Virginia Main Streets receive economic boosts with grant funding

Sixteen communities will receive 2023 Virginia Main Street grants to revitalize historic commercial districts, expand small businesses and bolster local economies through new technology and improved marketing.

The grant funding totals $257,000.

“For over 30 years, the Virginia Main Street program has been critical to economic development, small business growth and job development through the revitalization and preservation of our historic downtown districts,” Gov. Glenn Youngkin said in a press release. “I look forward to seeing the economic opportunity that these projects will spark while preserving and utilizing the historic character of their communities as well.”

Three types of grants are available through VMS funding: Downtown Investment Grants (DIG), Community Vitality Grants (CVG) and Financial Feasibility Grants (FFG), according to the press release.

2023 Community Vitality Grant Awards were given to Berryville Main Street for an alley revitalization project; Clifton Forge Main Street for the installation of a LOVE Works sculpture as part of Virginia Tourism’s branding effort; the Town of Leesburg to determine expectations for main street; Louisa Forward Foundation to hire a consultant and develop a strategic marketing report; the City of Buena Vista to fund the installation of ADA-compliant benches downtown, and planters in the downtown district.

A 2023 Financial Feasibility Grant Award was given to Tazewell Today Inc. to rebuild a lot that was consumed in a 2012 fire.

The Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development has been providing assistance to localities since 1985 to revitalize downtown commercial districts through the Virginia Main Street Program. More than 700 jobs and 221 businesses were retained or created in 2021, which generated public and private investments of approximately $76 million.

“Virginia Main Street continues to create opportunities for long-term economic growth throughout the Commonwealth,” Secretary of Commerce and Trade Caren Merrick said in the press release. “These grants allow us to provide targeted support while preserving the unique cultures and histories that make Virginia’s downtown areas consumer destinations.”