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Serving Northern St. Louis County, Minnesota

More COVID relief available for ‘main street’ businesses in Ely

Keith Vandervort
Posted 1/26/22

ELY – A Minnesota Main Street Economic Revitalization program, hot off the presses last week, could likely help some Ely businesses who took a hit in the last 18 months or so from the economic …

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More COVID relief available for ‘main street’ businesses in Ely

Posted

ELY – A Minnesota Main Street Economic Revitalization program, hot off the presses last week, could likely help some Ely businesses who took a hit in the last 18 months or so from the economic downturn of COVID-19 shutdowns.
The Ely Economic Development Authority (EEDA) received word of the new program Tuesday night from the city of Ely’s economic development advisor, John Fedo, who said he expects a quick turn-around on the funding program, with applications due by the end of next month.
The program will be facilitated through the Northland Foundation and will include allocations through the state’s Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED).
“These (federal) COVID funds are specifically focused on businesses and their needs, and initially the greater share of these monies were put out on the street for the metro areas,” Fedo said. “Many of those funds went unspent.”
“The legislature and Governor’s office are taking a step back, reformating this program, and focusing on the outstate economy,” he said. “In this particular case, they are looking for non-profit advocates that would work with businesses in their immediate area and the Northland Foundation fits that criteria.”
According to the Ely economic specialist, the city will take the criteria of the funding program and apply that to local businesses.
“We think we have a couple businesses that could very easily fit into this competitive grant program of $41 million that they are looking to re-allocate around the state,” Fedo said.
Up to 30 percent of the funds are grants of up to $750,000 per project. There is a loan guarantee program of up to $2 million per project, according to Fedo.
He related that the city of Virginia, working with the Virginia Community Foundation, took advantage of the program last year when they received $1.7 million to help downtown businesses recover from a fire that destroyed and damaged many buildings.
“At the same time, they had some specific needs in that corridor that is highly commercial and almost perfectly aligned with housing on the second floors of a lot of those commercial businesses,” he said.
“We will be looking to do something similar within our business corridor (any Ely properties zoned commercial or industrial are eligible),” Fedo continued. “We are aligned with a local match that we think we will fit.”
While Ely has not experienced any widespread fires, floods or natural disasters in the business corridor since March 2020, the program is also patterned for businesses that closed or multiple commercial space vacancies that have a significant impact on the corridor or main street area.
Eligible uses for the grants and loans in the program include repair or renovation of property, building construction, landscaping and streetscaping, demolition or site preparation, design, and engineering infrastructure. The program does not include purchase of property or business operations such as inventory or payroll.
There will be an official Request for Proposals, administered by DEED, that begins on Feb. 2, he said. All applications are due by Feb. 28.
“We will do our best, but I think we have at least a chance to help out some Ely businesses,” he said.
City Clerk-Treasurer Harold Langowski defined the commercial corridor of Ely to include Chapman Street, Sheridan Street, Pioneer Road, and other commercial areas.
“We have defined the area as zones C-1, C-2 and M, anything zoned commercial or industrial,” he said.
More information on the new business funding programs can be found on the city of Ely website, www.ely.mn.us.
In other business, the EEDA approved an application from Jasper Company for the city of Ely’s Business COVID Assistance program for $11,000 to add one additional employee for at least two years, for at least $15 per hour.