Business owners in Newberry are working to manage both the positive and negative aspects of the city’s growth.
Blooming House Nursery owner Mike Barron has lived in Florida his whole life. He’s owned his business in Newberry since 1996.
“We help people with trimming [plants], we got bagged mulch, anything to help customers out,” he said.
But he doesn’t like how the city is changing.
“The farmland has now got roads in it and houses started,” he said. “The fields just don’t feel the same.”
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Newberry’s population grew by about 13% between 2020 and 2024. Currently, about 9,000 people live there. But that number could easily reach 10,000 within the next decade.
“I’ve sort of just tried to embrace the fact that people are going to come here,” said Newberry Mayor Tim Marden.
With more people in town, there’s also more traffic. Newberry Road in the city’s downtown area is still a two-lane road. This can be especially challenging for people like Barron, who commute to work from outside of town.
“I don’t think the two lanes are enough in the afternoon,” Barron said. “It’ll be backed up for almost a mile.”
To accommodate growth and regulate traffic flow, the city is planning to add more stoplights and expand some roadways.
“We just did a project on 15th avenue that will ultimately connect over County Road 337,” Marden said.
With an increased population, there’s also a demand for more businesses. It’s drawing some new openings in town.
In March 2025, Publix opened its Newberry location at Newberry Farms. In February, a Radiant Credit Union opened in the same complex. In September of 2025, what was once Hitchcock’s on West Newberry Road began the transition to Bravo Supermarket, a first in the region. And more retail spaces are on the way.
“Do I think we’ll have skyscrapers anytime soon? No,” Marden said. “Big commercial aspects… I think those will probably come within the next 10 years.”
In the meantime, some local business owners are already seeing the effects of growth. Pawn Pro owner Chris Mack said he’s getting more customers.
“I mean, it’s a freebie [having more people in town],” he said. “Growth is not something you’re going to stop.”
Barron agrees with Mack about his business’s growth.
“Just the houses alone… help my business,” he said. “We sell a lot more mulch now to different people, trying to put mulch in their yards.”
According to Marden, greater demand could help fuel the city’s economy. That’s especially the case with the addition of commercial growth.
“Commercial growth pays for itself,” he said. “We are going to be hitting a little bit of a season where Newberry is going to see more commercial growth than residential.”
It’s possible the growth could help the city continue toward greater economic prosperity. But Mack said it could be challenging to keep Newberry’s small-town feel while roads become larger, construction increases and more people move there.
“The silver bullet is maintaining that balance,” Mack said about keeping a small-town feel while managing growth.
One project related to local development involves a new wastewater plant. The Newberry City Commission approved a construction contract for the new $70 million facility Feb. 10. The old one was built in the 1970s and functions below state standards.
More projects like this could appear over the next couple of years. Mack, who also serves as president of the Newberry Main Street Organization, hopes people continue working to preserve Newberry’s history despite any future changes.
“It’s very important to the people that live here… from what I hear from talking to people,” Mack said.
Mack plans on staying in Newberry and trying to play a part in helping keep the city’s history alive.
“I’ll be in Newberry for quite some time, probably until I decide to retire,” he said.
Both Mack and Barron said that change is inevitable. But for Barron, there’s nothing like old Florida.
“Honestly, I don’t like it, but you can’t stop progress,” Barron said.