Philadelphia is known as a city of neighborhoods. An announcement on Tuesday aims to develop those neighborhoods’ commercial corridors and assist the growth of local small businesses.
Mayor Michael Nutter and Deputy Mayor Andrew Altman announced $3.4 million in awards from two funding programs making investments designed to create or maintain 900 jobs in neighborhoods like Manayunk, Mt. Airy, University City and West Philly. Nutter also launched a third initiative, the Small Business Loan Guarantee Program.
The programs are the latest within the city’s neighborhood’s investments strategy that funnels $72 million in bond funding and federal tax credits to leverage more than $160 million in private investments.
“By encouraging investments in our commercial corridors, we can help our business community weather the current economic downturn and ensure that our economy as a whole emerges stronger on the other side,” Nutter said in a prepared statement.
The initiatives include the ReStore Retail Incentive Grants Program, in which the city allocated $500,000 and oversight of the program to The Merchants Fund, a private foundation that offers small business assistance in the region. The program’s 12 beneficiaries include coffee shops, restaurants, and food markets throughout the City.
Born from city bond funds, The Gap Financing Program will be administered by The Reinvestment Fund, providing low-interest loans to small business development projects that would otherwise be fully financed if not for the credit crisis.
Developed by the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation, The Small Business Loan Guarantee Program enlisted Valley Green Bank and United Bank as the first private partners in a pilot phase that will increase access to capital.
Source: City of Philadelphia
Writer: Joe Petrucci
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