Gov. Josh Shapiro talks with Anna Rose Bakery owners Riley and Zach Madar.
Gov. Josh Shapiro paid a visit to several small businesses in Harrisburg on Monday, chatting with owners about the state of the downtown.
The event followed Shapiro’s recent meeting in January with city leaders over what to do about Harrisburg’s struggling central business district.
“I care a lot about our capital city, and this capital city deserves better,” said Shapiro, who held a small press conference inside Anna Rose Bakery on N. 2nd Street.
He said he is working with city officials and private industry leaders to create a comprehensive plan to revitalize downtown and plans to release more details on the subject in the next few months.
“If I can convene all these folks together to make an investment and to begin a resurgence here, that’s something I believe is a responsibility of mine,” Shapiro said.
He added that he cares about the city as someone who has spent time in it for more than 20 years—first as a state lawmaker, then attorney general and now as governor—and that he has dollars “available” to put toward revitalizing Harrisburg’s downtown.
“What we need is a comprehensive plan and it needs to involve—not just state dollars—but it needs to involve a commitment from the local government,” he said. “And most importantly, it needs to involve private sector capital as well.”
When asked about how confident he was that Harrisburg’s mayor and City Council would be able to work together on such a project, considering the ongoing lawsuit between the two, Shapiro said he made clear to the parties that he was not “going to tolerate any political nonsense.”
“I don’t know the specifics of what they’re battling about,” he said. “I do know that we all care about downtown, and both the council president, the other elected leaders there, and the mayor all made clear that we were going to be working together on this and rowing in the same direction. Whatever other issues they have need to stay outside the context of this plan that we’re putting together.”
Shapiro was joined by state Sen. Patty Kim, and state representatives Dave Madsen and Nate Davidson, who he said have been pushing hard for the downtown revitalization initiative.
“From one resident to another in Harrisburg—we care. We are here. We want to see the city business owners do well and we want the residents to have their input in. It’s incredibly important,” said Kim, promising that people will begin to see change later this year.
Rick Siger, secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, also in attendance, noted that his team has been “looking really closely” at downtown’s sky-high parking rates, the result of a 40-year lease between the city and a state agency.
“It’s part of really an all-of-the-above look at what it’s going to take to help downtown Harrisburg move forward, and we’ll have more to say about that,” Siger said.
Gov. Shapiro and PA Sen. Patty Kim order cupcakes and cookies from Anna Rose.
Zach and Riley Madar, owners of Anna Rose, told the governor that parking was a big issue for their business.
“It’s a constant issue, and it really just scares people away,” Zach said, adding that while the store has two 15-minute parking spots out front, they aren’t enough for many potential customers who’ve grown used to free parking in the suburbs and are “afraid of downtown” due to the cost.
He also also told Shapiro that about 70% of Anna Rose’s customer base consists of state workers.
“If you want to support a local economy, especially in a city like Harrisburg where it’s so commuter-focused, you have to have a working downtown,” Zach said.
Shapiro said Monday he has increased the state’s commitment to bringing those workers back to the office five days a week.
“We certainly recognize the commonwealth has a responsibility there,” Shapiro said.
Riley expressed another concern to the governor.
“There’s a lot of people who come in and say, ‘What’s there to do down here?’ and I really don’t have a good answer for them,” she said. “There’s not a ton of activities, there’s not a ton of shops, there’s just Strawberry Square.”
She told the governor that she’d love to see more “family friendly” festivals in the city, like Artsfest and Kipona, which usually bring in a flux of customers to the bakery.
Shapiro addresses the press at Anna Rose Bakery.
Shapiro also spoke Monday to McGrath’s Pub owner Adam Sturges.
Shapiro’s involvement with the plan for downtown revitalization comes after the Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority announced this December that it would be giving $50,000 of its own money to the Capital Region Economic Development Corporation (CREDC) toward a downtown revitalization plan.
At an ICA meeting last Wednesday, the state-created agency’s chair, Doug Hill, said that the Pennsylvania Downtown Center will manage the revitalization project, which will now garner commonwealth dollars as well, and that the goal is to have a plan in place in “about six months.”
Shapiro said Monday that his office has “brought together the private sector in a way where they’ve not been organized before” to leverage investment and that the next step will be putting together a funding package that addresses downtown’s needs.
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