About DTW

Bringing Together Business & Community

Downtown Wytheville Incorporated is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit community development organization. Our primary focus is to revitalize and re-energize the heart of our community through education, events, special projects, and community engagement. Founded in 2014, Downtown Wytheville Inc. is a designated Virginia Main Street community and a Nationally Accredited Main Street America Program.

Mission

Downtown Wytheville Incorporated will build grassroots revitalization, forging strong partnerships and progressive strategies to realize its vision.

Vision

To make Downtown Wytheville the vibrant heart of community and commerce for the region.

Cumulative Program Statistics

(Since Designation through 2023)

  • Total Private Investment - $22,619,148

  • Total Private Improvement Projects - 369

  • Average Private Investment per Project - $61,299

  • Total Public Investment - $9,569,002

  • Total Public Improvement Projects - 379

  • Businesses Created/Retained/Expanded - 85

  • Jobs Created/Retained - 268

  • Cost per Job Created - $5,793

  • Total Organizational Volunteer Hours - 38,187

  • Estimated Market Value of Volunteer Time - $1,214,347

Quick Facts about DTW

  • Virginia Main Street Designated and Accredited Community

  • Main Street America Nationally Accredited Community

  • Most Successful Community Business Launch in Virginia

  • A leading organization in the field of community development

  • Featured by the Brooking's Institution for entrepreneurship

  • Awarded Best Public Improvement Project in Virginia

  • Voted Best of the Mountains by Blue Ridge Country Magazine

A Brief History of DTW

 

2014

DTW was Founded after a concerted effort from concerned citizens, business owners, Town staff, and members of Town Council committed to revitalizing the heart of our community.

 

2016 - 2018

DTW undertook a massive streetscape improvement project funded through local, state, and federal grants that improved the infrastructure of downtown to appeal to people, provide better access to businesses, become ADA accessible, and create a more vibrant sense of place.

During this time period, DTW also continued public investments through grants that created the Heritage Walk through downtown.

DTW also spurred significant private investment through a facade improvement program that improved most buildings in the downtown footprint and historic tax credit projects that revitalized multiple industrial properties into thriving businesses.

DTW partnered with the Town of Wytheville and the Wytheville Farmers Market to restore an abandoned warehouse into the new indoor-outdoor Farmers Market and Farmers Market Pavilion during this time period.

 

2018

DTW hosted a Ukrainian study group through the International City/County Management Association to discuss ways community building in rural places could be translated to similar rural areas in Ukraine.

 

2019-2020

DTW administered a Community Business Launch grant program called “Evolution Wytheville” that spurred 2 full-scale breweries, a bakery, and an art school expansion creating 38 jobs and spurring over $4 million in combined private investment.

This program was presented at the 2019 Main Street America Conference in Seattle and was featured in an article in Brooking titled “How a Rural Virginia Town is using Entrepreneurship to boost its local economy.”

DTW in collaboration with the Town of Wytheville and many community stakeholders undertook the creation of a comprehensive Wayfinding System with consistent signage and overhauls to the entry corridors to town creating a cohesive design that easily navigates vehicles and pedestrians.

 

2020-2022

DTW shifted to small business sustainability and survival during the pandemic administering $50,000 in Resurgence Grant funds and over $1 million in Community Development Block Grant Rent and Mortgage Relief Aid while launching our “Not Back to Normal - Forward to Better” Campaign.

 

2022

DTW was named one of the top-tier Main Street programs in the nation by Main Street America and Executive Director Todd Wolford was selected as best Main Street Director in the nation.

After years of hard work from the community led by the Millwald Theatre, Inc. non-profit, the historic Millwald Theatre reopened in the heart of downtown after a nearly $5 million revitalization project primarily funded through local donations, grants, and tax credits.

 

2022-2024

DTW was chosen as 1 of 12 communities in the United States to implement a new pilot program with Google to reach small, rural businesses and build their online presence through trainings and workshops. This project was successful in reaching 1,902 small businesses and entrepreneurs across Wythe County & Appalachia making this one of the most successful organizations in the pilot program. This project was awarded a 2024 Virginia Main Street Entrepreneurship Gamechanger Award.

DTW was honored to host the 2023 Virginia Main Street Director’s Retreat showcasing the incredibly fast revitalization of Downtown Wytheville as an example for other Main Street communities.

DTW was awarded a Downtown Resurgence Grant from Virginia Main Street for a pilot program to help historic buildings adopt energy efficiency upgrades including solar arrays to reduce utility costs on small businesses and increase business sustainability.

DTW partnered with the Virginia Tech School of Landscape Architecture for a semester-long student-led design process to create an innovative outdoor pocket park on a vacant lot downtown and reimagine the public parks within the district. Implementation of this design is underway thanks to grant funding from Virginia Main Street and private donations; however, additional resources would greatly assist this project.