WESTFIELD – The City of Westfield’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program will launch its sixth round of the successful Best Retail Practices grant program in the coming weeks. Interested small business owners must attend a two-hour workshop presented by Christine Moynihan, an expert retail consultant from Retail Visioning, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
The workshop presentation, provided free of charge, is scheduled for Thursday, March 12th from 8am-10am at J F Management LLP located at 124 Elm Street (the former Jester’s Café). During this presentation, the expert from Retail Visioning will share her knowledge and insight on everything from design to marketing and operations. At the workshop, those small businesses interested in applying for grant funds will receive the application.
Five businesses located in the downtown eligible census tracts will be funded which includes Elm Street, Main Street, and the North Elm/Union Avenue (Depot Square) area.
Grant eligible businesses accepted into the program will move on to part two of the program, the individual in-store consultation. After this consultation, the eligible businesses will have the opportunity receive up to $1,999 in grant funds to help make the changes discussed during the in-store consultation.
This program has been highly successful in the past and has provided technical and financial support to thirty (30) small businesses in Westfield with an investment of approximately $97,000 in CDBG grant funds. Past grant recipients are welcome to attend the workshop again as well as those who interested in opening or moving a business to Westfield.
For more information or to RSVP to attend the workshop please contact Diana McLean at [email protected], (413) 572-6244.
