Historic Manassas Inc. lays out 3-year strategic plan, seeks to diversify revenue beyond city support

Historic Manassas Inc. (HMI), the nonprofit that manages the city’s visitor center and downtown promotion, told the City Council that it expects to finalize a three-year strategic plan in August and is proposing operational and funding changes to reduce reliance on city support while expanding visitor engagement.

HMI’s presenter said the plan frames work around three focal areas — visibility/messaging, community building and community engagement — and will guide HMI through 2028. The presenter said HMI plans to diversify revenue, expand marketing and events, and grow volunteer and membership engagement.

The plan follows recent growth HMI reported: the presenter said HMI’s promotional activity brought nearly 20,000 more visitors to town in one year, and that First Fridays attendance rose from about 19,000 two years ago to roughly 50,500 this year. HMI also reported volunteer engagement rising from about 1,700 to about 2,000 annual volunteer contacts and said public/private funding from the city fell from roughly 52% in fiscal year 2023 to about 47% before an additional city payment for fiscal 2025. The presenter said the extra $100,000 that city council approved for fiscal 2025 “hit the bank today.”

Why it matters: HMI runs the visitor center and coordinates many signature events in historic downtown, and its plans for marketing, staffing and event programming affect downtown merchants, property owners and the city’s tourism profile.

What HMI proposed and discussed

- Events and programming: HMI plans to keep signature events (for example, spring and Halloween activities) and add two “Taste of Manassas” events per year, two restaurant weeks and two small-business weeks annually, plus a family event in 2027. HMI intends to continue a year-round farmers market and pilot smaller promotional campaigns to increase off-season traffic.

- Visitor services and hours: HMI proposed adjusting visitor-center hours on some low-traffic days (including federal holidays and a reduced Sunday schedule such as noon–4 p.m.) to better match visitor patterns, while noting HMI staff will evaluate traffic before finalizing hours.

- Marketing and partnerships: HMI told council it will bring marketing in-house, hire a marketing strategist and an events manager (the events manager was reported to start the next day). HMI said this shift is possible because of recent extra city funding and is intended to support year-long campaigns.

- Revenue and staffing: HMI described efforts to diversify revenue through a planned “Friends of HMI” membership/revenue program (aimed for early 2026), expanding earned income (including oversight of a downtown gift-card program), pursuing grants and increasing volunteer capacity. HMI said it is exploring benefit options to improve staff retention and reduce turnover.

- Capacity building: HMI proposed capacity-building workshops for vendors and small businesses through a proposed partnership with a George Mason Innovation representative and other local partners. HMI said the workshops would respond to business feedback and focus on marketing and starting a bricks-and-mortar operation for vendors.

Council response and discussion

Council members praised HMI’s progress and raised concerns about the winter “valley” months when merchants see weak foot traffic. Several council members asked HMI to target promotional efforts and campaigns at traditionally slow months (January–March), and recognized the importance of merchants’ own participation in programs HMI offers. A council member noted the city has previously run matching-grant programs that required merchant buy-in for new initiatives; HMI said it will publicize available grants and help businesses seek them.

Council members also asked about coordination with other city communications and tourism tools (including the city’s visit/Manassas web presence and the museum calendar), and HMI said staff and city communications are discussing how to reduce duplication and clarify roles. HMI said it is talking with city staff about whether some functions of visitmanassas.org and historicmanassasinc.org might be consolidated or otherwise coordinated.

Staffing and transition

HMI said its outgoing executive director, Kristin (last name not specified in the presentation), will remain in a part-time transition role after leaving the full-time post and will join HMI’s board to assist the new executive director. HMI also acknowledged several board members present: Mark Olsen (board chair), Ross Snare (treasurer), Liz Barahona, Pechta Dasok, Patrick Small (city liaison) and Nikki Merkel.

HMI emphasized that expanding in-house marketing and hiring additional event/marketing staff will let the executive director spend more time working with merchants and property owners.

Ending note

Council did not take a formal vote on HMI’s strategic plan at the meeting; members requested continued coordination and asked staff to work with HMI and other city departments on any proposed changes to how tourism and visitor services are structured.