Main Street expanding use of grants

Main Street Blytheville has a history of using available grant funds to work with downtown merchants on restoring their buildings. Now, the organization is looking to expand the ways in which funding is used to help rejuvenate the downtown area.

As an accredited member of the Main Street Arkansas program, MSB receives certain undesignated grant funding each year. The funding can be used for anything except administrative uses, and have typically been put toward offering matching and non-matching grants for downtown merchants to use to restore the exterior facade of their buildings.

MSB Executive Director Megan Atzert said one of the underlying hopes for issuing grants to the merchants is to inspire them to fix other issues their building might have, which is exactly what happened with Real Family Hair Care owner Eugene Real, who received the funds to repaint the front of his shop.

"Helping the owner repaint the front inspired him to replace the roof, fix the gutters and even have the side of that building repainted," Atzert said.

This photos shows the Real Family Hair Care building before its exterior renovations.

While the money has typically been used to help spruce up the outside of buildings on Main Street, this year, MSB is taking a different approach that would give merchants a choice of where they spend the money.

Starting in the fall, merchants will be able to participate in an online learning curriculum designed to teach them about merchandising, how to construct effective window displays, owner-employee conflict resolution and other information Atzert said is important for these business owners. The owners will be tested afterward, and the one with the highest scores will be given a grant to use on the exterior or interior of their building.

"We've focused on the outside for so long that I think it's time to at least give the option to make improvements to the inside," Atzert said, adding that the improvements on the interior must be permanent improvements, such as flooring, walls, etc.

"We plan to have this up and going by the fall," said Atzert, "The world is always changing -- technology is always changing -- so it's important for our merchants to be able to keep up with that, and now they will."

In addition to the work done at Real Family Hair Care, the grant money was also used to help Fondren's Hardware and Soul Reflections Photography Studio be able to repaint their facades and have their awnings professionally cleaned. The New York Store was able to repaint; Split Ends Salon and Grass Roots Salon will be getting new signs; and Mailboxes and Beyond and the Downtown Deli both had their awnings cleaned.

cpinkard@blythevillecourier.com