Farmville receives Virginia Main Street Milestone Award

Farmville Downtown Partnership and its over 150 volunteers were presented with a Virginia Main Street Milestone Achievement Award for the dedication of over 5,000 volunteer hours to the revitalization of the downtown’s historic commercial district. The awards were presented on Wednesday, March 19, at Richmond’s historic Hippodrome Theater.

At the ceremony that focused on the results of Main Street efforts, Virginia Secretary of Commerce and Trade Maurice Jones spoke to the audience of nearly 90 downtown revitalization volunteers and professionals from around the state about the visible results of their hard work.

“This year, you have been thinking outside of the box and using entrepreneurship as a keystone to successful downtown revitalization,” said Secretary Jones, an alumnus of Hampden-Sydney College (’86). “With entrepreneur development strategies like business boot camps and even an Ideaspace, you are bringing new ventures and amazing growth to your downtowns.”

The Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) Director Bill Shelton said, “In the last five years, designated Main Street communities have sparked more than $217 million in private investment in their districts.” Shelton continued, “As a result, last year, there was a net collective gain of 453 jobs across the 25 Main Street downtown districts.”

“Entrepreneurship is key to revitalizing our communities. Given the proper support, anybody can pursue their dream of starting a business,” said keynote speaker Toan Nguyen, co-Founder of Impact Investment Consulting, C’ville Central, Community Investment Collaborative and C’ville Coffee. “Communities that are participating in Virginia Main Street are in a unique position to leverage their organizational skills, contacts and methodology to ignite the entrepreneurial spirit in their communities.”

An entrepreneur class for prospective business owners was piloted in October 2013 as a partnership among Farmville Downtown Partnership, the Longwood Small Business Development Center, the Town of Farmville, and Farmville Area Chamber of Commerce. The purpose of the four-session series is to offer persons considering a plunge into business the opportunity to learn about the parts of entrepreneurship that are not seen, but that can make or break the business. Legal considerations, insurance, accounting, marketing, licenses, and location are critical decisions for which new business owners must allow so they offer themselves the best chance to succeed.

“Too often people seize on one asset and hope to build a business around it,” said Longwood SBDC Director Sheri McGuire. “We work with people in an effort to help them see all sides of business ownership so that they can find resources and build their teams to fill the gaps. We help them recognize both their strengths and weaknesses so they go into their ventures better prepared.”

Farmville Downtown Partnership is a volunteer-driven organization utilizing the Main Street Four Point Approach to downtown revitalization. The 501c3 not-for-profit partners with the Town of Farmville and employs people (Organization), places (Design), activity (economic restructuring), and celebration (Promotion) as the vehicles to drive the effort. The organization spearheads the effort to bring new activity to the familiar buildings of Farmville’s traditional commercial district on N. Main Street.

Farmville Downtown Partnership is the sponsor for community events including the Main Street Music series, the High Bridge Half and 5K, and Riverside Festival, all of which made their debut in 2013. Begun in the fall of 2012, Hometown Holidays with the Farmville North Pole combines community celebration and retail promotion.

Farmville also received a $1,000 John Marlles Scholarship to assist with attendance for the National Main Street Conference in Detroit, MI this May. Marlles was an early champion of the Virginia Main Street program. His widow Robin presented the scholarships to recipients.

The Virginia Main Street program, managed by the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development, provides assistance and training to help communities increase the economic vitality of their downtown commercial districts. Virginia Main Street uses the National Main Street model to help communities revitalize their downtowns by focusing on their unique heritage and attributes. The program helps communities implement a comprehensive revitalization strategy that creates economic growth and pride in downtowns.