By : Michael Barrett
Source : http://www.gastongazette.com
Category : Small Busiess Grant
When sales at your small business fall as much as they have for Byron Smith this month, having a safety net helps.
Smith opened Distinct Beat Car Audio and Electronics in November at 122 S. Oakland St. He is the most recent recipient of a city rent subsidy that was tied to him locating in downtown Gastonia. And as much as it wounds his pride, the incentive has been critical due to his expected, post-Christmas sales decline.
“It hurts my ego to say that, but it’s substantial,” Smith said of the subsidy, which cuts his $1,000 monthly rent in half. “When you figure I pay $1,800 a month in expenses to be here, a $500 cut on rent is big.”
Smith feels good about his chances for persevering. But he knows once his year in the program is up, as with all grant recipients, he’ll have to figure out how to stay afloat without that aid.
As the program nears its third anniversary, the newly elected City Council is considering whether adjustments need to be made to increase the long-term success rate. Since its inception, the program has doled out almost $65,000 in incentives for 10 businesses. Several are still operating, but three have closed and one has not developed as originally anticipated.
“Obviously we’re disappointed with the lack of success of the program because we certainly haven’t had as many businesses to remain as we would’ve liked,” said City Councilman Dave Kirlin. “It may be time to fine-tune the mechanics of it.”
Gastonia launched its Investment in Downtown Economic Assistance and Livability, or IDEAL, program in March 2009. It was created to spark retail and commercial growth downtown.
The venture is funded by a tax paid only by property owners in the downtown district. It’s geared toward new restaurant, retail and entertainment venues that will theoretically help to attract more people downtown.
In addition to the rent subsidies, the program offers building upfit incentives for new businesses, and architectural design grants for prospective downtown developers. But to date, the rent subsidies have been the dominant face of the IDEAL initiative.
Hits and misses
Several IDEAL recipients, such as Freeman’s Pub, The Bottle Shoppe and Spindle City Café, are still in business. But others haven’t made it.
City leaders had high hopes that Susan C. Anthony and 251 Main Home Décor and Christmas Store, two retail gift shops, would succeed. Both have long since closed after opening three years ago and receiving more than $15,000 combined.
Scarabelli’s Italian restaurant opened on Main Avenue in 2009 and was slated to receive $12,075 in rent subsidies. But it folded less than a year later and only ended up getting $9,000 of that.
A new restaurant known as Anntony’s Tropical Tavern was then approved to receive $22,500 to open at the same site. But Tony Martin, the Charlotte restaurateur who was to be a visible leader of that venture, withdrew from it after the city had paid $7,000 in rent incentives.
The remaining partners have renamed the eatery Mango Bob’s, and are receiving no subsidies.
City Councilman Jim Gallagher said such cases have been discouraging.
“I just don’t want to see the constant turnover,” he said.
Councilman Walter Kimble said he thinks more can be done to screen recipients of the grants before they are approved, as well as to help them along in their first year.
“We need to be selective and help them to be successful,” he said. “In my opinion, it’s not just about the money. It’s about anything else we can do to guarantee success.”
Tutoring and guiding
Smith, the car stereo shop owner, became the first example of how the city is already doing that. Since October, IDEAL applicants have been strongly urged to complete eight weeks of business administration tutoring at the Gaston College Small Business Center.
The free sessions are provided to viable applicants through a city-college partnership. Applicants who take advantage of it are more strongly considered for the subsidies.
Smith is an encouraging example, Kimble said.
“He had experience doing it at another venue and he wanted to go out on his own,” he said. “He went through the class. That tells me that person’s going to be a better fit, and I think there’s a higher chance of success there.”
Kirlin said all of the IDEAL recipients to date have come in with good concepts.
“As time went on, I think we did a better job of trying to vet them for their financial feasibility and sustainability,” he said. “Any time you’re dealing with the restaurant market, it’s a high-risk business.”
Gastonia’s tax rate is 51 cents per $100 valuation, but downtown property owners pay an additional 20 cents on top of that, which produces about $120,000 a year. Much of that revenue supports the IDEAL program, but 40 percent of it is currently being used to help pay down the debt of the newly constructed Gastonia Conference Center.
Plans are being made to give the property owners who pay the tax a more concrete role in recommending how the revenue is spent.
“I would like to talk to those stakeholders to see how they feel about the program,” Kirlin said.
Smith said he understands the city may need to tweak some details about the IDEAL program here and there. But he thinks it ultimately will be one of the things that helps him to succeed on his own. And he has faith in downtown.
“It’s an up and down thing,” he said of his business so far. “But I think the city is headed in the right direction.”
