The Southeast Fairfax Development Corporation will be starting a campaign as part of its Faces of ONE project to help businesses along the Richmond Highway corridor gain traction before and during the corridor’s major transportation work and redevelopment.
It’s an extension of a public art campaign where 10 public sculptures were placed along the Richmond Highway corridor, along with some murals and different things to enhance the identity and placemaking of the area.
After working with the county’s Department of Economic Initiatives within the last year, SFDC formulated the plan to expand Faces of ONE to include marketing for small businesses and the corridor, as well as a new website.
Evan Kaufman, executive director for the SFDC, told FFXnow the campaign is important because part of the nonprofit organization’s role “is supporting the local economy and the local businesses in the Richmond Highway area.”
“We wanted to create a kind of campaign that unifies the corridor and the businesses on it to be able to help give them an identity and to help share really the story of the area with the larger region and let people know that it’s more than just a highway, a roadway, but it’s really a community,” Kaufman said.
The initiative comes in the wake of a transformation for the Richmond Highway corridor. The county is seeking to begin the Richmond Highway bus rapid transit construction in 2028 despite a need to secure more funds. The Virginia Department of Transportation is concurrently advancing a Richmond Highway widening project, with the first segment beginning as soon as mid-2027. The roadway changes are part of the Embark Richmond Highway vision approved by the Board of Supervisors in 2018 seeking a multimodal corridor with potential for mixed-use development.
The expanded Faces of ONE initiative will have a business introduction on Aug. 13, which will go into the campaign and identity for the area. Officials will go into detail on how they’ll support the small businesses, such as local photography and videography of the area. SFDC will be spending over $100,000 over the next year on marketing through digital ads.
Kaufman said they’ll also provide information on how businesses can take part in this campaign that can bring more money and patrons to their businesses.
“We’re really going to try to boost the area and its identity within the larger DMV region and really tell the story of who we are and why this area is so important to the region and the amazing assets that it has,” he said.
The organization has so far brought a number of photographers to take pictures of Huntley Meadows Park and some small businesses, including Chalkboard Wings & BBQ, Mamma’s Kitchen and Sherwood Gourmet Deli, to make ads based on that photography and share them on social media.
Kaufman said this initiative is important for Southeast Fairfax Development Corporation and the Richmond Highway corridor because one of the organization’s main goals is local business retention – they saw a lot of new businesses open on the highway – and because Richmond Highway has one of the most diverse demographic and business populations in Fairfax County.
“We’re introducing locals to spaces that they can go in their own community, but then also the larger region as a whole, introducing them to the offerings that the Richmond Highway has, and really starting to put Richmond Highway on the map as a destination for not only transit, but for recreation, dining, tourism, and living,” Kaufman said.
