Our local restaurant

Jake’s on Main

 is a nominee in the 2015 Virginia Culinary Challenge! Be sure to support and vote! View and Vote here!

The Danville Office of Economic Development (DOED) and 610 Craghead LLC are offering business owners and entrepreneurs the opportunity to win three years of free or reduced rent and up to $50,000 in grant funds to start their business in Danville’s River District!

*The Crossing at the Dan campus is comprised of the Carrington Pavilion (an outdoor amphitheater that hosts concerts throughout the year), the Danville Science Center (featuring the Estelle H. Womack Natural History Museum and new digital dome), the Community Market (home to the local farmers market and a number of events throughout the year), the Pepsi Building (meeting and event center), and trailhead for the Riverwalk Trail (over nine miles of paved biking/walking trail). 

 

• Send us your completed business plan.
• Email your business plan to Corrie.Teague@danvilleva.gov with the subject line “610 Craghead Business Plan Submission – [Your Name]” or complete the online application and attach your business plan to the application.
• To be considered entries must include the following information: Participant’s first and last name, email address, mailing address, telephone number, and the source from where you learned about the contest.
• All entries must be received by 11:59 p.m. ET on March 9, 2015.
• All decisions made by the Danville Office of Economic Development
   

  and 610 Craghead LLC are final and not subject to appeal.

• Before the prize is awarded, all information submitted in the application email will be verified. If ANY false or misleading information has been submitted, the participant will be disqualified without notification.
• Only one unique entry per participant.
• The strength and feasibility of the business plan, type of business and value it will bring to the River District, and your ability to secure additional capital required from outside sources for the business venture will be considered during the evaluation process.

Calling local businessman Rick Barker a “pioneer” in restoration and development in the River District, Mayor Sherman Saunders joined more than 70 citizens Tuesday in marking the opening of the new corporate headquarters for Supply Resources, a custom packaging and logistics company led by Barker.

Three weeks ago, the company moved into the former Piedmont Hardware building located at 554 Craghead St. in the River District. The 21,000-square-foot historic building has been redeveloped to house office space.

“Today, we will cut the ribbon on this impressive facility and celebrate the expansion of a local business,” Saunders said at the ceremony. “On behalf of the City of Danville, I would like to thank Mr. Barker for being one of the first to believe in the River District and being a pioneer in the development efforts taking place.”

The building will serve as corporate headquarters and house the administrative and sales work of Supply Resources and its affiliated companies, which are SRI Global, Lynchburg Public Warehouse and Ricker Barker Properties.

Barker said the four companies will be consolidated, and then all four branches expanded.
The new headquarters is located only two blocks away from the building at 308 Craghead St. that had served as office space for the administrative and sales staff. Barker’s decision to first locate – and now remain – in the River District is not a mere coincidence.

“The day I moved to the district six years ago, it was largely a matter of convenience,” Barker said. “I grew up here. I could walk home from here. It was very convenient. Today, the business I own is very different. We have been fortunate. We make all of our decisions in the best interest of our customers. If there was a better place to relocate, to where we might take better care of our customers, (then) we would move there.

“We are not here for convenience anymore. We consider operating from Danville to be part of our strategic competitive advantage. There are things that we can do in and around Danville that we could not likely do elsewhere.”

Supply Resources will occupy the ground floor of the building. The second and third floors, totaling 14,000 square feet, will be available for redevelopment and lease as office space.

When he moved into the 308 Craghead St. location, Barker had two employees. Now, he has more than 50 collectively. Looking for additional space, Barker purchased the Piedmont Hardware building from the Industrial Development Authority, which had secured the building after it had been vacant or only partially used since the hardware business closed in 1961. The hardware business had operated there since 1897.

“The city has been a great supporter of this project,” Barker said. “We are looking forward to you seeing this space because it was you (the city) who gave us a chance to purchase this property. We are hoping today that we have, at a minimum, met your expectations, and hopefully exceeded them.”
The redevelopment and adaptive reuse of the building was carried out with the guidance of the Lynchburg-based design firm Architectural Partners. The firm worked with the Virginia Department of Historic Resources to maintain original components from when the building housed Piedmont Hardware. Read full article here!

River District Danville Virginia

(434) 791-7985

BY DENICE THIBODEAU
dthibodeau@registerbee.com 

Downtown Danville was teeming with people Thursday night for the first Main Street Scavenger Hunt.

Hundreds of participants picked up their scavenger forms at the JTI Fountain and took to Main Street, heading into businesses from Rippe’s to Amburn Salon & Spa to find pictured items and have their forms validated.

The Downtown Danville Association, Danville Regional Medical Center and American National Bank sponsored the event, which included free soft drinks, ice cream and live music on Main Street Plaza.
Jerry Amburn, of Amburn Salon & Spa, said the object of the hunt was to attract people to the recently renovated blocks of Main Street and get them into the businesses.

“It’s been great,” Amburn — a member of the DDA — said. “People keep coming in and saying, ‘Wow, this is a beautiful place and I didn’t even know you were here’ … that’s what we wanted to hear.”
Completed scavenger hunt forms got participants into a drawing for a $500 cash prize, and they could get extra entries by shopping downtown during the event — every $10 purchase at select merchants gave them more entries.

River District Danville Virginia

Barbara Seamster, general manager of radio stations 104.5 The Dan and Country Legends 103.7 and a member of the DDA, said the scavenger hunt was a way of supporting Business Appreciation Week and encouraging people to check out the stores and restaurants on Main Street.

“We started small this year with Danville’s Main Street, but we plan to continue expanding the event and hopefully hosting more evenings like this,” Seamster said.

Tina Farthing said she was glad her daughter talked her into coming downtown, a place she doesn’t visit often unless it’s for an event at the Crossing at the Dan.

“I’m so glad to see things building back up here,” Farthing said and she headed into Vintages on the Dan — where customers were lined up to buy from the assortment of craft beers and unusual wines.

“It’s been rocking in here,” Robin Jones, co-owner of Vintages, said.

River District Danville Virginia

Dell’Anno’s manager Mike Gillespie said they stayed busy throughout the event.
“We ran out of tickets and had to go get some more,” Gillespie said. It’s been a good night.”

Everyone gathered at the fountain again for the prize drawing, and when Cara Burton, executive director of the Danville Museum of Fine Arts and History, asked if anyone had discovered cool stores they didn’t know existed, hands shot up throughout the crowd.

Jessica Buckner, of Danville, had the winning ticket and went home with $500 in cash.

River District Danville Virginia