Leesburg interns unveil business one‑stop materials as staff lists ribbon cuttings and Lafayette events

Pragya and Maida, two summer interns with the Leesburg economic development department, presented a set of business-startup resources and pilot outreach tools to the Economic Development Commission during its Aug. 6 meeting.

The interns showcased a three‑panel “business rack card” that outlines startup steps and department contacts, a downloadable one‑stop PDF of links for downtown entrepreneurs, and a proposed HubSpot contact-management setup. The presentation was followed by staff updates on recent business openings and a slate of upcoming community events tied to Lafayette’s bicentennial.

The rack card and one‑stop PDF are intended to give prospective business owners a concise checklist and direct links to municipal contacts so they can move through licensing, zoning and promotion more quickly. “This essentially is a hands on resource for new businesses,” Maida said during the presentation.

Melanie Scroggins, economic development staff, told commissioners the town had several recent openings: Paris Baguette opened and “they had a ribbon cutting. It was lovely,” and Hotel Berg held a ribbon cutting on the 29th and opened Aug. 1, according to Scroggins. She also said Shutters completed a soft opening and began taking reservations.

Allison, a member of the economic development staff who led the department’s recent outreach blitz, said the promotional blitz at the Fredericksburg Welcome Center generated heavy interest. “We were getting emails from the welcome center saying how they were running out of stuff,” Allison told the commission.

Interns said the HubSpot demonstration included two options: a free tier with manual processes and a paid marketing tier with automation and enhanced reporting. They recommended QR-code enabled forms for event registration to improve data capture and proposed segmenting contacts by role (entrepreneur, developer, etc.) to tailor outreach.

The interns also described community projects they helped execute. They said they and staff produced about 48 Lafayette‑inspired wreaths and distributed them to roughly 44 downtown businesses to mark the bicentennial tour. The department has worked with the Thomas Balch Library and the Tour Leesburg app to publish a Lafayette tour that follows the historic route through town.

Commissioners praised the interns’ work. Commissioner Lindsay Potter said the materials would be useful if posted to the Choose Leesburg site; Commissioner Kathy Gilman and others said the one‑page, stepwise format would make starting a business feel achievable to aspiring entrepreneurs.

Melanie Scroggins said Taste Leesburg is scheduled downtown on the coming Saturday and runs from 5 to 10 p.m., and she invited commissioners to events celebrating Lafayette’s return, including a reenactor appearance and related programs coordinated with the Bosch Library.

The presentation closed with commissioners noting the materials could be distributed at multiple touchpoints — the visitor center, partner welcome centers and online — and recommending that staff make the rack card downloadable and link the one‑stop PDF from the town’s economic development pages.

Looking ahead, staff said the intern program wrapped after a six‑week placement and that department leaders plan to present metrics and next steps in future meetings.

Clarifying details from the presentation included the interns’ six‑week internship period, production of 48 wreaths delivered to 44 businesses, the proposal to use HubSpot for contact segmentation and QR‑enabled registrations, and outreach to the Fredericksburg and Clearbrook welcome centers.