2013 VMS Milestone Achievement Awards

On March 22, the Virginia Main Street Program presented Milestone Achievement Awards to 15 Designated Main Street communities. The awards were presented at Richmond’s historic Hippodrome Theater.

Representatives from Lynch’s Landing Foundation and the city of Lynchburg accept awards for more than 90,000 volunteer hours dedicated to downtown revitalization and more than $100 million of private investment in Lynchburg’s historic commercial district since 2000. The awards were presented by Secretary of Commerce and Trade Jim Cheng and VMS Program Manager Jeff Sadler.

At the ceremony that focused on the results of Main Street efforts, Virginia Secretary of Commerce and Trade Jim Cheng spoke to the audience of more than 70 downtown revitalization volunteers and professionals about the visible results of their leadership. “Virginia main streets are thriving because of the collaboration between public and private sector, local and state governments and the citizens of each community getting involved to make their downtowns an attractive place to live, work and play,” said Cheng.

The Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development Director Bill Shelton pointed to downtown progress through the numbers. “In the last five years, designated Main Street communities have sparked more than $252 million in private investment in their districts,” said Shelton. “As a result, last year, there was a net collective gain of 424 jobs across the 25 Main Street downtown districts.”

“Historic Main Street communities are much more than bricks and mortar. They serve as the heart and soul of our communities as they evoke the stories of our past while providing incomparable economic and cultural opportunities which sustain the quality of life for all citizens,” said Cate Magennis Wyatt, former Virginia Secretary of Commerce and Trade and the founder of The Journey Through Hallowed Ground Partnership. “Our national surveys have found that 84 percent of potential visitors are, first and foremost, attracted to the region because of our quaint small towns. The work of the Virginia Main Street Program is critically important to creating jobs and attracting these visitors to the commonwealth.”

 Below is a list of award recipients:

 Volunteerism Milestone Achievement Awards
1,000 Volunteer Hours
St. Paul Tomorrow, Inc.
5,000 Volunteer Hours
Advance Abingdon
Downtown Blackstone, Inc.
20,000 Volunteer Hours
Berryville Main Street
Orange Downtown Alliance, Inc.
25,000 Volunteer Hours
Waynesboro Downtown Development, Inc.
55,000 Volunteer Hours
Historic Manassas, Inc.
80,000 Volunteer Hours
Harrisonburg Downtown Renaissance
Staunton Downtown Development Association
90,000 Volunteer Hours
Lynch’s Landing Foundation

Private Investment Milestone Achievement Awards
$100 Million in Private Investment
Lynch’s Landing Foundation and the city of Lynchburg
$110 Million in Private Investment
Winchester Old Town Development Board and the city of Winchester

Building Improvement Milestone Achievement Awards
250 Building Projects
Main Street Radford, Inc. and the city of Radford
500 Building Projects
Staunton Downtown Development Association and the city of Staunton

Special Achievement Awards
Marion Downtown Revitalization Association
Believe in Bristol

25 Years of Main Street
Culpeper Renaissance, Inc. and the town of Culpeper
Historic Manassas, Inc. and the city of Manassas

Getting Started with Virginia Main Street

Virginia Main Street is accepting applications from communities interested in being designated a Virginia Main Street community. However, if your community is not ready to take this step, here are steps to to help establish or reinvigorate a successful local preservation-based downtown revitalization organization.  

• Look at downtown as if you are a first-time visitor. What is positive? What needs improvement?
• Invite a Main Street volunteer or manager from another community to talk with a group of community leaders about what that community and organization has accomplished and how the program works.
• Recruit board members and take them to other downtowns to meet with peers, hear about what does and does not work, and see how your downtown compares.
• Adopt articles of incorporation and bylaws, and register with the State Corporation Commission.
• Decide if you can afford to hire a program manager, or more importantly, if you can afford not to! Agree on an employment contract and performance plan, schedule orientation and training, select an office location, etc.
• File for 501 (C)  tax exempt status with the federal Internal Revenue Service.
• Develop job descriptions for board members, officers, committee chairs and staff.
• Recruit and educate your committees, use slide and video shows and give them appropriate information to read in small doses.
• Schedule “downtown walkarounds” with your board and committee members. Get to know every square inch and what is good or bad.
• Work with the board and committees to set up regular meeting schedules.
• Set up meetings with stakeholders and partners including:
  • all downtown business and property owners;
  • local elected officials, city manager and department heads;
  • leaders from financial institutions, industry and utilities;
  • Chamber of Commerce board and staff;
  • other important community groups (historical, tourism, arts and cultural, etc.) and set up presentations to their membership if desired; and
  • the media.
• Have a reception to introduce the program and board members to the community.
• Have the board develop a workplan that includes your vision for downtown, the organization’s mission and prioritized annual activities assigned to committees with timeframes, individuals assigned to implementation and budget allocations.
• Draw up a budget and have it correspond to the workplan. Set up financial control systems.
• Develop a fundraising plan, including a list of potential supporters.
• Solicit volunteers for key projects, create a volunteer file and develop a volunteer recognition system.
• Select public relations tools to get the word out such as brochures, newsletters and newspaper columns.
• Develop a media list for mailing press releases.
• Begin to build a clearinghouse of resource material. Collect and read anything pertinent, such as community plans, studies, newspaper articles, promotional brochures, previous meeting minutes, ordinances, newsletters, etc. Order necessary periodicals. Start a file system and scrapbook for the organization.
• Identify economic development resources and recent or proposed projects.
• Identify historic preservation resources and recent or proposed projects.
• Review the existing promotions calendar, and collect information on past promotional events.
• Do an inventory of downtown including buildings, businesses, parking, etc. Include photographs.
• Develop a network with other Main Street managers.  Ask questions and get info on their programs.
• Join the National Main Street Network and the Virginia Downtown Development Association, circulate their newsletters and encourage board members, committee members and staff to attend their conferences.
• Apply to become a DHCD Virginia Main Street Commercial District Affiliate.

