building was not going to be cheap, running to $265,000, but the $75,000 grant from Main Street made it possible for Harris to move forward. In the end, the expansion would create 3 new full time jobs. But that’s not the end of Quilt Lizzy’s growth story or the spark plug impact the company has made in Warrenton.

During the course of construction in 2015, Harris realized she needed even more space. Working with the team at N.C. Commerce’s Main Street Center, the original Main Street grant was increased by $50,000 to assist in the rehabilitation of another historic downtown building, creating an additional two permanent full time jobs.

Quilt Lizzy has positively affected the economy of Warrenton by drawing in quilters for training. These students are staying in local bed and breakfasts and enjoying meals in downtown restaurants. “The project in Warrenton expands an existing quilting shop and training center that attracts students from North Carolina and Virginia,” said Liz Parham, North Carolina Main Street Center Director. “With our grant the business now has a campus of three historic buildings in downtown Warrenton.”

N.C. Commerce’s Main Street Center provides downtown growth solutions all across the state. North Carolina Main Street downtown districts generated 662 new jobs, 291 new businesses, and $131.5 million worth of investment in Fiscal Year 2014-15. To find out how to tap into these opportunities in your community, visit nccommerce.com/rd/main-street.