WATERVILLE, Maine — Over the years, revitalization efforts have transformed Waterville's downtown area.
"We get a lot of folks that deliberately come here to spend a few hours on Main Street," Robin Samalus-Getchell, the owner of Robin's Nest, said.
Robin's Nest is a flower shop located right in the heart of downtown Waterville.
"We have tremendous amount of business here," Samalus-Getchell said. "We are really highly visible."
Main Street, the epicenter of Waterville's downtown, used to be a one-way pass through, but with downtown revitalization efforts, it's now a two-way traffic pattern with bigger sidewalks and crosswalks.
"It really has impacted this general area. We see exponential growth," Jason Furchak, the co-owner of Holy Cannoli, said.
Furchak said he started with a staff of five people five years ago when he took over the business from previous owners. Today, they have 17 team members.
"That's probably the biggest thing is to give people jobs help the community and help them get settled and be successful,” Furchak said.
One organization in Waterville helping to foster that growth is the Mid-Maine Chamber of Commerce. It is spearheading small business Saturday in efforts to draw people to the heart of Waterville.
"What we try to remind people is these business are people that live here, they work here, so if you spend your money here, it's staying here and it's helping this community," Cindy Stevens, the program director for the Mid-Maine Chamber of Commerce, said.
Stevens said they have been doing what they call "Shop Small Saturday" in the area for six years in order to show the importance of shopping locally.
"Being on Main Street is exciting everyday for me. It feels great to have a part in what's happening in downtown," Samalus-Getchell said.
You can learn how to support locally owned small businesses in central Maine by visiting this website.