HACKETTSTOWN -- As the national economic focus continues to shift away from traditional shopping centers and box stores, downtown communities around the country are beginning to experience something of a Main Street renaissance.

HACKETTSTOWN -- As the national economic focus continues to shift away from traditional shopping centers and box stores, downtown communities around the country are beginning to experience something of a Main Street renaissance, with a rekindled appreciation for all things local. In Hackettstown, where new businesses and restaurants are opening at a record pace, the transition, while not always smooth, has paved the way for a remarkable and noted turnaround.

In September, Hackettstown officials announced that after years of careful planning and budgeting, the town could officially claim a debt-free status.

"We got hit pretty hard in 2007, just like everybody else," Mayor Maria DiGiovanni said. "We had a lot of empty storefronts for what felt like a very long time. When things got really bad, we started making a concentrated effort to make the community more attractive so that when the economy started to turn around, which we knew it eventually would, we would be ready."

In the years following the recession, DiGiovanni said, the town dedicated a large portion of its spending to capital improvement projects designed to make the shopping district more appealing to business owners and investors.

"When I was elected in 2012, we were about $7 million in debt," DiGiovanni said. "The council had already been working for some time to revitalize our shopping district, so over the years we had bonded out for things like a new park and a redesigned streetscape. It was one of those situations where we had to borrow against the present to pay for the future. The idea was always to create a walkable downtown that we could be proud of. It didn't happen overnight, but we're making good progress."

In addition to capital improvement projects, DiGiovanni said, Hackettstown had needed to bond out to cover the cost of a new fire truck in 2015 at an estimated cost of $1 million.

"Every municipality has its own expenses that can pile up pretty quickly," she said. "We have always been very careful in our spending habits, but we decided several years ago that we wanted to pay down this debt before incurring any more. It meant sticking to a pretty strict budget plan, but luckily, we were able to make it work."

Michael Darcy, executive director of the New Jersey League of Municipalities, said that the town's new debt-free status was "highly unusual."

"I can't say for sure how many other municipalities in the state have been able to retire their debt, but I would be willing to bet that there aren't many," he said. "The fact that Hackettstown has been able to get to this point is certainly a good indicator that they are experiencing an economic upswing. This would be a good time for them to look forward and focus on strategic planning."

In 2016, DiGiovanni said, the town began to budget for its own capital improvement fund.

"Right now, we don't have anything major on the horizon in terms of new projects," she said. "Last year, when we realized that we would be on schedule to pay off our debts, we began to earmark the funds that we had been spending on repayments for the new reserve. We self-fund our roads and, at this point, most of our equipment, so this fund will be dedicated toward whatever we may need down the road. That having been said, though, we certainly wouldn't sacrifice the needs of the town to retain the debt-free status if something should arise that is beyond our current capabilities to handle. Hopefully, we won't have to bond for anything any time soon, but never say never."

Today, Hackettstown is home to more than 50 restaurants, numerous specialty stores, three breweries and a thriving community hub of activity.

The massive turnaround, DiGiovanni said, can be attributed to a dedicated collaboration among the Town Council, major shareholders like Mars Wrigley, Hackettstown Medical Center/Atlantic Health and Centenary University -- all of which are located within the town's borders -- and the Hackettstown Business Improvement District (BID), a non-profit organization that partners the public and private sectors in the promotion and development of the Hackettstown commercial district.

"The BID was formed in 2004 after the state decided to allow certain municipally designated areas to offer incentives to businesses and investors," said director Jim Sheldon, who assumed the role in 2011. "Since day one, our mission has been to provide a network of resources and support for our business owners so that we can work together to meet our common goals."

Sheldon said that the role of any successful BID is to recognize and develop areas of strength and potential growth within the community.

"When I took over as director in 2011, I felt that it was important to work toward a food-based economy," he said. "Centenary had just opened the Lackland Center, which has a tremendous theater inside of it. It's a wonderful asset for our town, because to me, nothing goes together like dinner and a show. The other piece of that is that visiting a restaurant or a bar is an organic experience that you can't get online. There is a lot to be said for the convenience of e-commerce, but people are starting to spend more time looking for ways to interact without a screen in the way. We can provide that here."

Instead of competing for customers, DiGiovanni said, many of Hackettstown's businesses have tried to figure out how to work together and bolster support for the community as a whole.

"The other night, for example, I had friends in from out of town," she said. "We started out at the Czig Meister brewery to grab a drink, and then walked across the street to James on Main for dinner. The really nice thing is that there is a good collaboration between the owners. People have the option of bringing take-out to the breweries, or of bringing a growler to the restaurants. We've really got the best of the best, and it's great to see so many people out and about, taking advantage of all that we have to offer."

The other benefit to traveling from one business to the other, Sheldon said, is that it gives people the chance to walk the streets and stay abreast of new town developments.

"If you're leaving a restaurant to go grab a cup of coffee, maybe you're going to walk past a new store that you hadn't visited before, or hear about an event that you didn't know about," he said. "This has always been about getting people out onto the sidewalks, and I think we're starting to see some real progress in that area."

Main Street events, Sheldon said, have also played a major role in the town's redevelopment.

"We have two different types of events that the BID puts on every year," he said. "Some, like our Octoberfest, are community-based, and designed to bring people out into the streets. Others, like the bartender series, are intended to bring people into specific business. People get bored doing the same thing over and over again, so it's important to have some variety."

While a few vacant storefronts still linger on Main Street, DiGiovanni said that things are certainly moving in the right direction.

"We're never going to be finished in a conventional sense," she said. "A town is like a living thing. It's always in a state of flux, and things can certainly change. That having been said, we set out with the intention of bringing some pride back to our town, and to that end, we have made some great strides."