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
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
On Sep. 22 and 23, Advance Abingdon hosted 70 downtown revitalization professionals and volunteers from across Virginia for a training and knowledge share of best practices in the organization and promotion of downtown revitalization efforts. National Trust Main Street Center Senior Program Officer Kathy LaPlante, a nationally recognized expert on community based downtown revitalization, presented … More Downtown leaders cover Main Street Essentials at Abingdon training
If you were asked to describe an entrepreneur, what words would you use? Maybe terms like “bright, energetic, or magnetic.” This 2004 article in the aptly named magazine Entrepreneur, gives a whole host of other terms, not all of them complimentary. Two descriptions of an entrepreneur that most people would not use are “ex-felon,” and … More The unexpected entrepreneur
Last Thursday, at the Virginia Main Street 25th Anniversary Milestone Achievement Awards, keynote speaker Chuck D’Aprix spoke about the importance of making your downtown attractive to entrepreneurs. One way to do this is to focus on the quality of the experience rather than the quantity of products you sell. In short, it is difficult to compete … More Quality v. quantity
It turns out you do. At least if you are trying to gain traction and trust in the online world. It may seem purely intuitive that bad press or reviews are not good for sales, but this short article from Fortune magazine says otherwise. This article is geared toward online sales, but the idea can … More Who needs all that negativity?
We have been promoting the idea that recessions and layoffs, while very difficult to navigate, provide the impetus for an entrepreneurial boom. Now, the Kauffman Foundation has issued its report supporting our claims. In economic gardening terms, this is the equivilant of burning last years crops to make way for the new “green shoots.” … More Entrepreneurial stories
Those of you who made it to the “Livable Downtowns” training held in Harrisonburg a couple of weeks ago know that just building upper story housing or rehabbing an old warehouse into loft apartments is not quite enough to get people living downtown. It is important to have the amenities people need (dry cleaning, corner … More How to attract Gen “Y”
What is a good business proposition? That is a tough question to answer. I am sure that many people thought that two old hippies were crazy when they started an ice cream company in Vermont, where summers last only a few months and the temperature can drop to near freezing in August. But those that saw promise … More Bright ideas for business
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