City urging businesses to use Community Improvement Plan

The city is lending a helping hand to local businesses with their Community Improvement Plan.

The CIP is a city run program designed to help local business owners renovate the outside of their aging buildings.  BIA manager, Noella Rinaldo says Christopher’s Coffee House and Alfie’s Cigar Store are two recent examples of businesses benefiting from the program.

“People in the past who’ve used this grant do it right.  They do a great job and full effect of the facade.”

Rinaldo says it’s also a push for neighboring businesses to maybe rebuild their own aging bulding.

“CIP programs are set up to give people a boost to finally redo the front of a building.  Once the neighbors see your building looking good, they’ll maybe want to do it themselves.”

Rinaldo is admitting the $50,000 program isn’t much when it comes to renovations but the city does match up $15,000 per application.  She says it could help around three businesses a year with a little left over for various projects.

Rinaldo recently attended a BIA conference in Southern Ontario noting many differences between how they issues CIPs.  She says the main difference is they’ll designate blocks or roads for the program each year and give preference to any road under construction.  She says if the road is under construction you might as well redo the front of the building a get it all done at once.

“If you’re looking at when we do Algonquin, maybe that’s something we should be looking at is the front corridor at the same time.”