Governor Announces Virginia Entrepreneurial Challenge

October 3, 2016

Governor Terry McAuliffe has announced that he is partnering with Virginia Commonwealth University and Junior Achievement of Central Virginia to host the Virginia Entrepreneurial Challenge on Saturday, Oct. 15 and Sunday, Oct. 16 at the VCU School of Business. The challenge will be a weekend-long entrepreneurship boot camp for high school juniors and seniors. The … More Governor Announces Virginia Entrepreneurial Challenge

Make the Most of Heritage Tourism in Virginia

September 30, 2016

Did you know that the cultural heritage tourist typically spends more and stays longer than other types of U.S. travelers? Preservation Virginia is co-hosting the 31st annual Virginia Preservation Conference in Charlottesville, an event that draws 200 community leaders, developers, architects, local planning officials and others from across the Commonwealth.   Following the release of the … More Make the Most of Heritage Tourism in Virginia

Building Entrepreneurial Economies (BEE) Innovation Day on Oct. 13 — Register Now!

September 9, 2016

The Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) will be holding a Building Entrepreneurial Economies (BEE) Innovation Day on Thursday, Oct. 13 in Lynchburg, VA. This event will provide the opportunity for business leaders to share and discuss innovative ideas in entrepreneurship development. Several recent BEE Innovation and Implementation grant recipients will share about their BEE funded projects and how they … More Building Entrepreneurial Economies (BEE) Innovation Day on Oct. 13 — Register Now!

Make Your Downtown an Easy Target for New Business

August 25, 2016

Why should an entrepreneur choose your downtown for a new location?  Selling your community to prospective entrepreneurs is challenging without the information they need to make location decisions. Throughout the last few years, Kansas’ Emporia Main Street refined an attractive and easily updateable business investment guide to help make the choice that much easier.  The guide sells … More Make Your Downtown an Easy Target for New Business

Revisit Your Community’s Unique Assets

August 24, 2016

The National Main Street Center publishes a Main Street Story of the Week each week. These articles share information, tips and advice from experts around the country. In one of the recently posted articles “Revisit Your Community’s Unique Assets: Connecting Asset-Based Economic Development to Community Transformation Strategies,” the author discusses leveraging unique, local assets to achieve economic … More Revisit Your Community’s Unique Assets

Give your local artists the business tools for success

August 18, 2016

When we talk about entrepreneurship, so often artists can be left out of the conversation. The Staunton Creative Community Fund (Staunton Fund) has been examining entrepreneurship through the lens of artists. Wrapping up the spring with a Bach n’ Roll Roundtable, the Staunton Fund brought together stakeholders to talk about needs and ideas for growing … More Give your local artists the business tools for success

Homegrown Hospitality Development in Downtown St. Paul

August 15, 2016

In early July 2016, ground was broken in downtown St. Paul for a long-awaited $7.3 million boutique hotel that will be called the Western Front Hotel.  This project is a result of the hard work and drive of local leaders to take revitalization of downtown St. Paul into their own hands, embracing a community-initiated development … More Homegrown Hospitality Development in Downtown St. Paul

Three Steps to Refresh Your Main Street Strategies for Visible Results

August 10, 2016

How can your local Main Street program better use limited resources to create vibrant, people-centered places? The Main Street Approach has been a successful model for older commercial district revitalization for more than 35 years and is used to revitalize and manage downtowns in more than 2,000 communities across the U.S.  The Four Point approach offers … More Three Steps to Refresh Your Main Street Strategies for Visible Results

Three Upcoming Opportunities to Rev up Your Downtown Revitalization Efforts

August 8, 2016

Is your downtown ready for new businesses and residential investment? In order to meet new challenges and ensure a strong Main Street, communities need ongoing training.  Whether the community is just getting started with Main Street activities or well-seasoned in managing a prosperous commercial district, staff and volunteers need different skills in different phases of … More Three Upcoming Opportunities to Rev up Your Downtown Revitalization Efforts