Main Street Grant

Eight communities, including Morganton, will receive a total of $1.95 million through the state-sponsored Main Street Solutions Fund. The grants will assist planning agencies and small businesses with efforts to revitalize downtowns by creating jobs, funding infrastructure improvements, rehabilitating buildings and finding other growth opportunities.

North Carolina Governor Beverly Perdue with grant recipients, May 2010.

In order to apply for the grant, Morganton Main Street had to speak with downtown business owners to determine the top five small business/economic development needs, followed by public meetings, which were held on February 24 and 25^th, 2010. Interested businesses or property owners must have developed business plans and submitted them to the Main Street office for pre-approval before the final grant was written. The business plans had to pass a review board, which selected the most viable projects for Morganton. Those business plans were then compiled into the grant application, which Morganton submitted April 15^th to the North Carolina Main Street Center at the North Carolina Department of Commerce Division of Community Assistance in Raleigh.

Morganton received a total of $271,455 of which most will be used to establish a revolving loan program to help downtown businesses make improvements that will create 58 permanent jobs, plus construction jobs, and make their businesses more viable and sustainable. Morganton’s revolving loan program will be based on a 5 year cycle. If the business is up and running at year 5, only 25% of the loan is repaid. If the business is not in business at year 5, the loan is to be repaid at 100%.

Downtown Morganton businesses who submitted business plans and qualified for submittal with the grant application and therefore will receive funding that will benefit from the grant include Mesh Design Group, Diva Strandz Hair and Wig, Garden Gate, Grind Café, Murray’s Restaurant, West Consultants, Yianni’s Restaurant and Mama Jane’s “Southern Seasonally Fresh” restaurant.

All grant monies awarded to Morganton are already identified as to how they can be spent. No money was awarded without a plan of action directly tied to a business.

Other North Carolina cities that will receive money under the Main Street Solutions Fund include: Burlington, Henderson, Kings Mountain, La Grange, Rocky Mount, Waynesville, and Wilson.

There is hope that another pot of money will be put in the upcoming state budget. If that is the case, then Morganton Main Street Program will put out notices to all downtown businesses and property owners to determine if there is interest in submitting for another round of grants.