Throughout the first half of 2012 under Connecticut”™s Small Business Express program, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy”™s administration has doled out what will eventually total $100 million in loans and grants.
With another $5 million in state funding, towns may be able to make their own overtures to businesses.
Connecticut officially launched a new Main Street Investment Fund, which will reimburse towns up to $50,000 for improvements to a business-district property owned by a municipality; or to match investments by companies undertaking their own improvements in commercial centers, at a rate of a 50 percent reimbursement for projects up to $50,000 or a 25 percent rebate for projects between $50,000 and $150,000.
Towns must explain how any one project fits in with its overall enhancement or beautification plan for a central hub, along with an itemized list of major spending components.
Malloy hopes the program, which will be capped at $500,000 for any one municipality, will lead to revitalizing centers in towns with fewer than 30,000 people. The program is also available for municipalities that are otherwise eligible for Connecticut”™s Small Town Economic Assistance Program.
“The Main Street Investment Fund will respond to the needs of small communities around the state by strengthening their commercial centers and creating lasting partnerships with the local merchants,” Malloy said. “With the right investments and the right partnerships, we can ensure that Main Street Connecticut will be the driving force behind our economic revival.”
A Hartford organization called Connecticut Main Street has long pressed for creating vibrant downtowns, selling out a “Complete Streets” seminar this month, the second in a series.
Several Fairfield County towns have already undertaken streetscape improvements with funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and other recent federal infusions. In Georgetown for instance, multiple new restaurants and businesses have taken root along a revitalized stretch of Main Street, which is directly opposite the former Gilbert & Bennett wire mill that is envisioned one day as a village enclave. Today, most of Main Street storefronts have drawn tenants save for the site of the former Georgetown Saloon which locals say requires a major overhaul before being able to attract any new commercial entity.
That is the kind of investment the new Main Street Investment Fund aims to spur. Towns can use the funding for a variety of projects, such as building renovations, improved street lighting, sidewalk construction, signs, recreational space or other renovations deemed necessary to contribute to the economic success of the municipality. The hope is that small businesses will move in to renovated spaces, prompting more foot traffic that possibly brings in additional tenants and lifts commercial property values.
Under rules published online by the Connecticut Office of Policy & Management, the fund cannot be used to reimburse businesses for renovations to fix a health or safety code violation; and cannot be used on nonpermanent items such as furnishings or moveable equipment such as a tent.
