In 2021 the Downtown Lynchburg Association (DLA) embarked on a project to give an economic boost to the historic Fifth Street District as part of the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development’s (DHCD) FY22 Virginia Business District Resurgence Grant (Resurgence) program. The vision for a revitalized Fifth Street corridor is a thriving business center in … More Main Street Boundary Expansion Case Study: Lynchburg

This month, Main Street America (MSA) will hold a three-part webinar series revisiting some of the most popular sessions from the 2023 Main Street Now Conference! Practitioners from across the network will share their expertise and provide practical information on a range of perennial Main Street issues. Scheduled At-a-Glance Wednesday, July 12 | 2:00 PM … More Revisit Popular 2023 Main Street Now Conference Sessions Through Summer School Webinar Series

During the month of June, the Virginia Main Street (VMS) team published seven blog posts, highlighting the latest community vitality-related news, events and more! Here’s a recap: VMS Community News Enhancing the Physical and Visual Elements of Downtown Promoting Strategic Use of Space and Development Home Ownership Month For-Impact Storytelling Backing Small Businesses Stay tuned for lots … More In Case You Missed It: June 2023 Digest

As people, we gain knowledge and connect with others by sharing stories. Imagine your Main Street leadership team using storytelling to engage and motivate different audiences. What would that look like? Recently, leaders from the Mobilizing Main Street (MMS) cohort met for their monthly huddle to learn about and apply organizational storytelling to build a … More Reflection & Opportunity: For-Impact Storytelling

In 2021, American Express and Main Street America (MSA) created the Backing Small Businesses grant program to help economically vulnerable small business owners recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and grow their businesses. In its first year, the program provided $1.65 million in grants to 330 small business owners across the country. Now in its second year, … More Nine Virginia Businesses Among Those Named 2023 “Backing Small Businesses” Grant Recipients

It looks like the time is right for Main Street in the Town of Leesburg! A local Main Street effort has been on the table multiple times in the past, but it never gained the traction needed to get off the ground. This time around, the town took their time to ensure community interest was … More Leesburg’s Main Street Movement

After extensive planning and design, Lexington has installed a new garden as a gateway to its downtown district. The Gateway Triangle Garden project grew from Main Street Lexington’s (MSL) Design Committee and has been a high priority design project for the organization for several years. As one of the essential points of the time-tested Main Street Approach, … More Lexington’s Gateway Triangle Garden Flourishes

Communities across Virginia and the country have been revitalizing their local economies by focusing energy, resources, and people-power on improving older and historic commercial districts. Central to these efforts is the preservation and maintenance of the historic properties that give these communities a sense of place and a thriving economic engine, i.e. downtown. Façade improvements, … More Establishing a Façade Improvement Grant Program Can Benefit Your Downtown and the Entire Community

On April 27th, Hopewell Downtown Partnership (HDP) welcomed supporters, citizens, partners, and the downtown-curious to an open house highlighting recently completed projects, teasing upcoming developments, and providing the opportunity for attendees to be a part of the community’s transformation. Attendees were greeted by Heather Lyne, HDP Executive Director, as well as a cadre of HDP … More Hopewell Downtown Partnership Holds a Downtown Open House

June is for vacations, weddings and celebrating Homeownership Month! And celebrate we will, with three events in Petersburg supporting home buying, homeowners, and housing production.   Virginia Homeownership Program Lunch & Learn | June 7 This event will focus on making homebuying accessible, featuring speakers and organizations discussing grants and other assistance programs available to those … More Celebrating Homeownership Month in Petersburg!