Our Mission
Our Mission is to build a downtown where businesses thrive and people enjoy memorable experiences.
We believe everyone deserves a special place that they connect with as the heart of their community. Our work strengthens the social fabric of our community and promotes togetherness, attracts customers and visitors, and supports business owners. We are people-based economic developers.
Our Impact
We make an impact on our downtown community through community festivals and events, small business assistance, destination marketing, and beautification and special projects. Learn more about our work in these areas below.
Community Festivals & Events
We strive to make downtown’s festivals and events welcoming, community-building experiences for everyone. From sensory-friendly activities during Skeleton Festival, to free summertime Levitt AMP Harrisonburg concerts, our events build community while showing off what downtown has to offer so that attendees can turn into customers.
Beautification & Special Projects
We believe that small moments of beautification can make a big impact. From helping to transform traffic cabinets into public works of art, to welcoming visitors to downtown with an impactful sculptural piece, downtown’s visual identity is the backdrop for memories people make in our community.
Destination Marketing
Whether you want to know about new businesses, exciting pop ups or weekly events, we find a variety of ways to give you an insider’s view of downtown. From our Hburg Hounds program to promote dog-friendly spots, to our annual dining and shopping guides to our weekend round up social media posts, we make it easy to discover something new.
Small Business Assistance
Our small business community is the heart of our downtown. From regular meetings to assistance programs and grants funded by our Friendly City Fortune Mega Raffle fundraiser, HDR supports entrepreneurs and the locally owned businesses that set us apart from other commercial centers.
Impact Stories
Support Our Mission
We’ve come a long way since we got started. Your donations support the downtown you love and will sustain the momentum we’ve created together. As an investor in our community, you will help take us to the next level. You are essential to continuing downtown’s success story.
We follow the Main Street America Four Point Approach, which includes Economic Vitality, Design, Promotion, and Organization.
Learn more about their Approach, here.