Archived DBi happenings for 2010

OCT

Good news! The Bistro has re-opened. It is now Sullivan's Bistro and as you can guess by the name, the management of Sullivan's is now running the restaurant which is open for breakfast and lunch only. Dinner is still served upstairs at Sullivans' original location
The Parade committee met and hashed out a sketch of plans for the 2010 parade
The Fall Merchants meeting took place and we discussed Holiday Open House plans
DBi met with the Rotary club and brought them up to date on our activities
A packet was sent to VUMAC promoting downtown to the Blackstone Retreat attendees
W.E. Bowman came in like gang busters and put up awnings, doors, and painted unfinished facades!
The Borum Rehab of the Jackson Building is nearing an end. The Brown Street side was painted and the doors and floors in the apartments were varnished.

SEPT

The 41st Arts & Crafts Festival took place and was a huge success with record crowds
Marc Willson and SBDC came back to town with a focus on fall retail promotions and 8 more local merchants got his free consulting input on the profitability of their operations
Thank you letters were sent out to those who contributed to our mailing campaign soliciting donations.
The first Friday for the Arts was held downtown on the sidewalk in Blackstone in front of BB&T

AUG

The historic Armbrusters building burned down and it was a shock to the community
Ollie's Computers held their Grand Opening and ribbon cutting
The Virginia Main Street Summer Toolkit training took place in Franklin, VA and DBi was represented
DBi was recognized as a fully accredited Virginia Main Street Program
Kim Moody took the reins as chair of the Promotions Committee

JULY

Blackstone received its final new community visit from Virginia Main Street when Todd Barman, Program officer for the National Trust Main Street Center came and spent a day and a half with us evaluating our business mix and giving us feedback. In addtion to several DBi committee members attending our gathering were John Prosise, Sherman Vaughn, Morgan Quicke, and Kyle Meyer, our Virginia Main Street rep from Richmond.
DBi Executive Director, Lafayette Dickens attended the Summer Toolkit training which was held in Franklin, Virginia. The training covered many topics of interest including an in-depth look at how Harrisonburg has achieved its goals of creating an entrepreneur friendly environment, 3-D sculpturing of downtown, how to look at downtown from the perspective of a developer and many others. Also Director Dickens got to tour the F.B.I. (Franklin Business Incubator) and attended the "We be Jammin' " Concert which drew crowds of all ages.
Blackstone received its certification as an Accreditated Main Street Community! Hooray!
Kim Moody was introduced as our new Promotions Committee Chairman and that committee also welcomed new member Brad Campbell who has already made contributions to improving this website.

JUNE

Count'em FIVE, yes 5 new businesses are opening in the Historic district in the coming months plus one is relocating from the shopping center and Bradford Heat & Air is now located downtown at 108 W. Irvin Street (that totals 7 new businesses all together)!
The fly-in brought lots of pilots and ultra lights to the area and it was free to the public
DBi organized a companion event Art Show which took place downtown after the fly-in
Video clips are up for several businesses and a column has been added on the Business Directory for video and there will be an icon there which will play the video when clicked on
A field trip to Petersburg's Friday for the Arts gave us great contacts and ideas see pictures
Dawn Van Ness produces video clips to help promote local merchants click to see them now

MAY

DBi gets an Intern
Town Council elections took place and we congratulate the new council members and thank those that have served us so diligently in the past
DBi distributed its first ever e-newsletter
Dinwiddie Avenue West was completed and Elm and Broad streets were re-paved
Intense focus has been put on the "hole" to develop a budget and make decisions on the specific materials that are going to go into the actual design.
DBi is planning a social to honor our volunteers on May 22nd at the home of the Allmans
The rehab of the Borum properties, the HL Jackson and the Doswell Building is in full swing
A new business, "Hidden Creek", now occupies the back of the Antiques Mall.
Bradford Heat & Air now has an office downtown at 108 W. Irvin Street
There will soon be two new businesses moving into the downtown district
The last of the stoplights have been installed representing a $350,000 physical improvement to the downtown commercial area
The Washington Post wrote an article on the Carriage Museum that has been circulated from Florida to New York and many points in-between, in fact it appears to have gone viral, which in this case is a good thing

APRIL

A new Restaurant, the Classic Grill opened and has been very well received. They sell footlongs, hamburgers, fries, etc. and have a "Happy Days" appeal located at 130 N. Main Street at the corner of Main and Tavern where Larry's Carland used to be
Our first Cruise-in took place at the Classic Grill and about 30 cars showed up
DBi organized a companion event that focused on the major furniture stores in town and others displayed baloons to let the cruisers and visitors for the Blackstone Retreate at VUMAC know that they were offering specials for them
Additionally, April saw dirt being moved to level out the mounds that have occupied "the hole" for the last several months and paving has begun on Dinwiddie Avenue West as well as Brown Street and other areas throughout town.

