As a rural Tier 1 community, Bertie County faces significant challenges such as aging downtowns and infrastructure, yet is also possesses immense potential as a cultural and ecotourism destination in eastern North Carolina.
This plan leverages historic buildings, green spaces, trail systems, and pedestrian-friendly infill to create more vibrant, connected communities, and to lay the foundation for sustainable economic growth.
Plan
Overview
At the heart of the plan is a series of illustrative master plans proposing redevelopment to many of the county’s downtown core areas, with the towns of Aulander, Powellsville and Windsor as the primary focus of the plan. These design efforts aim to spark small business growth, create new jobs, and breathe life into Bertie’s historic rural communities.
Community Engagement
Through extensive public engagement efforts, including focus groups, surveys, and public meetings, it was determined the plan would focus on the future of the communities’ downtowns as a mechanism for growth.
To maximize citizen participation, a plan website and promotional video were created.
This video, featuring eastern NC native Ron Griswell, uniquely profiles the County’s assets, and introduces the key goals of the plan – to boost tourism, revitalize downtowns, and support small businesses through initiatives focused on outdoor recreation, heritage tourism, and agritourism.
Featuring local voices and perspectives, the video aims to generate interest and buy-in from residents. The call-to-action invites the community to share their ideas, and demonstrates commitment to a community-driven approach.
Conceptual Wayfinding Designs
Countywide wayfinding and gateway signage concepts were derived from a destination brand identity created by our Communications team. Coordinating our planning and branding efforts in such a multidisciplinary fashion helps fast-track revitalization efforts by casting a comprehensive vision to promote visitation, improve connectivity, and showcase what Bertie can offer the world.
Content & Brand Identity
Through a concurrent process including a separate brand study, our Communications team developed a robust visual identity and brand strategy to help guide County marketing efforts and cast a vision for Bertie as a world class ecotourism destination.
Destination by Design partnered with Bertie County to create the Destination Bertie Action Plan, a comprehensive, countywide asset development and branding initiative aimed at revitalizing the historic downtowns of Aulander, Powellsville, and Windsor. The plan pairs illustrative master plans for each downtown core with a new destination brand, wayfinding concepts, and a marketing strategy built to position Bertie as a world-class ecotourism destination in eastern North Carolina.
In North Carolina, community branding and downtown revitalization work especially well together in rural Tier 1 counties looking to reverse decades of aging infrastructure. Destination Bertie reflects that pairing, using countywide wayfinding and gateway signage concepts derived directly from the new destination brand identity, so visitors experience a consistent, cohesive sense of place from the county line to each historic downtown.
For a rural Tier 1 community, a strong brand and a clear downtown revitalization strategy can be the difference between continued decline and sustainable growth. Destination Bertie was built around that goal, using a promotional video featuring eastern NC native Ron Griswell to introduce the county’s outdoor recreation, heritage tourism, and agritourism assets, generating resident buy-in for a plan aimed at boosting small business growth and creating new jobs.
Community branding is the process of developing a visual identity, marketing strategy, and messaging framework that captures a place’s unique character and helps guide its tourism and economic development efforts. For Bertie County, that meant a separate brand study feeding into a robust visual identity, paired with wayfinding and gateway signage recommendations that carry the new brand into the physical landscape of the county’s downtowns.
Bertie County sits in the northeastern corner of North Carolina’s Inner Banks region, a rural area classified as a Tier 1 community facing significant economic distress. Despite those challenges, its historic downtowns, green spaces, and trail systems give it real potential as a cultural and ecotourism destination, which is exactly the opportunity the Destination Bertie plan was built to capture.
