Business News - September 16

🅿️ Parking Meeting Thursday

Author

Joya Garris
September 16, 2025

Happy Tuesday! It’s another newsletter jam-packed with events and information. Take a moment to review everything happening downtown.

Today’s Top Three:

  • Reminder: The Retail & Restaurant Parking Meeting is THIS Thursday, September 18th.

  • Our Downtown Roanoke Ambassador Program celebrated its 3rd anniversary yesterday!

  • We’re creating a rundown of all the Halloween fun happening in Downtown Roanoke. Don’t forget to submit your events to our calendar.

Keep reading to stay informed!  

- Joya Garris, Director of Marketing & Communications

Get Involved

Parking Study Meeting: This Thursday! 🅿️ 

Thursday, September 18th | 9am | Hampton Inn Conference Room

The City of Roanoke is conducting a comprehensive year-long parking study to assess and improve parking downtown. Part of the research includes an exclusive meeting for retailers and restaurants to voice their valuable opinions on Thursday, September 18th at 9am. We encourage you to attend. Please note that the primary focus of this meeting is public parking (PARK Roanoke).

Do you plan on attending Thursday's parking meeting?

Login or Subscribe to participate in polls.

If you are unable to attend this meeting, you may pass along your thoughts to Joya via email or you may attend the separate public meeting scheduled for October 27th, 5:30-7:30pm at the Berglund Center.

To stay up to date on the City of Roanoke’s parking study, visit this page.

Halloween Candy Crawl 🎃🍭 

Saturday, October 25, 10am - 12pm

The 6th Annual Downtown Candy Crawl returns, and you’re invited to join the fun. The beloved family tradition fills downtown with hundreds of cute trick-or-treaters. Over 500 families have already registered in advance. Sign up to hand out candy or provide an activity.

Winter Holiday Involvement ❄️ 

The holidays will be here before you know it! Small Business Saturday, Dickens of a Christmas, and more!

Dickens Involvement Opportunities

Sponsorship: A space just opened up to sponsor one of our Dickens activities! If you’re interested, please let me know or email [email protected].

Parade: Applications are available for those wanting to join the parade fun!

Vendors: We’re still looking for a few vendors to line the streets at Dickens. Apply now.

Save the Date(s):

November 14, 2025: After the Sidewalk Sale, we received several requests for another shopping day. We’re organizing an evening Holiday Market and a Toys-for-Tots toy drive with a special guest (to be announced)! We ask businesses to remain open later on this day from 5pm to 8pm. More details and registration link to come. Stay tuned.

*November 29, 2025: Small Business Saturday encourages visitors to shop local and save. Registration coming soon! (This date was incorrect in a previous newsletter. Apologies.)

Halloween Happenings Needed 🎃 

We’ve started receiving calls and messages about Halloween, so we’re writing a feature post (blog) about Halloween Happenings in Downtown Roanoke, like we do most years. Let’s promote those events and drive traffic to your businesses!

Our happenings post is separated into events for kids and ones for adults. We also organize events based on dates.

Please submit any Halloween events to our events calendar, which recently received a makeover to make it easier for visitors to find events.

Stay Informed

New Mural Blossoms Downtown 🖼️ 

Downtown Roanoke, Inc. and the Roanoke Arts Commission are proud to announce the addition of a new, vibrant mural. Created by artist Christina Wing Chow (Wingchow), a Chinese-American muralist and fine artist, the mural captures her distinctive style featuring playful, colorful, amorphous forms.

Located at 27 Church Avenue Southeast, along the Hampton Inn and Suites, the artwork offers a beautiful backdrop for visitors as they explore downtown.

Business Equipment Incentive Program ⚙️

On October 1, the City of Roanoke’s Economic Development Authority will open the next round of funding for the Business Equipment Incentive Program, which helps businesses by offering a 50/50 match on eligible equipment purchases.

For eligibility requirements, application information, and frequently asked questions, please click the button below.

Ambassador Update: Celebrating 3 Years! 🎉 

We’ve reached a huge milestone. The Downtown Roanoke Ambassador Program is celebrating its 3rd Anniversary! Here’s a look at the impact our Ambassadors made over the last year:

Our Outreach Team connected with 1,859 people in need of services and joined weekly walks with local service providers to strengthen community support.

Hospitality assistance increased by an incredible 390%, helping visitors, residents, and businesses feel welcome downtown.

Cleaning:

  • Block faces pressure washed increased 232%

  • Block faces of weed abatement increased 40.5%

  • Small sweeps & clean-ups increased 28%

  • Bags of trash collected increased24%

These numbers are just a glimpse of the positive impact our Ambassadors have made in 36 months. We can’t wait to see what Year 4 brings!

Gain Knowledge & Network

40 Under 40 Nominations 🗳️

The Roanoker Magazine is now accepting nominations for the 40 Under 40 awards! The nomination deadline is midnight on October 5, 2025!

There are countless individuals making waves in their industries. Let Roanoke know all about the next generation of community leaders. Nominate someone today for consideration in the 40 Under 40 Awards in Roanoker Magazine’s upcoming January/February 2026 issue!

Events, Street Closures, & Parking

Downtown Events and Street Closures 🚧

The following street closures and associated events may affect Downtown traffic and business for the week of September 15-21.

Additional closures:

  • Drainage Project — Find updates and closures here.

Upcoming Festivals, Concerts, & Events 🎉 

We’ve officially entered festival season! Whether you want to get involved or need to staff your business, mark your calendars for the following festivals and events.

Find Downtown Parking 🅿️

With more than 1,300 on-street spaces and 7,000+ off-street spaces, plenty of free or paid parking options exist.

DRI - Your Downtown Partner

Put DRI to work for you! 💼

Our mission is to make Downtown Roanoke the preferred place to Work, Live, and Play. As a Downtown business, you have a valuable FREE resource at your fingertips. Let us help share your story!

Website Listings on DowntownRoanoke.org - Our business listings often come up among the first in Google searches. Help us enhance your listing by providing us with vital information, including website, phone number, description, hours, menus, and images.

Job Listings on DowntownRoanoke.org - Downtown Roanoke is the most vibrant workplace around and a destination for job seekers. Let us help get the word out when you’re hiring!

Event Listings on DowntownRoanoke.org - Our Event Calendar is THE place people go to find out what’s happening Downtown. Get your event in front of the audience you’re looking for.

Important Contacts 👤

Often, businesses need phone numbers for government services, such as solid waste, permitting, etc., and other services, such as private parking and transportation.

Check out our list of frequently requested information!