The Schuyler County Legislature approved a new local grant program that will support business and building owners looking to improve the front face of their buildings. The Schuyler County Downtown and Business Improvement ARPA program sets aside a pool of $350,000 to assist with façade and other external building enhancements to improve the pedestrian environment and promote continued investment in Schuyler downtown business districts. Carl H. Blowers, Chair of the Legislature, remarked, “The Legislature has, once again, come up with an innovative approach to support our business community. Making this funding available will result in highly visible and transformative changes to our downtowns.”
County Administrator Fonda Chronis summarized the program: “This grant will match private investment in facade and building exterior improvements dollar-for-dollar up to $25,000. The state has a similar program, but the reporting and regulations around it are demanding, so many businesses don’t take advantage of it. We’ve worked hard to make this as painless as possible but still be good stewards of taxpayer dollars. We believe this will have significant impact on our village downtowns, and I encourage businesses and building owners to apply.”
Adds Chronis, “The Legislature has set aside a portion of its American Rescue Plan (ARPA) allocation to help our business community as we near the end of the pandemic. And we worked collaboratively with each village to determine a project radius that would be most impactful. This is another way Schuyler County works with its municipalities to spur economic growth, and after these funds are spent, I believe we will look back at this program as being successful and very impactful.”
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