Virginia Main Street

At the 2026 Virginia Advancing Main Street Director Retreat in Luray, 32 local program executive directors gathered for a session titled Appreciative Inquiry: Leading with Strengths, Purpose, and Possibility. These directors lead local nonprofit Main Street organizations—each a 501(c)(3) that partners closely with its municipality to strengthen downtown districts and advance community vitality. Appreciative Inquiry … More Leading Where it Matters Most

Communities across the nation are invited to apply for 2026 AARP (American Association of Retired Persons) Community Challenge grants, an exciting funding opportunity that helps local organizations turn great “ideas “quick action” projects into tangible improvements that make downtowns and Main Streets more livable for people of all ages. The AARP Livable Communities initiative supports … More Grant Opportunity: AARP Community Challenge

More than 30 Advancing Virginia Main Street (AVMS) leaders from across the Commonwealth gathered in Luray last week for the annual AVMS Directors’ Retreat, spending three days immersed in workshops, learning, and networking opportunities. Thanks to a winter storm that swept Virginia just a week prior, which iced over many of the streets of Luray … More Positive Thinking, Leveraging Assets, and Fund Development: A Recap of the 2026 AVMS Directors’ Retreat

Fredericksburg Main Street (FMS) launched its first-ever commemorative ornament this past holiday season, creating a new fundraising tool and strengthening community connection to the historic downtown district. The 2025 ornament featured Goolrick’s Pharmacy, a long-standing downtown business and local landmark that has served the community since 1897. The highly recognizable and meaningful site resulted in an … More A Season for Giving and Gaining: Collectable Ornaments Strengthen Fredericksburg’s Downtown

Extreme snow days can bring the same impacts to small businesses as any other natural disaster, such as hurricanes, floods, or fires. When it is a widespread incident, federal and state emergency loan funds may be available if a State of Emergency is issued. A quick refresher on how those resources rolled out in the … More Weathering Snow Days and Other Natural Disasters

This blog post serves as a follow-up to the previously published Historic Hotel in South Boston to Be Redeveloped article. In 2022, Virginia Main Street announced that the former John Randolph Hotel in downtown South Boston, Virginia, would be redeveloped as a major anchor project, thereby strengthening the vitality and long-term economic health of the … More The Rook Hotel: A Major Milestone in South Boston’s Downtown Revitalization

Strawberry Street Plaza has been part of Cape Charles’ downtown story for nearly a decade. Created in 2017, the open-air plaza sits at the center of town with a clear viewshed to the Cape Charles Harbor and direct connections to Mason Avenue’s shops and restaurants. From the start, it was envisioned as a public gathering … More Strawberry Street Plaza: From Smart Planning to a Thriving Economic Asset

It’s the start of a new year, and many of us engage in the annual ritual of setting New Year’s resolutions: read more, work out more, eat healthy, and the list of achievable (and sometimes not-so-achievable) goals goes on. According to a 2023 Forbes Health poll, most people tend to give up or flat out … More New Year, New Work Plan

Harrisonburg is grappling with a challenge familiar to many Main Street districts: how to accommodate growth and density, while protecting the historic character that defines downtown. As an Advancing Virginia Main Street (AVMS) community, Harrisonburg Downtown Renaissance (HDR) recently leveraged Virginia Main Street (VMS) design services to proactively address this tension through board education and … More Designing for Growth in Harrisonburg

An unexpected byproduct of preservation-based economic development is the discovery of a community’s history. While the primary goal is to ensure a building is being used to its fullest potential, the process often yields stories waiting to be told. In Buena Vista’s Main Street district, sits a vacant building at 141 & 149 West 21st … More Uncovering Buena Vista’s History Through Preservation-Based Economic Development