Music to their ears: Elected officials tour the HUB, Salisbury Symphony announced as newest anchor tenant
Published 12:10 am Saturday, February 21, 2026
SALISBURY — On Thursday, the HUB took center stage as community leaders and elected officials gathered for a special announcement welcoming the Salisbury Symphony as the newest anchor tenant. Current HUB partners Dr. Imran Chowdhury, Ph.D., dean of the Ketner School of Business at Catawba College, and Denise Heinke, director of outreach and development at Smart Start Rowan, pulled back the curtain to reveal Peter Ferretti, executive director of the Salisbury Symphony Orchestra. Ferretti, marked the occasion by playing his 16th century bass, officially announcing the symphony’s new partnership and filling the space with music that symbolized a new chapter of collaboration.
Community leaders and elected officials then toured the HUB in downtown Salisbury, highlighting the innovative shared nonprofit model designed to better serve residents across Rowan County. The addition of the Salisbury Symphony strengthens the HUB’s growing network of partners and expands access to arts and culture within this collaborative framework.
“It was exciting to see this collaborative model in action,” said Harry Warren, North Carolina state representative. “Partnerships like these show what is possible when organizations work together with a shared mission to strengthen Rowan County.”
Designed to reduce overhead costs for nonprofit partners while increasing collective impact, the HUB brings together on-site storage solutions that lower operational expenses and shared meeting and training spaces that eliminate duplication of services, prioritizing efficiency and collaboration.
Visitors began on the first floor, where community access and early childhood support anchor the space through dedicated Smart Start Rowan areas including a teacher resource library, the Mary Ponds Playroom, a PC station for families, and a future community market shaped by resident led food access research. The mezzanine highlights the HUB’s shared resource model with the Vista Board Room, catering kitchen and training room that will serve as the future home of Salisbury’s Getting Ahead program in partnership with Main Street Marketplace.
The second floor represents cross-sector collaboration, housing the Salisbury Symphony as an anchor tenant alongside flexible offices, shared training rooms and Catawba College’s Social Entrepreneurship Lab through the Ketner School of Business, strengthening connections between arts, higher education and nonprofit leadership. The third floor will become home to the Rowan County United Way and the executive offices of Smart Start Rowan, as well as flexible technology equipped training space. Reinforcing how partnerships formed inside HUB extend into neighborhoods to advance food access, education, innovation and collective impact across Rowan County.
Brittany Barnhardt, mayor of Granite Quarry, reflected on the broader impact of space and its partners: “It was exciting to see this collaborative model in action, with partners like Catawba College, Food Lion Feeds, Smart Start Rowan, Main Street Marketplace and the Salisbury Symphony continuing to expand their impact. One of my favorite moments was standing on the top floor, looking out over the city and seeing Dunn’s Mountain in the distance. It was a powerful reminder of the opportunity we have right here at home. Partnerships like this show what’s possible when we work together to strengthen Rowan County.”
When the HUB opens it’s doors, it will stand as a physical representation of what is possible through shared vision and collective investment, a welcoming accessible, and community-rooted center designed to expand opportunity and improve quality of life across Rowan County for generations to come. To learn more visit thehubinitiative.com and stay tuned for more partnership announcements in 2026.