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Officials with the Cortland County Business Development Corporation presented Monday (September 20) at a meeting of the Federal Aid Allocation Citizen’s Advisory Committee.
Legislators had requested the BDC come up with ideas on how best to spend the county’s American Rescue Plan funding to promote local economic development and help small business owners.
A resolution passed by the legislature allocated $500k of the total nine million dollar share for this specific purpose.
Under that budget, BDC director Gary Van Gorder and economic specialist Eric Mulvihill proposed three main programs:
Cortland County Facade Improvement Program ($200k)
- Mostly aimed at helping with exterior renovations and reconstruction.
- Eligible projects can apply for 75% funding assistance, totaling no more than $10k,
Small Business Expansion Assistance Program ($200k)
- Revenue losses, inventory adjustments, general upgrades and maintenance items.
- Again, 75% funding assistance for eligible projects up to $10k. Firms must also have no more than ten employees and the money can’t be used for refinancing.
Downtown Business Assistance program (100k)
- A total of 20 grants worth $5k each, targeting businesses within vacant or declining storefronts located in their town or village’s downtown district.
Extensive financial analysis by BDC staff will determine project eligibility and acceptance.
