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REGIONAL PARTNERS
Tourism Development Investments
The City's Tourism Development Fund (TDF) has been investing in the community since 2019 to increase patronage to restaurants, hotels, and events in the City of Williamsburg through financial assistance and reinvestments in tourism products, place-making projects, special events, and public-private partnerships. The following community partner organizations received allocations this year from the City's Tourism Development Fund.
Ampersand International Arts Festival* $25,000 An Occasion for the Arts $25,000 Colonial Williamsburg Foundation $1,300,000 Culturefix $340,000 Williamsburg Hotel Motel Association $11,000
*Formerly the William & Mary Global Film Festival
The Edge District
The Edge District — a foodie destination at the convergence of James City County, York County, and the City of Williamsburg — was formally launched in July 2021 with an event called “Running with Scissors”. These back-to-back ribbon cuttings celebrated all participating businesses in the district spanning all three localities in Greater Williamsburg.
In 2021, the City of Williamsburg rejoined the Hampton Roads Alliance, the leading regional economic development organization for the Hampton Roads region of Virginia. Alongside 13 locality partners, Williamsburg will benefit from this publicprivate partnership’s focus on attracting, growing, and retaining companies and talent across the region.
PHOTOS BY CONSOCIATE MEDIA
Williamsburg Downtown
Williamsburg Downtown is a new nonprofit organization created in partnership with the City of Williamsburg in 2021 to enhance the awareness and economic vitality of the downtown business district. This new effort is one of the resulting recommendations of a Downtown Vibrancy Study from 2018. To launch their inaugural fundraising event, Photos with Santa, Williamsburg Downtown was awarded a $30,000 grant from the City’s Tourism Promotion Contingency Fund.
The Eastern Virginia Regional Industrial Facility Authority (EVRIFA) successfully acquired a 432-acre former Commonwealth of Virginia Emergency Fuel Farm in December 2021. Simultaneous with the acquisition, the authority leased 250 acres of the property to CI Renewables for a 20-megawatt facility. EVRIFA plans to develop the remaining acreage as a light industrial park. Six of EVRIFA’s 10 member jurisdictions — York, Isle of Wight, Poquoson, Williamsburg, Hampton and Newport News — funded the costs associated with this initiative and have agreed to revenue sharing on the entire property. EVRIFA currently includes James City County, Williamsburg, Gloucester County, York County, Newport News, Hampton, Poquoson, Franklin, Chesapeake, and Isle of Wight County.
For the second time in three years, Williamsburg was voted one of “The South’s Best Small Towns” by Southern Living magazine.
“Colonial Williamsburg draws in over 6 million visitors a year spending more than $1.3 billion. The history of Williamsburg is leveraged by restaurants, retail shops, and tourism services. We invite you to come and be a part of the history and magic that is Colonial Williamsburg.”
— SHAUN COLEMAN Executive Director of Sales & Marketing for the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation Hospitality Division
» Visit yeswilliamsburg.com to learn more and contact us.
CITY OF WILLIAMSBURG ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT 401 Lafayette Street, Williamsburg, VA 23185 757.220.6104
