Embracing Nature, Culture and History: Appalachia’s new economy

All across Southwest Virginia, the stories of men and women who worked in mines, furniture factories or textile mills can be read in the buildings you see today. In the coalfields, mining towns and camps sprang up wherever the coal seam led. Miners came from farms nearby, from the deep South and from Eastern Europe to earn the money that mining brought. Communities were self-contained. People shared their lives in schools, athletic teams, churches and shopping in the company store. Music was a bond and sometimes the only common language.

Photo from: http://myswva.org/

Brooke Jarvis’ recent post titled: 3 Lessons for Appalachia’s Post-Coal Economy, addresses the very pertinent question of “what happens when Appalachia is coal country no more?”

Brooke mentions the efforts of local, grassroots organizations that are “working to reform old industries and promote more sustainable ones, to build local entrepreneurial capacity and to make sure the region’s resources benefit residents over the long haul.”

In Virginia and all throughout Appalachia, there are ongoing efforts to build more diverse and resilient economies that take advantage of the rich cultural history and breathtaking natural resources the region has to offer.  

Photo from: http://myswva.org/

The Crooked Road, Virginia’s Heritage Music Trail includes 10 counties, three cities, 10 towns, five regional planning districts, four state agencies, two tourism organizations and a large number of music venues. Although the trail is focused on the uniqueness and vitality of this region’s heritage music, it also includes outdoor recreational activities, museums, crafts and historic and cultural programs. ‘Round the Mountain has focused its efforts to promote sustainable economic development of the region’s communities by assisting local artisans with marketing, educational and entrepreneurial opportunities. These great initiatives are part of a larger strategy to reinvigorate the economies of Virginia.  The Southwest Virginia website is a great resource for everything related to this region.

Plan your trip and come learn about the people who lived in coal camps and company towns. See photos and quilts, listen to stories and oral histories, visit churches, cemeteries and museums in towns across our region and visit the buildings and communities which remain bear witness to our rich history.

Photo from: http://myswva.org/

Winchester’s Main Street agriculture event was a success, as expected!

On Saturday, Oct. 6, 2012, Winchester’s downtown walking mall was filled with excitement for local farms. Farm Bureau, in partnership with the Winchester Old Town Development Board, Winchester Main Street Foundation and Virginia Main Street program, produced an extraordinary community event, Winchester’s Main Street Agriculture, held on the historic Loudon Street Pedestrian Mall.

The partnership was a natural fit. “There is a Farm Bureau and a Main Street in every state,” said Dee Cook, membership development specialist with Virginia Farm Bureau. Winchester is one of 25 Virginia communities designated as Virginia Main Street communities. Cook said that she hopes Frederick County’s successful Main Street Agriculture event will lead to similar events all over Virginia in the near future. “This has been the pilot,” she said. “We hope to roll it out statewide next year,” Cook added.

More than 20 vendors set up booths to sell their farm products and provide interactive, educational activities for the public. There were also many educational demonstrations including a hydroponics display, grape crushing, a live beehive and farm-to-table cooking demonstrations, along with others.

photo credit: lancasterfarming.com 2012

Here is a nice article from LancasterFarming.com about the event, Taking the Farm to the City.

Seven Keys to Stronger Community

Scott Doyon, a partner with Place Makers, recently posted Seven Keys to Stronger Community as a response to the question: “Where do we start?” This is not an exhaustive list, and he actually encourages readers to make suggestions for expanding,and they have. There is a good diaolgue in the comments section of his post. He states, “If you are looking to bulk up the strength of your community, especially in these times of limited resources, these are the areas that provide the greatest returns.”

1.  Good governance

2.  Walkable, connected, mixed-use character

3.  Parks and gardens

4.  Partnerships

5.  Programming

6.  Neighborhood-responsive schools

7.  Tree culture

Photo: Believe in Bristol

Kain Benfield’s wrote an article analyzing Doyon’s seven points. He said, “Scott has given us a good list. Mark Holland’s eight pillars of a sustainable community would add a healthy food system and economic development to the list.”

Does all this sound familiar? There is significant overlap with the Main Street approach and its guiding principles. These are proven concepts for building and maintaining strong communities. Thinking of your community, its strengths, opportunities, weaknesses and threats, what would you add to this list?

