VFC has been a change agent in the revitalization and rebirth of Phoenixville, PA since 1999 when there was little action in the town.
The boutique marketing firm has incubated a number of the brands that have brought Phoenixville to its current status of a buzzworthy Borough with a booming economy. VFC helped those small businesses grow and, in turn, the Borough grew with purpose in personality.
Besides partnering with those catalysts for community success, VFC assisted many non-profits—many of them pro-bono including St. Mary’s Shelter and Good Samaritan Shelter. In 2010 VFC contributed creative services to curate and produce the very first TED event in the Philadelphia region. VFC themed and promoted TEDxPXV for five years, and ended just prior to the expansion of the Colonial Theater where it was held.
“As a business, VFC is a vested member of the community and always prepared to give back,” offers VFC creative director Todd Palmer. “It benefits the entire community to have vibrant businesses, helpful non-profits and the free and open exchange of ideas.”
Other pro-bono work since has included improvements to several youth sports teams (including starting one of the first mountain biking teams in the state), parks and trails outside of the Borough of Phoenixville and, most recently, an ambitious, transformational park project back in the Borough of Phoenixville.
“Rez Prk” Disc Golf now shares Reservoir Park with long time inhabitants: the Dog Park and Community Garden, both of which VFC rebranded in the process.
Reservoir Park was a mostly overgrown covert woodland on the Northside of Phoenixville. The well-protected parking lot and shaded trails down to the river were notorious locations for all manner of illicit activity. The Borough identified Reservoir Park in the Master Plan as a community asset that could be and should be cleaned up and improved.
Before a lighted ball field could be proposed for the wide open meadow in the park, a disc golf course was proposed and VFC designed the course and managed the project from start to finish. This included many iterations of course design, test rounds, collaborating with local experts and managing many, many man hours of volunteer labor.
The team repurposed a lot of materials and received contributions of others including heavy machinery operation to create unique tee areas, fairways and greens.
“This is a competitive level course with competitive components,” added Palmer who started the project with the Borough in January 2021. “From the heavy-duty Innova DISCatcher® Pro 28 baskets to the 4’x12’ poured concrete tee pads, we collectively found ways to get it done under a tight budget.”
Working closely with the Borough Council and the Parks and Recreation Department, VFC rebranded the park and launched an identity for the new course. “Rez Prk” Disc Golf now shares Reservoir Park with long time inhabitants: the Dog Park and Community Garden, both of which VFC rebranded in the process.
“We developed distinct identities for each of the park’s features, but the identities work with one another stylistically,” says Melissa Rambo, a long-time Phoenixville resident. “We transformed a park that hardly anyone knew about into a place for the community that people can’t stop talking about.”
And the talk is positive. People love the challenging course that features six relatively open holes, six sparsely wooded holes and six heavily wooded holes.
The VFC-developed brand identity has permeated a simple website and social media presence—all set up and professionally populated by the 22 year old design and marketing firm.
Like they do for the dog park and community garden in Reservoir Park, people that love the park, love Phoenixville, and love disc golf (many of whom volunteered on the project), will care for RezPrk into the future,” concludes Palmer, “Maintaining a low impact, vibrant and beloved community asset—physical recreation that is fun and free and that can be enjoyed by a greater number for the greater good… that was the objective!”
—————
Backed by years of solid agency experience, VFC is an innovative and energetic team of award-winning copywriters, designers, illustrators and programmers prepared to grow your brand and your business. VFC delivers strategic marketing, advertising and public relations campaigns for a diverse roster of clients from a 170-year-old, high-tech renovated farmhouse in the heart of Chester County, Pennsylvania. For more information call 877-GROW ART or visit VFC on the web at www.virtualfarm.com.
