Our strategy

Across the country, successful communities are capitalizing on their creative economies, focusing on innovation, investment and place.  

INNOVATION
     Developing new solutions to old problems
     Identifying fresh uses for existing assets
     Partnering in collaborative strategies
     Fueling the entrepreneurial fire

INVESTMENT
     Differentiating our products and communities with quality
     Assuming a stance toward the Future
     Coalescing around an inclusive vision
     Attracting investment with investment (not by underselling)

PLACE
     Committing to being a community of choice
     Building on authenticity
     Investing in a high quality of life
     Celebrating the uniqueness of our very specific corner of the world

Here in Southern Virginia, an August 2011 summit kicked off  a regional conversation, focusing on just how these principles might apply here.  The following month, a group of 70 community leaders came together  to further the discussion.  They began the process of an asset inventory and initial discussions of strategy around historical assets, outdoor recreation and natural beauty, and arts and cultural events and organizations.

• Video of August 2011 Creative Economy Conference
• Southern Virginia Meeting Notes 102511
• Southern Virginia Asset Map

Next, we will work to flesh out the inventory of assets.  We’ll catalog them with an eye to bridging the region.  How do the assets work together?  How might they be incorporated into tourism and quality of life strategies?  Where are the opportunities for entrepreneurs?

This is where you come in.  

     Click here for information on the next meeting or how to get involved.
     Click here to look at the assets identified in your community and add to the list.