An innovation and entrepreneur district could help grow Fayetteville while supporting its entrepreneur and technology-focused businesses, Mayor Mitch Colvin said last week.
An innovation district is a compact area where research and development institutions, companies and the private sector support entrepreneurs, startups, and business incubators, according to the Brookings Institute , a D.C.-based nonprofit research foundation.
Colvin pitched the idea during the City Council’s Sept. 3 work session for a district in Fayetteville similar to areas in Oklahoma City and Boston .
“I watched a very interesting debate online this weekend about why we don’t have a Trader Joe’s, a Nieman Marcus, or any of those kinds of places,” the mayor said. “It’s because of our demographics and how they line up.”
The mayor said about 7% of Fayetteville residents make $100,000 or more a year, 16% of Fayetteville’s population makes at least $75,000 about 20% make at least $50,000, and more than 20% are at the threshold for the federal poverty level, which is $15,060 annually for a single person or $31,200 for a four-person household.