Share this list with your downtown stakeholders by printing an Adobe Acrobat .pdf version of this list here.

VMS designation applications accepted through March 15, 2013

Virginia Main Street (VMS) is getting ready to add new Main Street communities to the 25 communities officially designated as Virginia Main Streets. VMS is now accepting applications, due March 15, 2013, for new Virginia Main Street communities.

Why apply for designation as a Virginia Main Street community?

First and foremost, designated VMS communities join a highly-experienced network of 25 outstanding Main Street communities that have, in the last five years alone, sparked more than $236 million in private investment in their historic commercial districts and created a total of 826 jobs in 2011. In addition, the VMS program provides a full-range of assistance to designated communities. Services include historic architecture and wayfinding design assistance, organization tune-ups, economic restructuring technical assistance, branding and marketing plan development, visioning and strategic planning, as well as a variety of training opportunities and resources. Designated communities are also eligible to apply for downtown improvement grants of up to $25,000 and financial feasibility grants to help facilitate the rehabilitation of “white elephant” buildings burdening the local Main Street.

What type of communities are eligible to become Virginia Main Street communities?

Virginia Main Street communities generally have the following characteristics:

• A traditional, mixed-use downtown commercial district
• Historic character
• Population of up to 75,000
• Proven ability to coordinate downtown community and economic revitalization resources provided by local, regional, state and federal governments, with a specific emphasis on resources provided by DHCD
• Economic distress
• Local government and private sector support  
• Commitment to grass roots, stakeholder-led revitalization

For more information about the Virginia Main Street Program, see the VMS Program Design, website and blog. For more information about the VMS designation process, contact VMS or review the Designation Application here.

Getting Ready For Holiday Shopping on Main Street

Staunton – 2012 Holiday Window Decorating Contest Winner – Vintage Wedding Gifts

The shopping season is upon us and Main Street retailers are working hard to make the holiday shopping experience fun, memorable and easy. To help achieve this goal, retailers should give some thought to what types of shopping experiences they want their customers to have. What should customers be saying, feeling and experiencing while in the store? What should they say when they leave the store?

Below we have summarized some of the great advice provided to Main Street retailers this holiday shopping season by Margie Johnson, president of Shop Talk. Johnson’s original article was the Nov. 28, 2012 Main Street Story of the Week. Johnson encourages Main Street retailers to focus on creating a holiday look, providing outstanding hospitality and creating a shopping buzz on Main Street.

Create a holiday look.

• Create an overall theme, color palette, etc., to set a holiday mood.
• Make creative gift wrapping a marketing opportunity.
• Let creative signage be your silent salesperson.
• Create price-point groupings for items under $10 and products ranging from $10-25.
• Create sensory experiences that appeal to all of the senses. Allow customers to smell cookies baking; see a vast assortment of products that are well displayed; hear the local string quartet or harpist; touch and handle products; taste goodies that are out on the counters.

Approach the holiday season as a time for hospitality.

• Make a “joyful noise.” Carefully select small musical groups to perform in your store.
• Invite customers to create an ornament to bring in to place on a charity tree.
• Entertain children waiting in the Santa line by using videos, arts/crafts projects, etc.
• Find space for a coat/package check.
• Set up a temporary cart or table offering package wrapping and shipping.

 Create a “buzz” on Main Street!

