BILOXI, Miss. (WLOX) – The Greater Biloxi Economic Development Foundation (GBEDF) is partnering with the city and Mississippi Power to establish a new façade grant program.
This program provides grants of up to $5,000 to encourage businesses to make exterior improvements to their buildings.
Pass Road and Division Street businesses are the focal points for this new grant.
“We all know on Division Street and Pass Road, there is a lot of room for growth,” said Bobby Gillon, the board president of GBEDF. ”Not just to revitalize an existing building with a business in it, but we are also looking for investors to populate the vacant lots that we have.”
Councilman Anthony Marshall said he is excited to see improvements come to East Biloxi, saying many businesses on that side of the city still haven’t fully recovered from Hurricane Katrina.
City leaders see the program as a way of giving back to businesses that chose to be in Biloxi.
“We’ve got to show them that we want them here. We want to help them stay here. We want to help them to grow right here in Biloxi and also in East Biloxi,” said Councilman Marshall.
The Greater Biloxi Economic Development Foundation designed the program to encourage redevelopment. As surrounding businesses begin renovations, the organization believes others will want to get involved.
“What we really want to do is create a ripple effect impact with our dollars, so it’s not a one-time, one-off project, but that they build on each other so our communities can grow momentum as we grow,” said Gillon.
Up to $40,000 will be given out for this cycle of grants.
Applications and program details can be found under the forms and permits tab on the Biloxi city website.
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