During the month of February, the Virginia Main Street (VMS) team published seven blog posts, highlighting the latest community-vitality news, events and more! Here’s a recap:
Forging Relationships for Long-Term Success
- It’s a story all too familiar to those who work in downtown revitalization. Unengaged property owners allow buildings to remain vacant. Buildings fall into disrepair. Buildings become too expensive or cost-prohibitive to repair, restore, and return to active use. Community misses out on opportunity to increase tax base through activation of vacant space…and on and on and on. Downtown Lynchburg Association (DLA) can relate, although a little less after the completion of their Launch LYH program. Click here to learn more!
- Hilton Village Main Street (HVMS) recently welcomed Bird Girl Bottle Shop, a new indoor / outdoor bottle shop for both traditional and non-alcoholic beverages and artisan pizzas. HVMS quickly hopped on board to support Bird Girl and provided a myriad of services to help them navigate the process of opening a business in the city. They streamlined Bird Girl’s pathway by identifying points of contact for each step in the process. Click here to learn more!
Revitalizing Trammel in Southwest Virginia
- People Incorporated has been in the business of changing lives since 1964. Headquartered in Abingdon in Washington County, the non-profit community action agency and community development organization has been working to revitalize a community in Southwest Virginia for nearly 10 years. Click here to learn more!
Tourism Improvement Districts
- Tourism Improvement Districts (TIDs) are a hospitality-specific model of the traditional Business Improvement District (BID). TIDs use special benefit assessments, rather than general taxes, to raise revenue to use for destination marketing and tourism promotion. Funds raised through these assessments cannot be diverted into other government programs and can only be spent on programs that benefit those who pay into the district. Click here to learn more!
Volunteer Engagement
- When it comes to having a thriving and vibrant downtown, you simply can’t do it alone! Having enthusiastic and committed volunteers can grow your organization’s capacity, create broad personal investment in your work, and create a pipeline of sustainable growth for the future of your Main Street program. Click here to learn more!
Strengthening Downtown Connections
- Over the past few years, the Town of Halifax has worked tirelessly to transform downtown Halifax into a hub of activity! Putting its “Halifax Downtown Connections Plan” into action, local leaders and dedicated volunteers / working groups have begun to revitalize the area with improved parking and pedestrian connections, adding wayfinding signage, enhancing alleyways and redeveloping highly visible sites in the Halifax Court House Historic District. Click here to learn more!
7 Actionable Principles
- Through Virginia Main Street’s (VMS) Firm Principles, Flexible Paths series, the Center for Nonprofit Excellence (CNE) is diving into their 7 Actionable Principles (7APs) to strengthen nonprofits and their relationships with funders. The 7APs offer a common language around key and proven practices, infused with values of equity and growth. The fifth principle relates to developing leaders. Click here to learn more!
Stay tuned for lots more great content in March!
Virginia Main Street 