Financial Literacy Month

As we wind down the last few days of April, we want to be sure to recognize that April is Financial Literacy Month.  While learning about finance and how to take care of your money are important everyday, we Americans have a special relationship to our finances this time of year, since this is when … More Financial Literacy Month

Bedford Boys

All of our Virignia Main Street communities have unique histories and cultures that we like to highlight in the Virginia Main Street blog from time to time.  One of the most stiking stories is that of  Company A, 116th Infantry, 29th Division from Bedford, Virginia. Company A took part in the first wave of storming Nazi … More Bedford Boys

VMS Driving Tour brochures are here

Actually, they were here, but now they are there.  10,000 brochures have been distributed to the Virginia Visitor Information Centers and to the Virginia Designated Main Street communities. The brochure is designed to highlight the histoic, cultural, recreational and gastronomic opportunities available on Main Street.  You can print your own copy here.

Achieve your nonprofit mission

Strategic thinking, volunteer resource management and managing your financial picture are all challenges of running a successful nonprofit organization.  They’re also titles of courses offered through Virginia Commonwealth University’s Nonprofit Learning Point (NLP) educational program.  In 2009 the program celebrates 13 years of empowering organizations to become more effective and efficient in achieving their goals.    … More Achieve your nonprofit mission

Spring 2009 Virginia Main Street Monitor now available

The Spring 2009 Virginia Main Street Monitor is now available in its new form, an electronic technical brief.  The new edition offers best practices for structuring effective promotional campaigns, culled from our Virginia Main Street network.  The brief includes tips on partnering, constructing a press release, and debriefing the event. The Monitor‘s new electronic form reduces costs … More Spring 2009 Virginia Main Street Monitor now available

Making lemonade

Norm Brodsky is a writer for Inc. Magazine.  He is the co-writer of: The Knack: How Street Smart Entrepreneurs Learn to Handle Whatever Comes Up.  He also has started six businesses.  Lets call him an entrepreneur.  In the April issue of Inc, Brodsky writes in his Street Smarts Column about lessons to use when your original plan goes … More Making lemonade

Virginia’s Main Street in the news

The Sunday, April 5 edition of the Richmond Times-Dispatch had several articles of note about Virginia Main Street communities.  First was an article about Abingdon’s latest downtown promotion, then an article about Page County’s (including Luray) attempt to be designated as the “Cabin Capital of Virginia.” Then yet another article, this one talking about the … More Virginia’s Main Street in the news

Trading Faces: Building and caring for your online reputation

You’ve spent years building your professional reputation and protecting your organization’s good name, but in today’s interconnected, information-rich world it’s easier than ever for the actions of others to damage the goodwill you’ve established. Networking is a basic responsibility of business owners and organizations serving them. We network to keep abreast of best practices, to … More Trading Faces: Building and caring for your online reputation