Chamber’s Building Improvement Grant program distributes $10,000 in 2020

The Greater Franklin County Chamber of Commerce’s Building Improvement Grant Pro-gram this year allocated more than $10,000 to nine Hampton business owners to make exterior and interior improvements to their buildings.

Newton Grotzinger, Greater Franklin County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director, said this year’s projects included new roofing, new sidewalks, repairs to exterior walls, new parking lots and more. Through the program, the Cham-ber matches up to $2,000 for each approved project. The projects completed this year totaled more than $100,000.

He said he was pleased to see the response to the program this year, considering the financial impact the COVID-19 pandemic had on businesses throughout the city.

“It’s good we have the opportunity to help businesses fund projects,” he said. “Lots of business owners are now wondering what a project could look like or think that now is the time to think about what they want to do, so this is a great way for us to help.”

The Building Improvement Grant Program provides assistance to business oownerswithin Hampton’s Tax Increment Finance (TIF) District, which stretches on Highway 3 from the railroad tracks on the west side of town to one block east of Highway 65, as well as the Main Street district and along portions of Highway 65 north and south of Hampton.

The expanse of the availability of the grant program, Grotzinger said, is to encourage the majority of Hampton’s businesses to conduct improvement projects that will help the businesses continue to operate and maintain the functionality and aesthetic appeal of buildings throughout the community.

“The goal of this grant program is to offer an incentive to property owners and business owners to make improvements to buildings within the Hampton TIF area by offsetting a portion of the costs,” he said. “The Chamber De-sign Committee believes improvements to buildings will enhance the overall appearance and create a positive image of our community, en-courage other business owners to make improvements, and promote Economic Development for the entire community.”

Grotzinger said the program is intended as encouragement for business owners to conduct a project they’ve been considering. An additional boost of funding, he said, may help push the project from an idea to a reality. Progress on one building, he said, will in turn inspire other business owners to follow suit.

“The goal of the grant program was to offer incentive to business owners,” he said. “It’s meant to help a little bit, but someone doing even a little bit of work encourages the next person to do a little more work and so on.”

Interested business owners must complete an application for the project, which is available at Center One in Hamp-ton or at the Chamber's website under the “Grants” tab on the left-hand side of the home page. The application is then subject to approval of the Design Committee board.

The program does come with parameters and guidelines. Projects must be exterior in nature. Aspects of the project, such as color and building design, must align with city ordinance. Grants for signage are awarded, but the sign must be for a business that already exists in Hamp-ton.

Grotzinger said those who wish to inquire about a project can speak with him or seek the input of a Design Committee member or the Main Street of Iowa Design Consultant.

Joel Orr, De-sign Committee co-chair, said he encourages any business within the TIF district to reach out to the Chamber or the De-sign committee, especially in a time where money for these projects may be hard to come by.

“The Chamber Design Committee encourages property owners and business owners to seek assistance in updating and repairing their build-ings and welcomes any questions about the process” he said.