A new resource for Newberry

NEWBERRY — The Newberry Business Center, 1207 Main Street, Newberry, is a new facility in the downtown area that provides a place for meetings, Zoom conferences and much more.

Charlie Banks, during the Newberry Business Center’s ribbon cutting, said that when he and his wife, Cayci Banks, purchased the building they didn’t know what they were going to do with the upstairs.

“The upstairs hadn’t been touched in maybe 100 years. We needed space for my company (VentureSouth) and her company (1000 Feathers), so what we decided to do is build ourselves offices as well as a community resource in the Newberry Business Center, so we built the conference room. We’ve also got a streaming studio, a Zoom room (we call it a lot of different things) — it’s fully sound proof, got all video conference capabilities, podcasting, got all the technology to do that as well,” Banks said.

Newberry Business Center is designed not only to be used by members of the Newberry County community, but also people outside of the county. Charlie Banks said they are advertising and marketing in cities like Asheville, Charlotte, Atlanta and Charleston.

“This is kind of the right in the middle meeting place,” he said.

Banks said they have partnerships with local restaurants for catering and lunch options for those who rent the space.

“We want them to stay, we want them to do business here. Just as a general resource for the community for high level meetings, one-on-one meetings, what have you,” he said.

Those who rent out the meeting space or the Zoom room will notice that the technology will fit their needs. Banks said that, especially in the new economy where Zoom conferencing is more prevalent, they wanted the folks in Newberry to show how professional they are.

“In order to do that, you need cutting edge technology,” he said.

Along with the Newberry Business Center, 1207 Main Street will also house Cayci Banks’ business (1000 Feathers), Charlie Banks’ business (VentureSouth) and Venture Carolina (Chris Willingham).

The inspiration to create this space actually came from the Banks’ businesses.

“We are constantly looking for higher-end meeting facilities to host meetings and knowing that Newberry is centrally located, we felt that we could bring folks into the city to host their meetings. We wanted to provide that resources, not only for folks outside Newberry, but the folks in Newberry,” Charlie Banks said. “I’m excited for everyone to see this new space and look forward to being a resource for the City of Newberry.”

Banks added that while they wanted to create a nice place for people to meet for half a day, a day, a week or a month, they also wanted a place for people to have an event.

“Also opened to folks having a bridal shower, luncheons, webinars, workshops,” he said.

Alene Willingham will handle the schedule and planning for the Newberry Business Canter, she said she is looking forward to marketing and putting the new business out into the community.

For more information, visit newberrybusinesscenter.com.