Springfield group has plan to lure business

Springfield On The Move wants to offer $10,000 to new businesses to locate in downtown.

http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20110502/NEWS02/705029868

Published May 2, 2011 in the Rutland Herald

Springfield group has plan to lure business

By SUSAN SMALLHEER

SPRINGFIELD — Springfield On The Move has a new idea to attract businesses to the vacancy-plagued downtown area: giving away money.

Under the plan outlined by Springfield On The Move directors this week to the Springfield Select Board, the group plans on raising $50,000 and matching it with $50,000 from the town’s revolving loan fund, which it would then give to new businesses in $10,000 parcels — with some strings attached.

Steve Greene, a downtown business owner, said that he had talked to a couple that had recently opened a business in Bellows Falls, choosing that downtown over Springfield.

Their response, Greene said, was that rents were too high in Springfield.

He said he asked them if they would have located in Springfield had they received a $10,000 grant, and the answer was an overwhelming yes.

Greene, who is one of the few downtown landlords who has most of his buildings rented, said he has had preliminary talks with business leaders in Springfield and had commitments already for $30,000 of the $50,000 Springfield On The Move would have to raise.

Springfield could get its share from the town’s revolving loan fund, said Town Manager Robert Forguites, who said that direct taxpayer money could not go toward the program.

Carol Lighthall, the executive director of the downtown revitalization group, said that the group had a recruitment committee to try and bring businesses downtown. She said there were “a lot of open spaces” in downtown.

Greene, who started his first business in downtown Springfield back in 1975, said that $10,000 might attract some good businesses.

The program would earn the town “some really good publicity” in the process, he said.

Greene said he wanted to make the grant program somewhat simple, but that the committee was coming up with some criteria for people and businesses that want to apply for the funds.

Forguites suggested having no more than five people on the grant committee, and he strongly suggested having a banker on the committee, even if it represented a conflict of interest.

Forguites said the town would have to get state approval to use the revolving loan fund for the downtown business project.

And, both Forguites and Greene said, the key was giving businesses the grant incentive, but without attracting irresponsible businesses.

“We’re putting our money where our mouth is,” said Greene. “We’re trying to make something happen.”

The select board agreed to appoint board members to the committee that will draw up criteria.

Lighthall said that Springfield On The Move’s marketing study recommended sporting goods shops, clothing, home goods retailers and “cottage retailers” for the downtown.

People want to browse through a downtown, Lighthall said. They want to go to a bookstore, have lunch, and visit the VAULT, the local non-profit gallery.

Select Board member Terri Benton said she was pleased to hear the word “cottage industry,” because she felt that was the type of business that was needed and would be successful.