MARCH

The Small Town and Merchant program kicked off on the 29th with a seminar at the fire station and about 27 local business people attended. Eight local businesses were evaluated and given pointers and tips on how to improve their business.
the Chamber Annual Dinner was a big hit
Councilman Dunc Quicke and I attended the Virginia Main Street 25th Anniversary Milestone Achievement Awards at the Craddock Terry Hotel in Lynchburg, VA where Blackstone will receive recognition for Private Investment: for creating the climate for more than $1 million in private investment! My hats off to all the property owners who stepped up to the plate to make this happen especially during the economic downturn we have been experiencing. But that is the stuff we are made of here in Blackstone Virginia!
Plans have been presented to Town Council regarding the layout for the green space that the hole will be converted into. Town Square Plans can be viewed here (click the link)

FEBRUARY

Tweaking of a pocket-sized map of the downtown that will serve as a directory for visitors, including tourists and soldiers. Talks have been ongoing regarding the maintenance of the town. Contact has been made with Joseph Irby II about his vacancy since Mahaney Nationwide has relocated their office.
Two meetings have taken place with the major "car guys" in the area as a preliminary session for organizing a cruise-in/fly-in event. The kick off would highlight the opening of the "Classic Grille" by local entrepreneur, Louis DeNitto in the former location of Larry's Chevrolet at the corner of Main and Tavern.
Having received communication and proposed plans for the Town Square, questions and discussions have ensued as we work the plan closer to the point where it can come off the drawing board and be made into a reality.

January

The contractor's meeting was held at the DBi office. All pending construction items were reviewed and a progress report was given. Temperatures have delayed both the completion of the CDBG project as well as the construction of the street , Dinwiddie Avenue west, next to the Bon Secours Medical Center.
On Wednesday and Thursday, January 27th & 28th, I attended the annual Main Street managers' retreat which took place in Radford, Virginia. The focus of the training this year was on mission based financial planning and budgeting as well as mission based fund-raising.
Yearend eports were sent to Virginia Main Street as required

If you haven't been downtown in a while, be sure to notice the new awnings that have been put up!

THE VERY LATEST HAPPENINGS

Notable accomplishments in 2009

1. We played a major role in increasing the level of participation in the CDBG project ultimately achieving a total private investment of 1.6 million dollars into the Downtown District of Blackstone!

2. DBi helped recruit Town & Country Cleaners to Blackstone after Cavalier Cleaners left and a local property owner helped by recruiting a tenant, Just Sew Embroidery, formerly Mary Lou's of Farmville, and renovating a space for them in an existing building.

3. DBi partnered with the Rotary Club to pick up litter, paint faded curbing and plant shrubs for beautification of the Historic District.

4. The Design committee helped a local business resolve an awning problem they couldn't on their own, in similar fashion to "12 on your side".

5. We oversaw and approved every detail of the Facade Program and loaned out $100,000 to local businesses under the CDBG Loan pool, 100% of the available proceeds! This created jobs and enabled local businesses to purchase equipment for start up or expansion.

6. DBi designed an attractive Recruiting packet for businesses looking to locate here in Blackstone.

7. We are developing a visitor map to show the location of downtown businesses and parking. We are also creating a detailed "Google" map that can be added to our website for the same purpose.

8. We produce and distribute colorful newsletters that detail our activities in hard copy and electronic form.

9. DBi has increased our presence on the Virginia.com tourism website from 2 to 17 listings!

10. If your business has a website, we have added an icon beside the name of your business on the business directory page of the DBi website. Clicking on the icon opens a links to the website of the your business.

11. DBi has added Blackstone to the National Park Service website of Main Street Communities which literally puts the town on the map as a tourist destination!

12. DBi has partnered with the Chamber and local merchants to organize the Grand Illumination, Holiday Open House, and the annual Blackstone Christmas Parade.

CLICK FOR MORE DETAILS

Blackstone has a full service dry cleaners now. Have you taken them any business? Check them out at 116 E. Broad which is next door to the J.C. Penney Catalog Store.