Downtown Blacksburg Survey

The Blacksburg Partnership, the lead catalyst for economic development in Blacksburg, and the Town of Blacksburg are collaborating with strategic partner, Retail Strategies. Retail Strategies is one of the nation’s leading community and economic development consulting firms. This partnership, managed by the Blacksburg Partnership, is focused on a retail recruitment strategy, downtown revitalization efforts, and business retention by supporting small business owners. We are looking for your input on how to make Downtown Blacksburg the best it can be. Please provide your feedback in this survey.

Initially funded by the Town of Blacksburg through its American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds, this comprehensive partnership signifies a pivotal step towards improving the economic landscape of Blacksburg. This partnership includes the following:

Retail Recruitment: Retail Strategies is deploying its expertise in analyzing consumer data and conducting comprehensive market and real estate analyses to uncover Blacksburg's market potential. Through cataloging retail properties across the Town and engaging with property owners, Retail Strategies will identify expanding businesses that align with the Town’s needs. The partnership will develop and implement strategies to present prime real estate opportunities to retail decision-makers, driving significant economic growth.

Downtown Revitalization: Downtown Strategies (a division of Retail Strategies) is spearheading a three-year partnership to create and implement a five-year strategic action plan focused on project-oriented, short-term strategies. The team will facilitate a Strategic Visioning Workshop in town on August 6th from 6:00-7:30 PM @ the Lyric and encourages interested citizens to attend.

Small Business Support: Recognizing the importance of small businesses to Blacksburg's economy, Retail Strategies is now offering FREE, virtual, on-demand training tailored for local entrepreneurs over the next nine months. The Small Business Support program features training videos, downloadable resources, and a chat forum focused on five learning paths that will assist businesses with modernizing and improving. The learning paths include Business Modernization, Omni-channel Retail Strategies, Restaurant Resilience, Property Owner Training, and Holiday Trends & Outlook.

Businesses can customize their experience and take the training(s) that interest them most. To enroll, please click the following link, enter an email address, and create a unique password to access the resources in this platform: https://smallbusinesssupport.learnupon.com/users/sign_up.