As tens of thousands of students return to campus at North Carolina State

University, Hillsborough Street businesses hope to remind them that the

businesses are open and eager for them to come back to town.

The newly formed Hillsborough Street Community Service Corporation

(HSCSC), with help from the university, has distributed more than 8000 maps of

Hillsborough Street and a sheet of coupons enticing students to cross the street

from campus for deals. The N.C. State coupon program is part of an overall plan

to promote the businesses on Hillsborough Street during the 16 months of

construction for the new roundabouts currently being installed.

“We’ve been hit with a triple whammy,” Hillsborough Street business

owner Kevin Jennings and president of the HSCSC said. “The students were

gone for the summer, the economy is soft and people think that because the

street is under construction, there is no where to park.”

The Hillsborough Street maps list the more than 200 businesses along the

corridor and show all of the parking available to patrons of Hillsborough Street

while construction is underway. N.C. State University has opened up its parking

lots to the public weekdays after 5 p.m. and all weekend long – providing

hundreds of parking spaces to the public.