The city of Dayton will use millions of dollars to help small businesses land in first-floor spaces.
Dayton City Commission on Wednesday announced a $7 million First Floor Fund (FFF) to help area startups and existing businesses access funding when traditional financial resources aren’t available, a roadblock particularly in the path of black-, brown- and woman-owned businesses.
The aim is to help systemically minoritized businesses occupy street-level, commercial spaces in Dayton.
Qualifying borrowers can obtain a combination of primary and forgivable loans for up to 70% of their project costs.
Small or new businesses are often impeded by an inability to purchase new machinery, complete building renovations or access to working capital.
Loans offered by the FFF are designed to alleviate some of that.
Funding will be provided through the Dayton Recovery Plan as a part of its $10.8 million Economic Recovery initiative that focuses on projects and investments to address economic disparities and encourage additional development and economic activity.
CityWide Development will perform underwriting, administration, management and oversight services for the FFF.
“The First Floor Fund program will go a long way toward providing economic stabilization and access to capital for small retail businesses,” said CityWide President Dan Kane. “This program will help mitigate Covid-related, systemic funding and economic challenges especially facing small, women-owned and minority-owned businesses.”
First-floor businesses, which include restaurants, retail shops, salons, photography studios, fitness centers and other business-to-consumer transactions, are more likely to be woman-owned and/or minority-owned, and more likely to be a startup company. There are nearly 200 of these types of businesses in downtown Dayton — 38% are woman-owned, and 22% are minority-owned.
Startups like these are less likely to have obtained loans from traditional lenders and were not able to leverage those relationships when federal Paycheck Protection Program loans became available in 2020.
The FFF program framework was assembled at the request of City Manager Shelley Dickstein and has been vetted by property developers and the local commercial lending community.
“First floor business owners play a major role in the vibrancy of our city,” Dickstein said. “They help create more walkable places and provide the amenities employers and residents want and spur developments and investments in our neighborhoods.”
HOW TO APPLY FOR THE FIRST FLOOR FUND
Applications will be available in mid-October at the CityWide development site.
The City of Dayton and CityWide Development will announce on their websites and social media when the application is live.
Applicants must have a business plan, financial forecasting model and other documents at the time of application.
The Miami Valley Small Business Development Center at The Arcade, 31 S. Main Street can provide help creating tools for small business success. Help is also available at LaunchDayton.com.
