INDEX JOURNAL - 04/19/2022
Article & photo by: DAMIAN DOMINGUEZ ddominguez@indexjournal.com
Greenwood’s businesses have the chance to get grant funding to improve city businesses or fund digital marketing.
Applications for 20 new grants, funded by the City of Greenwood’s federal American Rescue Plan Act dollars, will go live April 25 for business owners in the city. Uptown Community Development Director Lara Hudson said these grants were a way to help city businesses hurt by shutdowns and slowdowns throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We just thought this is another great way to support local business,” she said. “A lot of businesses, when they were forced to close, didn’t have a website.”
The grant applications are available online at cityofgreenwoodsc.com/business/grant-applications, where applications forms offer the details into the up to $2,500 digital marketing grants and the up to $5,000 facade grants. The city will offer 10 of each grant, and the applications period runs from April 25 to May 9. Grant applications and materials should be submitted to lara.hudson@gwdcity.com
Business owners can apply for funds to improve each business they own, as long as they are located within the city limits. The digital marketing grants are for improvements to a business website, digital advertising, e-commerce development and social media management.
The facade grants are intended for projects that improve the exterior of local businesses. These grants reimburse projects that increase property value, eliminate blight and improve the businesses’ appearance at the street level. These grants can provide for up to 90% of the project’s cost, with a maximum of $5,000.
“From there, we’ll see how many submissions we get,” Hudson said. “After the summer we may be able to offer more of those.”
Hudson said in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, the city helped local businesses get online shopping options so they could continue to sell even when people weren’t coming into their businesses. Since the federal ARPA funds are intended to help offset the economic hardship of the pandemic, Hudson said these grants are intended to help businesses in need.
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