Grants aid displaced businesses

Every little bit helps, but some small-business owners in Sugar House say there's still a tough road ahead.

The Redevelopment Agency of Salt Lake City voted unanimously Tuesday to create a $100,000 fund to provide matching grants to local businesses on the "Granite block," an area in Sugar House bordered by 2100 South, Highland Drive, Sugarmont Drive and McClelland Street.

The block, following a zoning amendment approved by the Salt Lake City Council in December 2005, is set to be redeveloped by the property's owners, and at least one owner has issued lease terminations.

"Ideally, we'd like to keep them from being displaced, but we can't do that," RDA executive director D.J. Baxter said. "So we want to do everything we can to ease their transition from their current location to a new one."

Applicants may request grants ranging from $3,000 up to $15,000, the amount matched by money of their own, Baxter said. As part of the application process, business owners must provide a description of how the money will be used (both their own and the grant), and provide proof that they have been in business for no less than three years, two of which were profitable or break-even. The business's new location must be within the Sugar House Business District, with a lease agreement of at least two years.

A committee will review the applications and any supporting materials submitted by the business owners and determine the amount granted, Baxter said. Grants will be offered on a first-come, first-served basis and, because they're grants and not loans, the review will be vigorous, Baxter said.

The time frame "is as soon as we receive the applications and review them," Baxter said. "I think it's something we can turn around pretty quickly."

The grant program "is not a new program, but it is a specific program to try and address some of the needs that we're seeing emerge," said Salt Lake City councilman Soren Simonsen. "I'm hopeful that some of the businesses will be able to take advantage of it. Not all of them will. A lot of the businesses there are tenants, and with most of the RDA programs, they're designed for property owners."

And, Simonsen said, the RDA grant program is one of a few that may be open to Sugar House businesses. The Salt Lake City Council was briefed on another, which would provide low-interest loans to businesses impacted by construction/redevelopment. This program might appeal to Sugar House businesses, because the requirements likely would not be as specific and might be accessed by tenant-businesses. Simonsen said the council has yet to vote on that program but likely will in the coming weeks.