Public art is a key component in creative placemaking. It’s a no brainer really: enhancing your environment increases residential and tourist footfall, which, in turn, improves local economies. Leveraging public art for placemaking is a visible symbol of renewal, fostering civic pride, and creating a strong community identity to attract investors, tourists and workers. Here … More Public Art and Creative Placemaking

As part of an ongoing streetscape improvement project on Piccadilly Street, the City of Winchester has turned street parking spaces into parklets designed by local artists. Arte Libre VA, a local nonprofit that works to empower Latinx, Black, and Youth of Color through equitable access to quality arts education and programming, was a major partner … More Winchester Adds Art to Its Streets

Seeking to develop stronger connections between Farmville’s historic commercial district and anchoring educational institutions, particularly Longwood University (LU), Farmville Downtown Partnership (FDP) partnered with students from Dr. Alec Hosterman’s COMM 430 – Public Relations Campaigns class, which is the capstone course for public relations students, to create project-based work plans that help the organization friend-raise … More Longwood University Students Help Farmville’s Local Main Street Program Strengthen Fundraising Efforts, Build Community and Promote Downtown

Thriving communities work daily to attract, grow, and support small businesses. Not only do small businesses bring in additional revenue and jobs for residents, they give their community a unique character and sense of place. May is recognized as Business Appreciation Month, and in honor of small businesses across the Commonwealth, we are featuring three … More Business Appreciation Month: CBL Small Business Feature

Since 1973, when Historic Preservation Month (well, a week at the time) was signed into law by former President Richard Nixon, civic leaders, historians, and community members have taken the month of May as an opportunity to celebrate and educate our nation on its historic assets. Historic preservation is an essential facet of the work we … More May is Historic Preservation Month

The Local Initiative Support Coalition (LISC) recently created the Black Restaurant Fund, made possible by a donation from Uber, to invest in the growth of Black-owned restaurants and food service businesses with an equity-like investment program. Interested business owners can learn more about the program here and submit an intake form to determine eligibility. What … More LISC Black Restaurant Fund

Helping small businesses is one of the key ingredients to creating a vibrant downtown! To fully-bake that vision, you will need to employ a comprehensive approach, the Main Street Approach, a framework where strategies are implemented through a broad range of activities that span four areas of work, which includes Economic Vitality, Design, Promotion, and … More Economic Vitality: A Key Ingredient to Creating a Vibrant Downtown

Over the past decade, entrepreneurship has played a bigger and bigger role in the practice of Main Street at the national, state, and (hopefully) local levels. Main Street America (MSA) has done extensive research to develop resources to guide local efforts on building healthy Entrepreneurial Ecosystems, and Virginia Main Street (VMS) created and spun off the Community Business Launch (CBL) program that … More Vital Activities for Your Economic Vitality Committee