• “Sleepless in _________(your town).” Have a pajama party, serve espresso, hire a limo to pick up customers and take them home with their gift packages all wrapped and ready.
• Select a cause, charity or club and team up with them for an in-store event. Give a percentage of the sales to the charity, and use members of the group to “pre-sell” the event.
• Invite your top clients to a Pampered Patron Party or GNO (Girls Night Out).
• Silent Night Silent Auction—everyone loves an auction—secure vendor donations; make it cause-related.
• Sell gift certificates in bulk for a substantial discount.
• Reach out to Facebook fans with special “daily deals,” or create an event to promote through social media.
• Unleash your creativity, involve your staff and look for ways to enhance the experiences customers can have in your store during this holiday season! 

Hopewell Celebrates VMS/CSX Grant

Check Presentation. From left to right: Hopewell Mayor Christina Luman-Bailey, Quintin C. Kendall, CSX regional vise-president for state affairs, Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling, HDP Board President Jim Poe, and Lisa Atkinson, Deputy Director of Community Development for DHCD.

Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling presented Hopewell Downtown Partnership (HDP) with a ceremonial check for $7,500 as part of a Downtown Improvement Grant awards ceremony held Wednesday, Aug. 15 at the Beacon Theater in downtown Hopewell.

The grant funding is the result of a unique public/private partnership that matches $2,500 in VMS funds with $5,000 from CSX Corporation. This is the second year that CSX has collaborated with VMS to provide $7,500 Downtown Improvement Grants to designated VMS communities served by CSX Corporation rail lines. Grantees provide a local match of at least $2,500. 

In partnership with the city’s Department of Parks and Recreation and Department of Planning, HDP plans to use the VMS/CSX grant funds to build a recreation and family-friendly environment on a park site along the Appomattox River.

The proximity of the Appomattox River is one of downtown Hopewell’s greatest assets. HDP is focusing on the river as a key economic restructuring element by encouraging more access to the river, eco-tourism, outdoor recreation activities and the creation of a business-friendly environment near the river that will help attract Hopewell residents and tourists to the downtown area.

The Hopewell Downtown Partnership has come a long way,” stated HDP Board President Jim Poe. “We are now really starting to build momentum in the downtown, and with the recent grants from CSX and Virginia Main Street, we will be able to make some noticeable differences.”

A check presentation ceremony in the Town of St. Paul was held on Aug. 9 to celebrate that community’s VMS/CSX grant award. St. Paul Tomorrow will use its grant funds and local matching funds to provide permanent signage in and around Market Square, which includes the recently completed Clinch River Farmers Market.

Virginia Main Streets make it into the “Best of VA” – we’re not surprised

Virginia Living has just released its “Best of VA” list and many Main Street communities had businesses that made the list.  Below are some of the first place winners from Virginia’s Main Street communities. Virginia’s Main Street communities also had numerous second and third place winners that can be viewed here.
 
FIRST PLACE (Central/Living and Recreation/Best Boutique Hotel)
The Craddock Terry Hotel
Lynchburg, VA
 
FIRST PLACE (Shenandoah/Shopping and Services/Best Shopping Area)
Downtown Staunton
Staunton, VA
 
FIRST PLACE (Shenandoah/Arts Culture and Entertainment/Best Art Event)
Fall Foliage Festival
Waynesboro, VA
 
FIRST PLACE (Southwestern/Food and Drink/Best Coffee Shop)
Zazzy’z
Abingdon, VA
 
FIRST PLACE (Southwestern/People and City Life/Best Local DJ)
Ken Heath Bow Tie Pro Music
Marion, VA
 
FIRST PLACE (Northern/Food and Drink/Best Diner)
Frost Diner
Warrenton, VA
 
FIRST PLACE (Southwestern/Food and Drink/Best Burger Joint)
Dip Dog Stand
Marion, VA

Incentives

Economic Development incentives are a component of economic development policy to encourage growth in traditionally impoverished or underdeveloped areas in the United States.

Virginia offers a variety of performance-based incentives. From tax credits to tax exemptions, Virginia continues to demonstrate its willingness to invest in those who invest and reinvest in the commonwealth.

While economic development incentives have proven useful in many communities, there exists various unintended consequences of these programs; the most obstructive being their complexity.  For example, the financing structure of a real estate project utilizing tax credits can get very complex, and it is generally recommended that a knowledgeable consultant be retained to structure the deal.

Another challenge is identifying the various incentives available, their deadlines and how to apply.  There are many resources available that provide this information, but there is generally no central database as these programs are administered by various levels of government.

The Virginia Economic Development Partnership, through its Ally Information Exchange, provides a list of existing economic development incentives. The Virginia Department of Taxation’s website provides a list of tax credits available to businesses and individuals in Virginia.

