An organization devoted to preserving downtown Greenwood wants to help small businesses get new signs, but is asking the city for money to start the new grant program.
Restore Old Town Greenwood, Inc., a seven-year-old nonprofit organization that advocates for historic preservation, small businesses and community involvement, wants to help the city in its effort to improve downtown facades by matching 50 percent of the cost of new signs for businesses that may not be able to afford it on their own, said Brad Nemeth, a Restore Old Town Greenwood board member.
The organization has asked the city’s Economic Development Commission for $6,500 to put towards a new grant program. Board president Don Cummings said details of the program need to be sorted out first.
“How would you guys determine who qualifies for the grant and who would actually get it?” Cummings asked during a commission meeting this month. “If somebody came to you and said, ‘this is what we’re going to do.’ Would you ever say, ‘not good enough for us. Change this and then we’ll consider it.’”
Restore Old Town didn’t have a clear list of criteria it would use when considering grant applications, something that the EDC should approve before the organization uses city money to help fund the grants, said Sergey Grechukhin, an attorney for the city.
Any new signage within city limits has to fall in line with the city’s standards.
“We’re kind of basing it on how long have they been a business in the community and community participation,” Nemeth said. “But we would be fine with whatever the city wants. I think their standards are pretty good.”
But because a third party vendor would be receiving money from the city, there has to be some sort of selection criteria beyond that. There should be specific guidelines, Grechukhin and the commissioners agreed.
Applicants would not have to be members of the Old Town group, but would have to be located downtown to receive the grant, Nemeth said.
The grant would also be reimbursable, meaning businesses would have to pay to put the signs up so that the group could consider what they actually look like when deciding which ones to grant money to.
Commissioners also considered whether they should review each grant application and provide funds on a case-by-case basis, or if they should front Restore Old Town the money and let its board members make the decisions on their own. The EDC will likely conduct a special meeting before the end of the year to announce its decision.
Nemeth said signage for small businesses can cost anywhere from $2,600 to $4,400, according to his research. So $6,500 from the city coupled with $1,000 from Restore Old Town’s budget would allow them to help three to five local businesses, he said.
The Redevelopment Commission’s G.R.O.W. program already offers matching grants for downtown businesses to do facade work, but it’s on a larger scale and often includes more than just signage.
