The Smithville-DeKalb County Chamber of Commerce has been awarded a $100,000 Community Development Grant (CDBG) for downtown Smithville. The CDBG funding will be used for commercial façade improvements for downtown Smithville including new awnings and signs, painting, windows and doors, brick repair and other upgrades.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam and Economic and Community Development Commissioner Randy Boyd recently approved nearly $750,000 in Commercial Façade Improvement Grants to assist Tennessee communities with downtown improvements.
Commercial Façade Improvement Grants are derived from Tennessee’s federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds and are used to improve commercial buildings in downtown districts that have active revitalization programs in place through the Tennessee Main Street and Tennessee Downtowns programs.
“The downtown area is the heartbeat of a city and these communities are taking steps to help their downtowns thrive,” Haslam said. “I congratulate the nine communities awarded the Commercial Façade Improvement Grants this round. They are moving their downtowns in the right direction and helping us reach our goal of making Tennessee the No. 1 location in the Southeast for high quality jobs.”
“With the assistance of the CDBG Commercial Façade Improvement program, these communities will be able to improve their downtown districts and attract new business,” Boyd said. “With renovations like these, the nine communities that were awarded these grants will be able to succeed in our state which will promote future growth in each community.”
The 2016 Commercial Façade grantees are: Athens – $100,000 Bolivar – $79,250 Dyersburg – $100,000 Lebanon – $100,000 Mountain City – $50,000 Rogersville – $100,000 Savannah – $100,000 Smithville – $100,000 Tiptonville – $20,000.
Seven of the nine grantees are accredited Tennessee Main Street communities, and two are Tennessee Downtowns communities. Each is required to provide a 25 percent match for the funds and administer the façade improvement programs.
Each application was supported by the community’s senator and representatives in the Tennessee General Assembly.
Chamber Director Suzanne Williams will start the application process in a couple of weeks. The 75/25 grant match will allow property owners to apply for up to $5,000 per building in exterior improvements and receive up to $3,750 back. “So much has already been accomplished in downtown Smithville with the Tennessee Downtowns Program Grant for $15,000 and our recent $25,000 CDBG Block Grant. We are very grateful for being awarded the $100,000 CDBG grant and the opportunity to continue the downtown renovations,” says Williams. For more information, call the Chamber at 615-597-4163.
The CDBG program is administered in Tennessee by the Department of Economic and Community Development.
Archived News & Obituaries