Both the federal and state tax historic preservation tax credit programs are administered in Virginia through the Department of Historic Resources. Information and assistance with tax-credit projects may be requested from DHR’s Richmond office. Contact Elizabeth Tune at (804) 367-2323, ext. 110 or Julie Langan at (804) 367-2323, ext. 155. Also, for more information about the federal tax-credit, visit their Technical Preservation Services website.

The Virginia Tourism Corporation provides several grants and funding sources.

North Carolina State University has created a national database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency.

Please contact us if you have any questions about a particular incentive or to share your experiences with working through any of these programs.

From Virginia to the World

Virginia exports are rebounding after significant declines in 2008 and 2009 during the recession, increasing by nearly 6 percent in 2011 to $18.1 billion, ranking it as the 25th-largest exporting state in the U.S.  More than 83 percent of the nearly 6,600 companies that are involved in international trade, both imports and exports, have fewer than 500 employees.

There are many good reasons to export: reduced dependence on the domestic market; diversified sources of revenue; extended sales potential and product shelf life of existing products; and stabilized seasonal markets and sales fluctuations, to name a few.  

“Given the specter of a jobless economic recovery and lagging consumer spending,” said Todd McCracken, president of NSBA, “exporting may be one of the few areas remaining where small businesses can grow right now.”

However, for smaller firms that don’t have many resources, the idea of sending goods overseas can be daunting. Exporting to foreign markets comes with an array of issues, such as completing mounds of paperwork and deciphering often-complicated customs rules.

“You have to understand all the nuances of exporting to other countries,” said Luz Hopewell, director of the Small Business Administration’s Office  of International Trade. “Sometimes if (a firm) doesn’t get the right license or doesn’t have the right paperwork, the product can be returned from the shipping docks.”

The Small Business Administration (SBA) provides resources for business owners who are evaluating exporting their products. These include the Export Business Planner  and U.S. Export Assistance Centers.  

Virginia has a deep history  of producing high-quality artisanal products including furniture, glass, musical instruments, jewelry, wines, grains and produce, among many others.

It is time to expand the export of these great products for the entire world to enjoy!

Gentlemen of the Road stopover in Bristol

Bristol, TN/VA is a unique place.  “Two States; One State of Mind” is their motto, but navigating two sets of  building regulations, garbage pickups, tax codes and general government type operations can get a bit confusing.

Famous Bristol Sign Across State Street

However, Christina Blevins, executive director of Believe in Bristol, Bristol’s Main Street organization, bridges the gaps everyday in a positive, energetic and infectious manner.

Her coalition’s building skills recently paid off when Mumford & Sons were looking at communities  in which to hold their traveling Gentlemen of the Road music festival.

Already known worldwide for the Rhythm & Roots Reunion and as the Birthplace of Country Music, Bristol had an inate attraction for the band.  However, the ability to coordinate the many moving parts that an all day outdoor festival requires, in addition to the evenings music selections across the street (and consequently across the state line), Bristol cinched the deal.

Already, Bristol is getting tons of press about this event, but the real lesson is to be prepared when opportunity knocks.  Keep building relationships, offer value to all of your partners, understand the needs of your stakeholders, offer assistance without reservation and become indespensible.

Read more about the festival here, here, here, here and here.  Discounted tickets are on sale June 1.

Entrepreneurs. Better with age?

Entrepreneurs are the lifeblood of the economy. They’re innovators, experimenters and risk takers, the driving force behind capitalism’s “perennial gale of creative destruction,” in economist Joseph Schumpeter’s evocative metaphor.

So says Chris Farrell in this week’s Bloomberg Businessweek.

But Mr. Farrell goes on to remind us that entrepreneurs are not only young, brash, rule breakers.  They also include older, more seasoned innovators.  Fully 20.9% of all new entrepreneurial ventures are started by people 55-64 years old.

These entrepreneurs may be forming enterprises because they finally have the security to follow their dream, or maybe they were laid off and found finding a new, challenging job toward the end of their career arc to be difficult.  Others may be looking for a little more control of their work-life balance as they make a 20- or 30-year transition to retirement.

Regardless of their reasons, there businesses may be well suited to the scale of your downtown.

Well-wired Winchester is as close to Dulles Airport, in terms of travel time, as downtown D.C. and is better hooked into the Ashburn “home” of the Internet than almost any place in the world.  A transitioning entrepreneur might find the housing, rent and tax rates beneficial, while cherishing the more relaxed lifestyle that a pedestrian-oriented comercial district, closely abutted by historic residential neighborhoods, can provide.

USAToday printed a similar article last month, and Slate published one as far back as 2010, detailing reasons why older entrepreneurs may be more successful, not the least of which is access to capital.

Farrell, too, gives several reasons that older entrepreneurs may have a leg up on their younger competition, but a successful community could use both.  Making sure you are providing the necessary tools and amenities for all entrepreneurs is vital.