City Grants for Community Groups
Earlier this week, HDC hosted a morning talk with Paul Nelson, Executive Director of Commercial Revitalization at the Department of Small Business Services. Mr. Nelson specifically presented the agency’s work in two areas, the establishment of Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) (which have almost tripled under the Bloomberg administration) and Avenue NYC. Avenue NYC is a grant program that provides funding for non-profit economic development organizations (local development corporations, merchants associations, BIDs) in all five boroughs to carry out commercial revitalization activities in the districts they serve. The grants are specifically for program activities and cover six areas: business attraction, façade improvement management program, merchant organizing, placemaking, website development and special commercial revitalization initiatives. According to Mr. Nelson, a typical grant is around $25,000 and last fiscal year, 40 grants were awarded. Applications are due by Friday, April 9 and application materials are available online. This year, SBS is also piloting a new Micro Grant program for organizations interested in carrying out a discrete, small-scale commercial revitalization project. The maximum total award for an organization through the Avenue NYC Micro Grant program is $5,000 and the application is even easier. Applications for the micro grants are also due on Friday, April 9th. Check it out!