A new grant program from the City of Akron aims to help small businesses in many of the city’s main business districts stay afloat.
Grants of up to $5,000 are available to entrepreneurs who own their own businesses and have five or fewer employees. Part of the city’s Great Streets program, the money is available in 13 neighborhood business districts across Akron.
“That can be for about anything,” said Sean Vollman, the deputy director of economic development for Akron.
Including, potentially, making it easier for small businesses to hire someone and expand their operations, said Isaiah Young, Akron’s small business administrator.
The grant grew out of pandemic-era relief the city was able to give businesses through the American Rescue Plan Act and other federal programs. Often, Vollman said, those programs weren’t equipped to help really small businesses. The new micro enterprise business improvement grant will help businesses that were falling through the cracks.
“I think it’s crucial you see the support from the community,” Young said.
The Linda Theatre is a staple in the business district of the Goodyear Heights neighborhood of Akron. Nov. 28, 2023. Credit: Kassi Filkins / Signal Akron
How many grants have been awarded?
The Great Streets program, funded largely with federal money, is about building community and helping keep small businesses afloat.
There are two grant programs available now — the micro enterprise grant and another for facades and building improvements.
Applications for the micro enterprise grant are open, and as many as 20 will be available before the Sept. 30 grant deadline. For the building improvement grant, which started in 2019, up to 15 will be awarded on the same timeframe.
The building improvement grant will give up to $20,000 to property owners to improve signs, install new doors or windows or do other work to improve the structure. That grant requires a match from the business or property owner.
In the three years the city has been giving such grants, 78 projects have been completed and four are ongoing. Only one business that received the grant backed out and didn’t complete the project, Vollman said.
More than $2.26 million in facade grants has been given to those businesses. The Kenmore neighborhood received the largest share — $472,923 — while the Copley East, Goodyear Heights and South Arlington neighborhoods have each received fewer than $35,000 in grants.
No facade grants were given in Sherbondy Hill or Wallhaven, though those two areas have received support in other ways, Young said. In addition to the facade grants, $1 million in other money has been invested in the Great Streets communities.
What is a Great Street?
Many small business owners want to choose sites within the Great Streets program so they have access to grants like these and other support, Young said.
The Great Streets neighborhoods are:
Copley East
Ellet
Firestone/Aster Avenue
Goodyear Heights
Kenmore
Maple Valley
Merriman Valley
Middlebury
North Hill
South Arlington
Sherbondy Hill
Wallhaven
West Hill
Each is centered on what’s considered the central business district in that neighborhood.
Akron’s downtown gets a different focus, Vollman said, but it was important to ensure neighborhood business districts were getting access to resources. Great Streets aren’t the city’s neediest areas — they’re where businesses are clustered.
Vollman said he had hoped the latest round of grants would be available earlier, but he wanted to make sure federal funding came through before the program launched for 2025. These projects will be funded with Community Development Block Grant money.
“They’re putting their livelihoods on the line to serve Akron,” Young said of business owners in the districts. “We want to take some of it off their plates.”