Virginia’s Appalachian Trail Communities

The Appalachian Trail Community™ designation program is a new program of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, designed to recognize communities that promote and protect the Appalachian Trail (A.T.). The program serves to assist communities with sustainable economic development through tourism and outdoor recreation while preserving and protecting the A.T.

Completed in 1937, the 2,180-mile-long Appalachian National Scenic Trail is one of the longest, continuously-marked footpaths in the world. It spans through 14 states, ranging from Georgia to Maine. Virginia is home to 544 miles of the Appalachian Trial, more miles than any other state! There are 20 Appalachian Trail communities, 10 of them are in Virginia. From north to south, these are: Front Royal, Harrisonburg, Waynesboro, Buena Vista, Glasgow, Troutville, Pearisburg, Bland, Abingdon and Damascus. This year, Abingdon, a VMS community, was designated an Appalachian Trail Community™.

“Our town has long offered a respite for the weary hiker,” Abingdon Mayor Ed Morgan said in a written statement announcing the designation. “The Virginia Creeper Trail, which begins in Abingdon, is a natural connector to the A.T.” The designation ceremonywas held on Sept. 11, 2012.  Abingdon now joins the cities of Harrisonburg and Waynesboro, both designated Virginia Main Street communities that have embraced their proximity to the trail in their economic restructuring efforts, creating programs that attract hikers to their downtowns, as well as providing amenities and activities that are tied to the A.T.

Front Royal, Buena Vista and Pearisburg are VMS Commercial Affiliates.

Nestled 18 miles west of the A.T in the Shenandoah Valley, Harrisonburg is filled with locally-owned restaurants, museums, art galleries and shops.  Harrisonburg offers special packages for A.T. Hikers to make their stay an easier and more pleasant one. During their annual Valley 4th celebration, hikers are invited to participate in the parade.

The City of Waynesboro is located three miles from the junction of Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway. “The Appalachian Trail Conservancy’s community designation for Waynesboro strengthens the city’s effort in becoming a premier outdoor recreation destination,” stated Katie McElroy, Waynesboro’s tourism director. “The opening of the first phase of the South River Greenway is key to Waynesboro’s commitment to the outdoors,” explains C. Dwayne Jones, director of Waynesboro Parks and Recreation. 

Plan your Appalachian Trail adventure and stay, shop and dine in any of these great Virginia communities.

The Strategic Planning Process

Strategic Planning generally refers to the systematic process where an organization envisions its future direction by analyzing its current position and then developing a set of goals or objectives and an action plan to achieve them. Strategic Planning models vary greatly depending on the type of organization and the expected results of the planning process. The strength of this process lies in the flexibility of the plan and its ability to act in response to unforeseen factors and new opportunities.

Guidestar has published an article written by Bill Hoffman of Bill Hoffman and Associates, LLC outlining a four-step strategic planning process:

1.       Get input from major stakeholders. Try to be as inclusive as possible in order to get a variety of ideas and recommendations.  The article recommends using the classic SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) to gather information. Recently, there has been a preference by some groups for using a SOAR analysis (strengths, opportunities, aspirations and results). Again this will depend on the type of organization and the expected outcomes.

SWOT Analysis

2.       Uncover themes. There will be some overlap in ideas, so try to blend these into common themes in order to concentrate on the big picture.  Competing themes will arise “…and that’s all right. This is not the time to decide which ideas to follow through on; it’s just to clarify the ideas that have been offered.”

3.        Agree on priorities. Not every idea can be implemented. Keep the focus “narrow enough to be successful.” Limit the plan to four to six focus areas for the next couple of years.

4.       Set measurable goals. This is important as it will allow the organization to track its progress. Keep in mind that the board and staff will have tasks for reaching the goals. Also, be sure to have deadlines for each goal.

This is a simple, yet powerful process that will give an organization’s board, staff and volunteers a sense of ownership and increase their commitment since they have been involved throughout the entire process.

Try it out!

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.