Source : http://www.gastongazette.com/articles/city-66408-sales-smith.html#ixzz1kFl0BsIu
Source : http://www.gastongazette.com
Category : Small Busiess Grant
When sales at your small business fall as much as they have for Byron Smith this month, having a safety net helps.
Smith opened Distinct Beat Car Audio and Electronics in November at 122 S. Oakland St. He is the most recent recipient of a city rent subsidy that was tied to him locating in downtown Gastonia. And as much as it wounds his pride, the incentive has been critical due to his expected, post-Christmas sales decline.
“It hurts my ego to say that, but it’s substantial,” Smith said of the subsidy, which cuts his $1,000 monthly rent in half. “When you figure I pay $1,800 a month in expenses to be here, a $500 cut on rent is big.”
Smith feels good about his chances for persevering. But he knows once his year in the program is up, as with all grant recipients, he’ll have to figure out how to stay afloat without that aid.
As the program nears its third anniversary, the newly elected City Council is considering whether adjustments need to be made to increase the long-term success rate. Since its inception, the program has doled out almost $65,000 in incentives for 10 businesses. Several are still operating, but three have closed and one has not developed as originally anticipated.
“Obviously we’re disappointed with the lack of success of the program because we certainly haven’t had as many businesses to remain as we would’ve liked,” said City Councilman Dave Kirlin. “It may be time to fine-tune the mechanics of it.”
Gastonia launched its Investment in Downtown Economic Assistance and Livability, or IDEAL, program in March 2009. It was created to spark retail and commercial growth downtown.
The venture is funded by a tax paid only by property owners in the downtown district. It’s geared toward new restaurant, retail and entertainment venues that will theoretically help to attract more people downtown.
In addition to the rent subsidies, the program offers building upfit incentives for new businesses, and architectural design grants for prospective downtown developers. But to date, the rent subsidies have been the dominant face of the IDEAL initiative.
Hits and misses
Several IDEAL recipients, such as Freeman’s Pub, The Bottle Shoppe and Spindle City Café, are still in business. But others haven’t made it.
City leaders had high hopes that Susan C. Anthony and 251 Main Home Décor and Christmas Store, two retail gift shops, would succeed. Both have long since closed after opening three years ago and receiving more than $15,000 combined.
Scarabelli’s Italian restaurant opened on Main Avenue in 2009 and was slated to receive $12,075 in rent subsidies. But it folded less than a year later and only ended up getting $9,000 of that.
A new restaurant known as Anntony’s Tropical Tavern was then approved to receive $22,500 to open at the same site. But Tony Martin, the Charlotte restaurateur who was to be a visible leader of that venture, withdrew from it after the city had paid $7,000 in rent incentives.
The remaining partners have renamed the eatery Mango Bob’s, and are receiving no subsidies.
City Councilman Jim Gallagher said such cases have been discouraging.
“I just don’t want to see the constant turnover,” he said.
Councilman Walter Kimble said he thinks more can be done to screen recipients of the grants before they are approved, as well as to help them along in their first year.
“We need to be selective and help them to be successful,” he said. “In my opinion, it’s not just about the money. It’s about anything else we can do to guarantee success.”
Tutoring and guiding
Smith, the car stereo shop owner, became the first example of how the city is already doing that. Since October, IDEAL applicants have been strongly urged to complete eight weeks of business administration tutoring at the Gaston College Small Business Center.
The free sessions are provided to viable applicants through a city-college partnership. Applicants who take advantage of it are more strongly considered for the subsidies.
Smith is an encouraging example, Kimble said.
“He had experience doing it at another venue and he wanted to go out on his own,” he said. “He went through the class. That tells me that person’s going to be a better fit, and I think there’s a higher chance of success there.”
Kirlin said all of the IDEAL recipients to date have come in with good concepts.
“As time went on, I think we did a better job of trying to vet them for their financial feasibility and sustainability,” he said. “Any time you’re dealing with the restaurant market, it’s a high-risk business.”
Gastonia’s tax rate is 51 cents per $100 valuation, but downtown property owners pay an additional 20 cents on top of that, which produces about $120,000 a year. Much of that revenue supports the IDEAL program, but 40 percent of it is currently being used to help pay down the debt of the newly constructed Gastonia Conference Center.
Plans are being made to give the property owners who pay the tax a more concrete role in recommending how the revenue is spent.
“I would like to talk to those stakeholders to see how they feel about the program,” Kirlin said.
Smith said he understands the city may need to tweak some details about the IDEAL program here and there. But he thinks it ultimately will be one of the things that helps him to succeed on his own. And he has faith in downtown.
“It’s an up and down thing,” he said of his business so far. “But I think the city is headed in the right direction.”
Source : http://www.gastongazette.com/articles/city-66408-sales-smith.html#ixzz1kFl0BsIu
