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Last year, town managers and politicians from all over Virginia made their way to Abingdon for the first Small Towns Conference, organized by the Virginia Municipal League (VML) and Virginia Tech University. Now as attention turns to year two, the group announced on Thursday, April 17 that they’ve chosen Farmville to host the 2025 event.

“Building on the success of last year’s inaugural offering, the Virginia Municipal League and Virginia Tech will host another Virginia Small Towns Conference,” VML officials said in a post on social media. “This year, the event will be June 5-6 on the campus of Longwood University in Farmville.” 

So first off, let’s explain what this is. According to Virginia Tech officials, the first conference last year was organized to help answer questions. How do you apply for grants to help with construction or economic development? What’s the best way to drive younger families to move in? How do you approach marketing and promotion beyond your region, to develop as a possible tourist location?

You bring in town staff and town council members, then put them together with experts who can both answer their questions and present alternative ways to address certain issues. Virginia Tech officials said in earlier statements about the conference they also wanted to help towns connect with each other. Maybe two towns near each other are dealing with the same situation and it would help to partner on a solution. Or maybe one town has gone through a situation and their staff can share how that happened. 

Small Towns Conference ‘a special opportunity’ 

Farmville Mayor Brian Vincent said being able to host is a special opportunity for the town. 

“It not only demonstrates our ability to facilitate professional gatherings, but also shines a spotlight on our town—introducing 100-150 local officials and government professionals to the charm and vitality of this community,” Vincent said. “These are people whose passion is placemaking, and there’s no better place to spark inspiration than right here. For me personally, it’s a chance to showcase what makes Farmville special and continue the meaningful exchange of ideas as we all work to strengthen our hometowns across the Commonwealth.” 

Vincent mentioned a spotlight and that’s something hosts of similar conferences in neighboring states have pointed to as a benefit. There is, of course, between 100 to 150 hotel rooms being reserved and the same number of people eating at local restaurants when an event like this comes to town. But beyond that, it’s also a time to make connections, which can lead to deals down the road. 

Speaking to the Wheeling paper The Intelligencer three weeks ago, the town’s vice mayor Jerry Sklavounakis said they were able to promote a performing arts center, which has nationally known musicians coming through; a city park system that holds events regularly and the WesBanco Arena, which just wrapped up the first of a four year contract with the Mountain East Conference college basketball tournament. The town official saw it as free promotion, something that helps get the name of his community out in other areas. 

When and where is this? 

The 2025 edition of VML’s Small Towns Conference will take place at Longwood’s Upchurch University Center on June 5 and June 6, with some additional receptions at the Hotel Weyanoke.