Staunton/Augusta/Waynesboro In Top 20 “Micropolitans” Nationwide

Staunton/Augusta/Waynesboro’s economy ranked among the country’s strongest micropolitan areas, reports the March issue of Site Selection Magazine.  The Staunton/Augusta/Waynesboro area is tied at #13 in the national ranking and is top-ranked for Virginia. The only other Virginia locality to make the list, Martinsville, came in at #32.  

The U.S. Census Bureau defines a micropolitan region as an “urbanized area” based around a town or city with a population between 10,000 and 50,000 people.

The magazine’s criterion for ranking includes capital investment and job creation. Six local projects met at least one of the three criteria for successful micropolitan cities — at least $1 million in new capital investment, a minimum of 20,000 square feet of new construction and creation of at least 50 new jobs.  

The six companies that catapulted the Staunton/Waynesboro micropolitan into the top 20 are:

1. Cadence <$15.9 million expansion>
2. Fisher Auto Parts <$3.5 million expansion>
3. Innovative Refrigeration Systems, Inc. <$1 million expansion>
4. PPI/Time Zero, Inc. <$1.15 million expansion>
5. nTelos, Inc. <$2.34 million expansion>
6. Lumos Networks <$1.2 million expansion>

“2011 was a great year for our community. Investment and interest are up,” said Amanda Glover, Assistant Director of Economic Development for the City of Staunton.  “Companies know we can provide a really strong work-life balance. When they see the success of our long-term businesses, they know they’ve made the right choice.”

When asked to list why she believes the Staunton/Augusta/Waynesboro micropolitan area is attracting this kind of investment, Glover says, “We have location, labor and logistics. We offer access to two interstate highways, as well as rail and air. We are centrally located among 11 colleges and universities. We are just a couple of hours from Washington D.C., Richmond and Norfolk. Plus, the Shenandoah Valley is one of the most beautiful places in the country.”

The same issue of Site Selection Magazine reports that statewide, Virginia’s new corporate facilities and expansions increased 44% over the previous year, boosting Virginia among the top five in the national ranking for new corporate facilities.  Site Selection now ranks Virginia #5 nationally in 2011, up from #10 in 2010.

Resources for Small Business Financing

The Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond (FRB) recently posted an issue of Marketwise Community, a web publication which highlights community development best practices  and emerging issues that impact communities in the southeastern United States.  The current issue, New Alternatives in Small Business Financing, addresses small business lending in the wake of the recession.  The message – banks started to loosen some lending standards in mid-2010, a year after the recession ended, but loans remain hard to get by historic standards.  The good news is that there are some loan products available to businesses in need of working capital.

The Small Business Administration (SBA), a federal agency mandated to increase small business access to credit, refers to three types of nontraditional lending partners along with the examples of the credit products they offer to small businesses.  Loans range from $5,000 to $35,000 and can be used to pay short-term debt obligations, free up cash flow to purchase inventory, or provide capital for start-ups. 

Small businesses need to be the ones to determine what alternative business sources best match their financial state and funding needs, but Main Street programs can play a critical role to help direct the business owners to the available resources by highlighting them through an e-blast, blog, or an office binder.  Consider including the information from this SBA article: Five Critical Steps to Securing Small Business Capital.  

As effective partners, both the FRB and SBA provide support systems and tools. You can play a big part in connecting your businesses to these available resources to ensure  that your district is performing to its full economic potential.

 

New Year’s Resolution Poll

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, why bother?

Take a few pointers from weight-loss experts and put these strategies to work in your downtown to make your resolutions a reality:

Write it down – Make sure your goals are clear and quantitative.  Write them down so you can track your success.  It also makes it more real when you can see it on paper, or better yet, chart it on a graph.

Tell a friend – Make sure people know what you are going to do.  They can hold you accountable and keep you on track. They may even offer to help!

Make it reasonable – As it didn’t take two weeks to pack on an extra 25 lbs, the historic facades in your district weren’t all covered over in a matter of a few months.  Go ahead and challenge yourself, but don’t expect to have a completely rehabbed, fully occupied downtown by June, either. 

Pace yourself – As we age, it seems the years fly by, but in reality a year is a long time.  Break out your big goals into some chunks so you can have incremental success along the way.

Now, take the first VMS poll of the new year.