Press Release from the Downtown Frederick Partnership
Downtown Frederick Partnership is pleased to announce the awardees for the Mission: Interior matching grant program: Café Nola, Colonial Jewelers, Gravel & Grind, Rockwell Brewery and Union Mills Public House. Mission: Interior’s purpose is to assist in making critical interior capital repairs that will make the downtown retail business community more successful overall. Mission: Interior offers up to $5,000 in matching grant funds for interior improvements to eligible retail businesses. For the Spring 2022 grant round, a total of 9 businesses applied for the grant. Eligible retail business owners and/or property owners applied for up to 50 percent of the cost of their improvement project.
The planned projects include:
Café Nola: New AC units for the first floor; Grant Award: $5,000
Colonial Jewelers: Improving Master Jeweler’s Shop with ventilation and ductwork, as well as improvements to the adjacent Custom Design department; Grant Award: $2,717.50
Gravel & Grind: Replacing HVAC with a new, more efficient unit; Grant Award: $5,000
Rockwell Brewery: Painting the tasting room; Grant Award: $1,250
Union Mills Public House: New kitchen flooring system with two-part epoxy coating; Grant Award: $5,000
“The Partnership is delighted to offer this program that will continue to improve retail space in Downtown Frederick,” said Kara Norman, Partnership Executive Director. “These improvements will impact these retailers and restauranteurs for years to come. We are thrilled to support improving the infrastructure of the Downtown Frederick business community.”
Applications were reviewed by the Partnership’s Business Development Committee and ranked on criteria including longer lease periods, business tenure, greater than 50% match, projects that expand the services offered by the business through improvements to either accessibility or fire suppression systems, geographic diversity and projects that improve and/or restore an interior historic feature. The five awardees were funded a total of $18,968 in grant dollars. The remaining roughly $1,032 in grant funds will become a part of the Partnership’s Façade Improvement Program. Awardees are providing a total match of more than $30,000 in interior building investments.
Matt Donahue of Gravel & Grind states, “The timing of the grant is perfect for us allowing us to address an aging heating and cooling system that has been struggling before it becomes a crucial issue for us.”
For more information on the Partnership or the Mission: Interior program, email mainstreet@downtownfrederick.org or call the office at 301.698.8118.
Downtown Frederick Partnership works to enhance, promote and preserve the vitality, livability and diversity of Downtown Frederick, a national Main Street Program.