Category: Southwest Virginia

Damascus planned as year-round destination

September 25, 2014

Many VMS communities and other localities that DHCD partners with, like Damascus,  recognize the importance of connecting downtowns to the surrounding outdoor recreation assets.  We asked guest blogger Nick Proctor, community development and outdoor recreation specialist for the Friends of Southwest Virginia, to share how it is working in one small community in Southwest Virginia.   Muddy … More Damascus planned as year-round destination

Marion Completes Fifth Round of “Pop Up” Marion Boot Camp

March 31, 2014

By now, you’ve probably heard of the success Marion Downtown! has had with its small business “Pop Up” Boot Camp entrepreneur program. If you have not, you are definitely missing out on all the excitement! “Pop Up Marion” offers up to $5,000 for aspiring downtown entrepreneurs, offsetting startup expenses like rent and utilities for the first … More Marion Completes Fifth Round of “Pop Up” Marion Boot Camp

Embracing Nature, Culture and History: Appalachia’s new economy

January 29, 2013

All across Southwest Virginia, the stories of men and women who worked in mines, furniture factories or textile mills can be read in the buildings you see today. In the coalfields, mining towns and camps sprang up wherever the coal seam led. Miners came from farms nearby, from the deep South and from Eastern Europe … More Embracing Nature, Culture and History: Appalachia’s new economy