Creative Economy Strategic Planning for the Blue Ridge Parkway Region

RFP No.: 2026-008 

1. KEY MILESTONES                                                                                                             

RFP Issue Date: July 10, 2026

Deadline for Questions: 4:00 p.m. EDT, July 23, 2026

Response to Questions: 4:00 p.m. EDT, July 31, 2026

Proposals Due: 4:00 p.m. EDT, August 12, 2026

Proposal Review, Interviews, Consultant Selection: August 13-September 4, 2026

Award Notification: Early September 2026

Project research, stakeholder engagement, surveys, meetings, strategic plan development: September 2026-February 2027

Draft Strategic Plan Due: February 28, 2027

Final Strategic Plan Due: March 31, 2027

All applicants, including the selected consultant, will be notified following the selection process.

2. INTRODUCTION

The Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation, in partnership with Friends of Southwest Virginia, invites qualified consulting firms or teams to submit proposals for the development of a comprehensive strategic plan to grow the creative economy along the Blue Ridge Parkway, with a specific focus on artisans, musicians, and storytellers.

This strategic planning initiative will provide a roadmap to strengthen the cultural economy across the 29 counties located along the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia and North Carolina. To develop this plan, the selected consultant will facilitate regional surveys, stakeholder discussions, and strategic planning sessions with artists, musicians, storytellers, tourism partners, cultural organizations, project staff, and other community leaders and subject-matter experts throughout the corridor. The resulting strategic plan will identify needs and opportunities to expand business development; increase sales and audience engagement for regional artists and musicians; and enhance storytelling initiatives that attract tourism and support sustainable economic growth.

This Request for Proposals (RFP) is being issued and managed by the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation (BRPF or Foundation), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.

3. PROJECT BACKGROUND

In 2023, to enhance the Parkway’s economic impact on its gateway communities, the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation launched “Blue Ridge Rising” to unite the Parkway’s 29 counties in Virginia and North Carolina and develop regional strategies to support tourism, outdoor recreation, and related economic development. More than 500 community stakeholders participated in 38 local and regional meetings, suggested solutions, and then developed a prioritized action list. The resulting Blue Ridge Rising Action Plan provides a community-led blueprint for the next three to five years. (To learn more, go to https://blueridgerising.com/.)

The strategies in the plan are organized across six themes: marketing, visitor experience, unified regional voice, resource protection, workforce education, and capacity building. Within the visitor experience theme are two strategies that focus on the creative economy, 2.4: Artisans and Musicians and 2.5: Storytelling. Both strategies call for identifying unmet needs and compelling opportunities to support these sectors, and then helping to implement those prioritized solutions.

The gateway communities along the Parkway clearly recognize the importance of traditional arts, music, storytelling, and cultural heritage as economic drivers for rural Appalachian communities.

They want artisans, musicians, and storytellers throughout the region to play a central role in identifying their strengths, unmet needs, and best opportunities to collaborate, develop their businesses, preserve the region’s creative culture, and promote tourism that engages tourists as customers and as audiences eager to experience the region’s culture.

The Blue Ridge Parkway is one of the most visited national park units in the United States, attracting around 16.5 million visitors every year. The proximity of the Parkway to hundreds of local artisans, musicians, and storytellers in the Parkway’s gateway communities presents significant opportunities to connect these visitors with authentic Appalachian cultural experiences. This new strategic plan will identify the best opportunities to support these creatives at a regional level, while also enhancing visitor engagement and tourism revenue.

This planning effort, funded primarily by the Appalachian Regional Commission, will focus more specifically on identifying needs, opportunities, barriers, and solutions related to:

• Business expansion and increased sales and performance opportunities for artists and
• musicians
• Workforce and entrepreneurial training opportunitiy
• Storygathering, storytelling, and interpretive programming
• Regional collaboration and infrastructure needs.
• Cultural tourism development
• Festival and event opportunities
• Audience development and visitor engagement

4. PROJECT OBJECTIVES

The strategic plan will address the following objectives:

Stakeholder Engagement: Conduct surveys, interviews, focus groups, and regional discussions with artists, musicians, storytellers, tourism leaders, project staff, community stakeholders, and subject-matter experts throughout the Blue Ridge Parkway corridor.

