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More aid
for small
downtowns
on its way
By Linda Lemmon
Town Crier Editor
PUTNAM --- The new state Main Street Investment Fund, up for approval with the state Bond Commission next week, would seem a dream fit for Putnam's blossoming commercial areas.
It's part of the October 2011 Jobs Bill and was created by state Senate President Donald E. Williams Jr. (D-Brooklyn). Williams' office said the Bond Commission is expected to approve the $5 million for the fund when it meets June 4 in Hartford.
The fund, designed to develop and improve small town commercial centers, offers up to $500,000 to towns with populations under 30,000 or to towns eligible for Connecticut's Small Town Economic Assistance Program (STEAP). The grants would help small towns and local businesses make the improvements needed to attract customers and improve their bottom lines, Williams said.
The grants can be used for approved town plans that focus on developing or improving town commercial centers to attract small businesses, promote commercial viability and improve aesthetics and pedestrian access. Sample improvements, according to Williams, include facade improvements (signage, lighting, landscaping, exterior painting, awnings, new windows and doors, etc.), sidewalk improvements and construction, street lighting and the development of recreational/green space.
Delpha Very, Community and Economic Development director, said the facade program used by so many businesses in downtown Putnam is done. The Small Cities grant the town currently has is earmarked for housing rehab. Putnam Town Administrator Douglas M. Cutler said the town "will definitely" pursue one of these new grants if the town fits the criteria.
Williams said, "Just a few minutes drive outside of Connecticut's largest cities are smaller towns that are the hub for local businesses that employ hundreds of thousands of local residents. They may not be multinational corporations with billions of dollars in sales, but they drive regional economies in their own very important ways."
He added, "It's a great complement to some of the larger business-assistance programs that the legislature has approved over the past few months."