In Case You Missed It: May 2024 Digest

Posted on by Department of Housing and Community Development

During the month of May, the Virginia Main Street (VMS) team published eight blog posts, highlighting the latest community-vitality news, events and more! Here’s a recap:

Preservation Month

  • The National Trust for Historic Preservation (NTHP) began celebrating and promoting the value of historic preservation back in 1973 with Preservation Week, which then extended into an entire Preservation Month in 2005. Preservation Month is meant to bring attention to historic places and heritage tourism, as well as promote both the economic and social benefits of historic preservation across the country. Click here to learn more!

Business Appreciation Month

  • In celebration of Business Appreciation Month, the Community Vitality Office (CVO) highlighted small businesses throughout the Commonwealth that make each of their respective localities unique and provide quality of life to residents that doesn’t go unnoticed. Like most transformative projects, these businesses have been creative in bringing their dream to life, and many have been supported in some form by Virginia DHCD programs. Click here to learn more about highlighted businesses!

Entrepreneur Support / Recruitment

  • In 2023, Downtown Wytheville, Inc. (DTW) signed on as a Grow with Google training partner as part of a nationwide Google-Main Street America pilot project in 10 states. DTW intended its Grow with Google program to assist small businesses in rural areas. It provided Google certified training to 1,936 individuals across Southwest Virginia, Central Appalachia and the entire state of Virginia. Click here to learn more!
  • Hopewell Downtown Partnership (HDP), along with their City of Hopewell partners, recognizes an emerging opportunity to leverage the city’s industrial prowess in innovative and beneficial ways for downtown and the community. By delving into Hopewell’s history as an industrial boomtown and embracing its current assets as a manufacturing epicenter, HDP embarked on a project aimed at developing new markets, fostering a more sustainable localized economy, and instilling a stronger sense of identity and pride in the community. Click here to learn more!

Main Street America Designation

  • Main Street America recently announced that 1,188 programs have achieved designations as MSA programs in recognition of their commitment to preservation-based economic development and community revitalization through the Main Street Approach. 26 Main Street programs in Virginia earned Accredited status – the top designation tier – for demonstrating a proven track record of achieving outcomes in alignment with the Main Street Approach and exceptional performance in the six standards of community evaluation. Additionally, 13 programs have received Affiliate status for showing a strong commitment to the Main Street model and creating meaningful improvements in their community. Click here to learn more!

VMS Community News

  • Downtown Front Royal, Inc. (DFRI) was established in 2007, and after a decade, the organization went dormant for a handful of years. In January 2023, a new, reinvigorated Board of Directors began meeting and sent Board President, Ellen Aders, to the 2023 Main Street NOW conference in Boston. Since then, DFRI has reconnected with Virginia Main Street, secured the Town of Front Royal’s support to reestablish Exploring Main Street status, and celebrated their renewed commitment to the Main Street Approach with a Cinco de Mayo party that brought downtown merchants and local community members together. Click here to learn more!

Training / Education

  • The Virginia Economic Developers Association (VEDA) Summer Meeting will be held in Danville, VA next month on Monday, June 3rd and Tuesday, June 4th. This year’s VEDA theme is “Exploring the Intersection of Community and Economic Development” which is right up our alley – and given that Danville is a recent Great American Main Street Award (GAMSA) winner, it felt like the right time and place to partner! Click here to learn more!
  • Earlier this month, Main Streeters from across the country came together for the 2024 Main Street Now Conference in Birmingham, Alabama! This yearly opportunity allows Main Streeters to do what Main Streeters do best; gather, learn, talk about big ideas, and make our communities stronger. Click here to learn more about conference highlights!

Stay tuned for lots more great content in June!