Creative Economy Development: Identify strategies to strengthen and expand the regional creative economy for artisans, musicians, and storytellers.

Business Growth and Sales Expansion: Assess opportunities to increase earned income, market access, audience development, and tourism-related sales and performance opportunities for regional creatives.

Cultural Preservation and Interpretation: Develop strategies that support the preservation, interpretation, and promotion of Appalachian cultural traditions, history, and heritage.

Tourism Development: Identify opportunities to enhance visitor experiences through storytelling, music, festivals, cultural interpretation, and heritage tourism initiatives.

Training and Capacity Building: Assess regional training and technical assistance needs related to business development, marketing, storygathering, storytelling, tourism readiness, and audience engagement.

Regional Collaboration: Develop recommendations that strengthen collaboration among cultural organizations, tourism entities, communities, and creative entrepreneurs across the corridor.

5. PROJECT BUDGET

Proposals exceeding $85,000 will not be considered. Applicants should not assume the full $85,000 is available.

6. FEDERAL FUNDING AND PAYMENT FOR SERVICES

This strategic planning and consulting effort is supported in large part by a federal grant administered by the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC). Any contract resulting from this RFP will be subject to all applicable federal laws, regulations, and grant requirements, including but not limited to 2 CFR Part 200 (Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards).

Payment to the selected Consultant shall be made on a reimbursement basis, tied to the completion and acceptance of agreed-upon deliverables, and subject to the availability of grant funds. The Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation does not guarantee the availability of federal or ARC funds and reserves the right to modify or terminate the contract if funding is reduced, delayed, or discontinued. The Foundation is committed to transparency and will make every effort to communicate any such developments promptly with the selected contractor.

Additional federal funding language, including invoicing requirements, allowable costs, and documentation standards, will be included in the final contract.

7. PROJECT DELIVERABLES

The selected consultant will deliver a comprehensive strategic plan that includes, but is not limited to, the following components:

Current State Analysis A comprehensive analysis of the current cultural economy landscape within the 29-county Blue Ridge Parkway corridor, including strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and challenges impacting regional artisans, musicians, and storytellers.

Stakeholder and Community Engagement Development and implementation of a stakeholder engagement process that includes:

• Surveys
• Focus groups
• Regional listening sessions
• Interviews with artists, musicians, storytellers, tourism leaders, project staff, subject-matter experts, and community stakeholders.

Needs and Opportunities Assessment Identification of key needs and opportunities related to:

• Business development
• Market expansion
• Sales growth
• Tourism partnerships
• Audience development
• Storygathering, storytelling, and interpretation
• Training and technical assistance

Strategic Recommendations Development of strategic recommendations and prioritized solutions designed to strengthen the regional cultural economy and increase tourism and economic impact.

Cultural Tourism and Storytelling Strategies Recommendations for expanding and improving the existing portfolio of regional stories, and for expanding and improving storytelling experiences, interpretive programming; festivals; music initiatives; and cultural tourism opportunities throughout the corridor.

Training and Capacity Building Recommendations Identification of educational and technical assistance opportunities that support artists, musicians, and storytellers in areas such as:

• Entrepreneurship
• Marketing
• Digital engagement
• Tourism readiness
• Audience development
• Historical interpretation

Implementation Roadmap A detailed implementation roadmap outlining:

• Priority initiatives
• Recommended partnerships
• Timelines
• Potential funding opportunities
• Short-term and long-term goals
• Performance metrics and evaluation strategies

The final strategic plan should be professionally designed and suitable for public distribution and partner use.

8. QUESTIONS AND RFP UPDATES

Submit any questions about this RFP in writing to projects(at)brpfoundation.org, no later than July 23, 2026, 4:00 p.m. EDT, with RFP No. 2026-008 in the subject line. Submitted questions and responses will be posted no later than July 31, 2026, 4:00 p.m. EDT, on the same webpage where the original RFP appears: https://brpfoundation.org/creative-economy-rfp/.  

