“Tourism is an instant revenue generator and job creator for Virginia, which is why I continue to advocate for more resources for tourism marketing. Smart investments in tourism provide economic benefits to communities across the Commonwealth and good jobs for our citizens.” – Gov. Bob McDonnell According to a press release issued by the Governor’s … More A Call to Promotion – Tourism on the Rise in VA
Downtown districts hold events for a variety of reasons: to raise the identity and up the energy of a district, to earn money for the downtown organization and to boost retail sales in district stores. All are good reasons, and the events promote the role of the district as the central convening point in a … More “If you don’t have anything else to do, dress up like a hotdog.”
Governor McDonnell announced yesterday that four new communities can now tout their distinction as Designated Virginia Main Street Communities. The new communities are the cities of Hopewell and Bristol and the towns of Farmville and St. Paul. They were chosen based on a combination of factors that included need, readiness, community support and appropriateness of their … More Virginia Main Street designates four new communities
In a time of tight public budgets and program cuts, the most important task a publicly-funded program can do is show results. Bring people downtown, attract private investment, increase sales and fill vacancies; i.e. increase the tax base. These are the hard, quantifiable outcomes that a Main Street program should be working toward and that … More Harrisonburg Downtown Renaissance named “Best Use of Taxpayer Money”
While the typical New Year’s resolution is abandoned somewhere around the long Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday weekend, there is a certain feeling of “anything’s possible” in the air during these first few weeks of January. Now really can be a good time to set some goals. Go ahead, think big. If you don’t stretch yourself to do … More New Year’s Resolution Poll
Culpeper, Virginia just received some good press after it unleashed its new shop local campaign, Be a Culpeper Local. The campaign combines educating the nearly 50,000 Culpeper County residents on the value of buying locally with a website, beaculpeperlocal.com that directs visitors to local shopping and dining options, specials, and a way to track how much … More Be a Culpeper Local
One of Virginia Main Street’s most prized relationships is the one we have with Virginia Tourism Corporation (VTC). We often plan our strategies to complement theirs and they often ask us what’s going on downtown that they can use to better market Virginia. They believe in Virginia’s historic commercial districts as tourist attractions to the … More Virginia Tourism is way ahead of the pack…again.
Is your economic restructuring committee effective? Challenges like recruiting businesses and interpreting expensive and technical market studies discourage eager volunteers. There’s no immediate result after hours of meetings and planning. Pressure to see results from business owners, local government and the community compounds the frustration. It’s easy for this committee, in particular, to go inactive. Main Street organizations all over America … More Designing a Marketplace
We’re approaching fall in Virginia. That means crisp air and crisper apples, rotund pumpkins and autumnal spices, bluegrass and blues, vintage cars and vantage locations for the display of changing leaves. It means festivals. The 21 designated Main Street communities and some of our more active affiliates are setting out the hay bales and sweeping the streets to … More Where will you get your festival on?
Nestled at the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains and located on the edge of the Washington, D.C. suburbs, the Town of Purcellville has worked to maintain the small town characteristics that have defined the community for centuries. New downtown construction projects and infill developments fit right into the local, historic charm. This achievement made the town the … More VDDA Hot Topic Luncheon focuses on traditional downtown design
Virginia Main Street 