GENERAL RESOURCES
Doing Business in Fredericksburg
Fredericksburg is a wonderful place to live, to visit or to operate a business. As opportunities become increasingly available within Fredericksburg, various forms of assistance are necessary for stimulating business growth and development.
The City of Fredericksburg has created several designated technology and tourism zones within the city limits in an effort to attract more investment into areas prioritized in the JumpStart! Plan as well as the City’s Comprehensive Plan (Comp Plan). Qualified new or expanding businesses that are interested in locating in the zones may be eligible for incentives. The city also established an Arts and Cultural District in the downtown area which provides economic incentives for arts and cultural businesses to remain, expand and locate in the district.
Economic Development Authority Grants
The Economic Development Authority has the power to provide financial grants or incentives to assist new and existing businesses in the City of Fredericksburg in order to foster and stimulate development. The City’s JumpStart! Plan outlines the specific types of development that would best serve the City’s economic prosperity, and the EDA has created criteria for its grants that focus specifically on these JumpStart! recommendations.
“Zoning” refers to regulations of the use of land the placement of structures on the land. With the exception of City-owned rights-of-way, all of the land in the City of Fredericksburg has a designated Zoning District.
University of Mary Washington Center for Economic Development
The primary role of the new UMW Center for Economic Development, which includes the University’s Small Business Development Center, will be to assist the regional jurisdictions in their efforts to promote economic development of the region.
The Virginia Main Street Program is a preservation-based economic and community development program that follows the Main Street Four-Point Approach™ developed by the National Trust Main Street Center. Virginia Main Street offers a range of services and assistance to communities interested in revitalizing their historic commercial districts. While the program was designed to address the need for revitalization and on-going management of smaller to mid-sized downtowns, aspects of the Main Street Approach™ may be applied successfully in other commercial settings.