There will be no in-person or virtual meeting to discuss this RFP. Verbal comments provided by any party, including but not limited to Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation staff and Friends of Southwest Virginia staff, shall not be binding. If it is necessary to update or revise the RFP in whole or in part, e.g., to extend the proposal deadline, that information will be shared on the same webpage where the original RFP appears: https://brpfoundation.org/creative-economy-rfp/.

9. PROPOSAL SUBMISSION DEADLINE

Interested firms should submit proposals no later than 4:00 p.m. EDT, on August 12, 2026, by email in PDF format to: projects(at)brpfoundation.org, with RFP No. 2026-008 in the subject line. Submissions received after the due date/time will not be considered. Please, no phone calls.

10. PROPOSAL SUBMISSION LAYOUT

Proposals should not exceed 12 pages, excluding resumes and references.

A. Title Page Please include:

• Company name
• Website
• Address
• Telephone number
• Primary contact name and email address

B. Executive Summary Provide an overview of the firm’s proposed approach to the project.

C. Company Information Please include:

• Description of the firm and core services
• Organizational capacity and staff size
• Resumes of key personnel assigned to the project
• Contact information for three professional references

D. Qualifications and Relevant Experience Please include:

• Relevant experience in strategic planning, creative economy development, cultural tourism, arts administration, and/or rural economic development
• Examples of similar projects completed
• Experience facilitating stakeholder engagement and regional planning processes
• Experience working in Appalachian communities or rural regions
• Experience managing ARC-funded projects
• Familiarity with cultural heritage tourism, storytelling initiatives, music programming, or artisan development

E. Project Methodology and Timeline Please describe:

• Proposed methodology for stakeholder engagement and data collection
• Approach to facilitating surveys, interviews, focus groups, and regional meetings
• Methodology for identifying and prioritizing recommendations
• Project management and communication approach
• Detailed timeline including milestones and deliverables
• Anticipated challenges and proposed mitigation strategies

F. Budget Information The proposed budget should include all anticipated costs associated with the project, including:

• Personnel
• Travel*
• Lodging
• Meeting facilitation
• Survey development and analysis
• Research
• Graphic design and final report production in formats suitable for both online access and potential print production. Print production costs do not need to be included in the proposed budget.
• Administrative costs

* – Please note that BRPF has a certain amount of grant funds available to assist, as needed, with the travel costs of project participants (e.g., artisans, musicians, and storytellers). These travel funds for participants should not be included in the applicant’s proposal. However, to be clear, the applicant’s proposal must include any and all travel expenses related to the applicant’s project activities.

G. Additional Information (Optional) Include any additional information deemed relevant to the proposal.

11. EVALUATION CRITERIA

The contract will be awarded to the responsible consultant whose proposal is determined to be responsive to this RFP and represents the best overall value, considering both qualitative and cost factors. Proposals will be evaluated using the following criteria and relative weights:

Project Approach, Methodology, and Schedule: 40% Includes the quality and feasibility of the proposed methodology, stakeholder engagement approach, understanding of project objectives, and ability to complete the work within the proposed timeline.

Qualifications, Experience, and Regional Knowledge: 40% Includes experience in strategic planning, creative economy development, cultural tourism, community engagement, work in rural and Appalachian communities, familiarity with the Blue Ridge Parkway region, and experience with ARC-funded initiatives.

Cost Proposal: 20% Includes overall cost-effectiveness and value provided relative to the proposed scope of work.

The Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation and Friends of Southwest Virginia reserve the right to seek clarification of proposals, reject any or all proposals, and make an award in the best interest of the project and funding requirements.

12. CONCLUSION

Through this strategic planning initiative, the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation and Friends of Southwest Virginia seek to strengthen the cultural economy of the Blue Ridge Parkway region by supporting artisans, musicians, and storytellers as essential contributors to economic development, tourism, and cultural preservation. The resulting strategic plan will provide a roadmap for future investment, collaboration, programming, and infrastructure development that supports sustainable growth and expands opportunities for Appalachian communities across the Blue Ridge Parkway corridor.

Appendix A

BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY FOUNDATION

Website: https://brpfoundation.org/

FRIENDS OF SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA

Website: https://friendsofswva.org/