News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
McMinnville business owners will get details on new grant funding opportunities during a Monday meeting with Main Street McMinnville.
The Tennessee Department of Economic & Community Development awarded the Downtown Improvement Grant to just 17 communities in the state. McMinnville received $300,000. Main Street McMinnville Executive Director Jennifer Flatt Meredith said the grant has stringent rules on what it can be used for.
“We had to apply for what we wanted to use for it, so we can use it for some design elements like picnic tables and trash cans and benches and stuff like that to help with the downtown, but half the grant has to go to downtown improvement projects that are business and property owners,” Meredith said.
Meredith will share details with business owners on how they can apply for a portion of the grant money during Monday morning’s meeting.
“It is a reimbursable grant,” Meredith said. “So, our property and business owners that apply for it, your project will be selected and then owners pay for it, and it’ll be a 75 percent reimburse.”
Meredith said part of the grant money will also be put toward setting up a downtown kiosk map.
“It will help visitors and stuff like that to come in and know what businesses we have downtown and what things we have available for them to walk and do,” Meredith said.
McMinnville was one of two cities in the Upper Cumberland that received a portion of the Downtown Improvement Grant. In order to qualify for the grant, a city had to be considered a designated Tennessee Downtown or Tennessee Main Street community.
“It is a competitive grant, but only Main Street communities in Tennessee are able to apply for them every year, and it also just depends how much the state budget puts in for economic development of communities,” Meredith said. “It was definitely a long process, but we are definitely excited to be selected for it this year.”
