The people who make up the Virginia Main Street network are passionate advocates, dedicated volunteers, influential stakeholders, and community organizers who work every day to turn the tide in their communities – catalyzing reinvestment, creating jobs, and fostering pride of place. In order to meet new Main Street challenges and foster an effective organization, Virginia … More 2018 VMS Training Opportunities
“Downtowns are being reborn through the Main Street Approach.” – Kathy Frazier Behind those encouraging words are years of wisdom and committed service to small towns across Virginia, something worthy of recognition. Accordingly, Frazier Associates was recently recognized for their distinguished architecture and community leadership with AIA … More Frazier Associates Recognized for Design Achievement
Governor McAuliffe and Senator Warner recently announced a new initiative to match Virginia entrepreneurs with investors, called “Virginia is for Entrepreneurs” (VA4E). This initiative includes a new website (va4e.org) that includes a standardized online application to better link entrepreneurs with more than 50 investment firms and potential funders to help launch or grow their Virginia-based businesses. Any … More Virginia is for Entrepreneurs!
I was recently going through the 8,952,423,065 pictures on my phone – saving some, posting some, even printing some, and deleting a lot. This exercise in photo curation is a great walk down memory lane from my past year. It is a reminder of all of the places I have been and interesting things that … More Vacation Inspiration: I’m Never Not Working
Our guest blogger is Luray Downtown Initiative (LDI) Executive Director Meredith Dees. She is a Luray native and recently returned after a career experience in Denver, CO overseeing regional retail operations for a yoga brand. Any Main Street manager will tell you that as soon as they hear the words “road construction” or “street closures” … More An Evening on the Bridge: Luray’s Hometown Fundraiser
From South Boston to Winchester, St. Paul to Norfolk, many of our Virginia communities have seen significant revitalization as a result of the Federal Historic Tax Credits (HTC). In many cases, if not most cases, rehabilitation of historic structures counts on this funding to make those projects work – and the credits are slated for elimination … More Tax Reform and Downtown Rehabilitation
The Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) will be holding a Building Entrepreneurial Economies (BEE) Innovation Day on Wednesday, December 6, in Charlottesville, VA. Community leaders and small business enthusiasts will discuss innovative ideas in entrepreneurship development, as well as offer inspiration and education to plan for and create a vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem … More BEE Innovation Day 2017
While you were busy making a difference in your home town, you might have missed these thought-provoking posts: Holiday Customer Service: 7 Tips Retailers Should Not Ignore – Retail Minded Craft Beer’s Big Impact on Small Towns and Forgotten Neighborhoods – Curbed 6 Urban Projects Built Thanks to Online Civic Engagement – CitizenLab How to … More The District Digest Vol. 2 – Downtown Ideas to Put to Work
The Downtown Lynchburg Association (DLA) knows how to lift up their community. Right now they’re raising awareness of the hardworking entrepreneurs who, with their own hands, are making downtown the destination for local shopping. Our guest blogger, DLA Executive Director Ashley Kershner, gives us the goods. As part of our overall marketing strategy this year, … More Downtown Lynchburg: Where the Makers Are
Virginia Main Street has opened the application process for our first ever Commercial District Affiliate Grants! Affiliate Grants are designed to assist organizations and communities in achieving their downtown revitalization goals and be used for projects or planning purposes. The maximum grant amount is $7,000 and can be used for… non-profit organizational development; vision/mission development; … More VMS Commercial District Affiliate Grants Now Available!
Virginia Main Street 