WESTFIELD – The city’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program is launching its seventh round of Best Retail Practices grants. 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.
Interested small business owners must attend a free two-hour workshop presented by Christine Moynihan, an expert retail consultant from Retail Visioning in Cambridge, on Wednesday from 8-10 a.m. at the Shortstop Bar & Grille on 99 Springfield Road. During this presentation, Moynihan 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.
Grant eligible businesses accepted into the program will move on to part two, the individual in-store consultation. The eligible businesses will then have the opportunity to receive up to $1,999 in grant funds to help make the changes discussed during the consultation.
Past recipients may reapply for a new grant, and are not required to attend the workshop a second time, although they are welcome.
“We’re excited about it,” Diana McLean, CDBG grant coordinator, said. “We continue to do it, because we continue to get new businesses in Westfield.”
She said the small grants are a starting point, and help businesses become poised for success.
To date, the program has provided technical and financial support to thirty-eight (38) small businesses in Westfield with an investment of approximately $123,000 in CDBG grant funds. McLean said the grants have been used for signage, paint, carpeting, and furniture to help with merchandising.
For more information or to RSVP to attend the workshop please contact Diana McLean at [email protected], (413) 572-6244.
