Carroll County Growth Partnership’s Grants for beautification and business expansion

Carroll County Growth Partnership is launching 2 grants in 2023: a) Micro-Facade Grant and b) Jump-Start Accelerator Grant. These grants aim to incentivize new business start-ups, business expansions, and facade improvements to downtowns all across Carroll County.

Carroll County Growth Partnership (CCGP) is excited to announce the creation of these two new grants they will offer to local businesses. During a CCGP presentation at City Hall, Executive Director Kimberly Tiefenthaler explained, 2023 will be a year of action. “Throughout my first year, 2022 was great; we have learned a lot. We took on a new name ‘Carroll County Growth Partnership,’ have a great understanding of what is needed across the County, and have plans for new programs to be announced in 2023. This year, is a year of action, a year of getting things done, and a year to offer new programs. We are calling this year, ‘Launch 2023.’”

Micro Facade Grant

The Micro Façade Grant. will award ten (10) $1,000 grants for façade improvements, which include paint, windows, signage, doors, construction, masonry, and materials, and will help towards the beautification of Carroll County. Eligible applicants include any brick-and-mortar business located in Carroll County. Applicants for this grant are required to have a 25% match of the total project cost to be awarded the $1,000 grant. The application window opens on March 1, 2023, and closes on April 30, 2023. Funding decisions will be made on May 31st. The grants will be awarded based on scoring and will award a minimum of three of the ten grants to businesses outside of the City of Carroll. All project activities and incurred expenses must occur within the eligible contracted grant funding period of June 1, 2023, to December 31, 2023, unless a time extension is agreed to in writing. Funding is awarded to grant recipients on a reimbursement basis.

Jump-Start Accelerator Grant

CCGP will award two (2) $5,000 grants for business start-ups or business expansion projects. Funds can be put towards construction, land/building acquisition, major renovation or repair of buildings, site development, engineering, materials, equipment, marketing, legal fees, and website/e-commerce. New start-ups and existing brick-and-mortar businesses located in Carroll County are eligible to apply. Applicants for this grant are required to have a 25% match of the total project cost to be awarded the $5,000 grant. The application window opens on April 1, 2023, and closes on April 30, 2023. Funding decisions will be made on May 31, 2023. The grants will be awarded based on scoring and will award one grant to a business outside the City of Carroll and one within the City of Carroll. 

For CCGP, the Micro Façade Grant and Jump-Start Accelerator Grant are the first of their kind. “Local businesses are a fundamental driving factor in our local economy. Recruiting and expanding the small to medium size businesses throughout your community is part of the economic development playbook in rural Iowa,” stated Kimberley Tiefenthaler. “There are rural communities all over Iowa offering different business incentives to grow and continue to revitalize their local economies. CCGP values the spirit of entrepreneurship and existing businesses wanting to make improvements. We are excited to offer these fantastic incentives and we feel it is a great starting point in developing business grants and incentive programs,” explained Tiefenthaler.

For more information on these grants, check out the info sheets, applications, and scoring rubrics here. For any further information or questions, call the Carroll County Growth Partnership at (712) 792-4383 or email at chamber@carrolliowa.com.