The county’s Community and Economic Development Department’s Retail Development Project Fund (RDPF) will now offer $50,000 instead of $20,000 to help recruit and expand businesses in the county.
This program, which was first developed in 2022 and “has grown rapidly since its start,” helps in recruitment and expansion efforts of service-based and retail-based businesses, said Deputy Director Alex Dietz.
It’s tailored for small, medium and large-scale businesses who are looking to close a funding gap when developing a new brick-and-mortar location.
“These updates to the program will enable Clark County to further bolster the retail environment countywide. Our new program will be noticeable to some of the retailers we’ve been actively recruiting to the county,” he said.
As long as the business generates sales tax, creates employment and invests in fixed real property assets like a building, they could potentially be eligible, Dietz said.
There are some specific parameters businesses have to meet in order to qualify, Dietz said, but the grant funding is “heavily dependent” on how much they’re generating in sales tax and how much they’re investing in the total project.
For example, he said if they’re going to build a $5 million building, they’re going to be eligible for more funding than someone who’s going to be investing $250,000 in an existing building.
Ethan Harris, Clark County Land Bank executive director, said they go to trade shows to try and recruit retailers that might be investing over $1 million, such as Target, Trader Joe’s and Costco, but a $15,000 grant could be less than 1% of their overall investment.
“To try and incentivize large retailers on that caliber, we’ve increased the potential award amount to try and attract and get the attention of those larger retailers, but yet still making sure that we’re providing opportunities for small businesses and local retailers to apply and receive funding also,” he said.
Dietz said the department has given three grants out of the fund since it started, totaling $36,000, including $20,000 to Evans Family Ranch in New Carlisle.
“We certainly acknowledge there is work to be done (but) this program helps us achieve results towards the goal of improving the retail offerings throughout Clark County,” Dietz said.
Evans Family Ranch used the funds in 2023 to get the buildings prepped, since it was an office building previously, and turn it into a retail establishment for zoning and coding.
“When we used the fund, that’s been a little bit over two years ago (in 2023). What we did is we got a lot of the things, the buildings ready and ready for a retail establishment. Then we got employees, trained them and hired more employees to staff the building,” said General Manager Chad Watkins.
Watkins said they bought parts of the ranch from Studebaker’s Nursery in 2022 and opened in February 2023.
“We got everything ready at that time and then we were making it a destination where local products are being sold for this community and being community driven,” he said.
The 403-acre ranch also hosts different events such as Stronger Together, comedy shows, car shows, races and more.
The RDPF is a competitive application process. Applicants are evaluated through a weighted scale, and total project investment will determine what scale is used. Nonprofits are not eligible to apply for this program.
Businesses can receive up to $50,000 to support their retail growth in Clark County for projects that are above $1 million in total investment.
For more information or the application, visit www.clarkcountyohio.gov/679/Economic-Development.
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