Dear Downtown Elizabeth City Supporter:
 

If you’ve paid attention to Downtown Elizabeth City over the last few years, you’ll have noticed the influx of private and public investments and the significant revitalization and growth that has resulted.

​

Elizabeth City Downtown now has a thriving (and still growing) central business district with:

• 26 dining & sipping establishments (soon to be 28), including restaurants, pubs, cafes, breweries, wine bars, speakeasies, and coffee shops. 

• 30 shopping opportunities.

• 24 health, beauty, and wellness businesses.

• 10 art, experience, and kid-activity businesses. 

Balanced with the rise in residential living spaces; the professional, legal, municipal government, courthouse district; and our beautiful waterfront, Downtown is poised to continue its growth in the coming years. Together, this builds a stronger community and a stronger tax base. The number of events and activities has also increased dramatically. With so much to do now in Downtown and across the City, you can stay busy filling your days with fun experiences and creating lasting memories!

​

Elizabeth City Downtown, Inc. (ECDI) as an organization tirelessly focuses on its mission to be a “catalyst of revitalization, acting as a central resource for potential investors, visitors, and residents interested in our historic and waterfront downtown.”  We’re partners in the growing pride and efforts to make our Downtown and City a better place to live, work, and visit.

​

ECDI is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization with a hard-working and committed board. Seventy percent (70%) of our budget comes from the generosity of individuals and businesses via fundraising, sponsorships, donations, and special projects. Thirty-seven percent (37%) of our total budget comes from the annual North Carolina Potato Festival, making it our largest fundraising event of the year.

​

Not just the largest fundraising event, the Potato Festival is Elizabeth City’s largest 3-day festival honoring one of the region’s largest crops – the potato. Welcoming people of all ages, the event is FREE to the public and boasts a midway with rides and games; a street fair with artisans and food, live music, potato activities, an auto show, a farm show, free French fries, a cornhole tournament and bushels of FUN for the whole family!

​

We need your help as a sponsor to help make the 2023 NC Potato Festival – May 19, 20 and 21 – a SPUDTACULAR event!  Our theme this year is Healthcare as we focus on our growing healthcare industry. 

​

Below are some economic insights/marketing data provided by Placer.ai for the 2022 NC Potato Festival, which shows that a sponsorship is a great use of advertising/marketing dollars. We hope you will support the 2023 NC Potato Festival by sponsoring or donating. Your investment in the NC Potato Festival is an investment in Downtown Elizabeth City.

• Festival visits total almost 51,000, with 40,800 being unique visitors.

• Average time spent on each visit was 2 hours.

• Daily visits on Friday were approximately 12,400; Saturday 26,600; Sunday 12,000.
   

There are numerous sponsorship levels, as shown on the attached Sponsorship Form.  Please call or email Debbie Malenfant at 252-338-4104 to discuss sponsorship or return the completed form to elizabethcitydowntown@embarqmail.com .

​

Thank you,

                                                              

Tim Williams                                                                                       Deborah Malenfant

NC Potato Festival Chairman                                                       ECDI Executive Director