Progress 2025: Downtown business district flourishing under Bean, Main Street Elizabethton
Published 2:21 pm Sunday, March 23, 2025
Photo Contributed Courtney Bean, Main Street Elizabethton director, was recognized as The Business Journal of Tri-Cities TN/VA 40 Under 40 recipient for 2025.
Photo by Ivan Sanders Main Street Elizabethton Director Courtney Bean, along with Main Street board members, at the dedication of a new breezeway in downtown Elizabethton.
Photo by Ivan Sanders Artist Ernesto Maranje with his completed mural, Tracks of the Wild.
Photo by Ivan Sanders The Firefly 5K is one of the many events that Main Street Elizabethton Director Courtney Bean has added to help bring visitors to the downtown business district regionally.
Photo by Ivan Sanders A young lady learns how to shape pottery at the Kid's Zone during First Friday events in downtown Elizabethton, sponsored by Main Street Elizabethton.
Photo by Ivan Sanders Courtney Bean joins Main Street Elizabethton members and City of Elizabethton City Council and staff to commemorate the new mural, History in the Making Community, by Caitlin Maupin.
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STAR CORRESPONDENT
The Elizabethton downtown business district at one time was a thriving center for residents to come with their families to shop the many name-brand stores and grab a bite to eat from one of the local diners as traffic flowed down both sides of West Elk Avenue.
Like many other towns where malls began to draw away the brand-name box stores, the downtown area was left with mom-and-pop stores, with only a handful of the more popular stores remaining in business to serve the public.
The downtown district was in need of a boost, and in 2019, a program named Main Street began to bring fresh ideas to revitalize those businesses that continued to operate and wished to be a part of the program.
Under the leadership of its new director, Courtney Bean, and a board of local business owners, Main Street started to make great things happen that have continued until the present day, with many new projects bringing regional recognition to the downtown area.
Bean was recently honored by The Business Journal of Tri-Cities TN/VA as a 40 Under 40 recipient for 2025. A press release stated that, as the Main Street Director since the program launched, Bean has brought a creative flair, strong drive, and stellar social media marketing skills to help Elizabethton become a choice destination for the region.
Under her leadership, the downtown district has seen its vacancy rate drop from 16% to 10% throughout the district.
Main Street has also partnered with the City of Elizabethton to bring four public art projects to the downtown area, which include Tracks of the Wild by Ernesto Maranje, History in the Making Community Mural by Caitlin Maupin, a new postcard mural which will be coming soon, as well as a Breezeway Art Project, which is coming in the near future.
In an effort to beautify the downtown district, Bean and Main Street have brought in professional landscaping to help with the 20 downtown planters and three flower beds.
First Friday was introduced to the downtown as business owners stay open later than normal on the first Friday of the month during the summer months to offer their wares, while live music is also enjoyed by those visiting. Food trucks are on hand to offer those visiting the opportunity to provide their dinner for the evening.
With the sport of running being increasingly popular, Bean led the charge to organize the Firefly 5K, bringing participants to Elizabethton from throughout the region and beyond as runners follow a course that takes them through the city.
Bean has also relied on partnerships that Main Street has made with community agencies and organizations to elevate and grow the downtown as a local hub and tourism destination.
Those partners include the Elizabethton/Carter County Chamber of Commerce, Carter County Tourism, Northeast TN Tourism, Meet the Mountains Outdoors Festival, and the City of Elizabethton.
And of course, Bean isn’t finished as she continues to search out the opportunity to apply for grant money, which will allow for other projects to be completed in the downtown business district to make things even better for the residents and visitors who continue to visit the county seat of Carter County.
