NC STEP Community

In 2010 Maysville was selected by the North Carolina Rural Center as an N.C. Small Towns Economic Prosperity (STEP) Program Community. 

Across North Carolina, dozens of small towns have immersed themselves in the difficult but exciting work of shaping a new future. As participants in the Rural Center’s North Carolina Small Towns Economic Prosperity Program, these communities are seeking ways to overcome adversity by building on assets. 

 The N.C. Small Towns Economic Prosperity Program, or NC STEP, was launched in spring 2006 as the centerpiece of the Small Towns Initiative. While the initiative addresses broad issues affecting the growth and development of small towns, NC STEP focuses in on how to help individual small towns reinvigorate their economies.

 It has three primary goals:

• Support economic development in small towns adversely affected by structural changes in the economy or recent natural disasters.
• Implement a comprehensive model of technical assistance and grantmaking to aid in revitalization efforts.
• Provide information vital to the development of public policies that support long-term investment in the economic vitality of North Carolina’s small towns.