Harrisonburg Downtown Renaissance’s (HDR) Bricks & Clicks program helps downtown entrepreneurs turn ideas into action. Designed as a business retention and growth initiative, Bricks & Clicks provides customized, one-on-one technical assistance paired with grants for new and existing businesses in downtown Harrisonburg.
Since 2017, HDR has supported downtown businesses with “the bricks” (including new signage, visual merchandising, ADA improvements, façade and lighting updates) and “the clicks” (such as e-commerce, marketing plans, bookkeeping, and more). By connecting business owners with their local Small Business Development Center (SBDC), private consultants, local subject matter experts, and HDR’s marketing staff, participants receive deep-dive business assessments and actionable recommendations tailored to their goals. Businesses can immediately implement recommendations with grant funding of up to $5,000 to strengthen their brick-and-mortar operations or increase their online presence.
A committee comprising board members who have owned businesses, City of Harrisonburg economic development staff, SBDC staff, and subject-matter experts reviews and ranks the applications. Sometimes the committee determines the applicant is asking for one thing but really needs something else. They also confer with each other to identify the best technical assistance provider to match with each applicant. In the last round, HDR hired a team of hospitality consultants from Richmond to meet with restaurateurs and was able to cover their lodging since a downtown bed-and-breakfast was participating.
“Part of the reason why we launched Bricks & Clicks is that we found that business owners weren’t taking action on concepts presented in our annual workshop calendar,” said Andrea Dono, HDR’s executive director. “But we noticed when we spent one-on-one time with them, information felt personalized and relevant to them. Concepts seemed less theoretical and general. That, plus the carrot of a grant, helped turn good ideas into action.”
Blue Ridge Florist was awarded a Bricks & Clicks grant to expand their existing floral business into a tearoom, adding a new experience downtown and activating unused space. (Photo courtesy Harrisonburg Downtown Renaissance)
Bricks & Clicks is primarily funded by HDR’s Friendly City Fortune mega-raffle fundraiser and supplemented by external grant funding, when available. The most recent round was supported by a $100,000 Virginia Business District Resurgence Grant from the Department of Housing and Community Development and enabled HDR to serve 40 downtown businesses (including three new startups who received $10,000 each), retain 126 downtown jobs, and improve five building façades. HDR leveraged the state investment with $44,300 in cash match, as well as in-kind support from its director of marketing, who provided 20 hours of personalized business assistance.
“Business owners are expected to wear all the hats, which is stressful. We wanted to offer a program that could grow their skills, help them feel supported, and use a “teach-to-fish” model,” Dono said. “Sometimes they learn that they can do things on their own, like using Canva for updating menus and creating social media assets; other times it makes sense to hire out the work, like SEO and Google AdWords. It helps them know where to put their money and their own time.”
Bricks & Clicks has proven to be a powerful business retention and growth tool. Participating businesses have expanded, increased revenue, boosted visitor-ship, and strengthened their marketing and operational capacity—helping ensure downtown Harrisonburg remains a vibrant economic and cultural hub.
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