Today is the deadline to apply for the City of Soldotna’s Storefront Improvement Program. The grant program offers up to $7,500 for projects that rehabilitate Soldotna storefronts. It aims to promote a thriving economy and an attractive streetscape.
Director of Economic Development and Planning, John Czarnezki, spoke with KSRM:
“The goal for the city and this program is to help revitalize Soldotna’s commercial areas by partnering with business owners and help share in the cost of business improvements, the exterior facades. We do that by providing grants three times a year. Right now, one of our grant periods is open and that’s from now to the end of September where we’re taking applications from small business owners in the city that are looking to improve their facades, make some positive changes and the city will help pay for those. Our grants are up to $7,500. We’ll pay basically 50% of the cost up to that figure. We’ve got another period that would open up in the spring and then another one in the summer. This is our fall period that’s open right now. All folks have to do is get an application in here to the planning department at the city of Soldotna.”
Czarnezki stated that the city council budgeted $15,000 this year:
“That would be enough money to award two $7,500 grants during the course of the year. While we take applications three times during the year, sometimes during those application periods, we may not receive one. We do have it open perhaps longer than you would expect, but our goal is to try to utilize those dollars as best we can over the course of the year. In some cases, the grants aren’t awarded until the end of the year. That’s why you’re seeing applications later in the calendar year.”
This program was created in 2012 and seeks to encourage private investment in the downtown commercial areas and to beautify the Sterling and Kenai Spur Highway corridors.
Learn more about the program here.