Businesses encouraged to apply

Special by Kyle Kramm, Main Street & CVB director

(Seguin) — With the start of the City of Seguin’s new fiscal year on October 1, the Seguin Main Street Program is pleased to release a call for applications to its Fix-It Façade grant program.

“The City of Seguin recently approved its 2025 fiscal year budget which included $30,000 for the Seguin Main Street Program’s façade grants which can be used for restorations, repairs, and rehabs of exterior features of downtown properties,” said Kyle Kramm.

The façade grant program has been one of the most successful tools for the redevelopment of downtown Seguin. The grant will reimburse projects up to $10,000 or 50% of project costs. The project must not be completed prior to submission of the grant application.

The project can be used for a variety of exterior improvements including painting, window repairs, signage, ADA compliance, awnings, and more.

The façade grant application will be released on October 1 and can be found at https://seguintexas.gov/885/Fix-It-Faade-Grant or at the Seguin Main Street Office at 200 South Austin Street.

At the same time Main Street is accepting applications for façade grants, the City and Economic Development are still accepting applications for Business Improvement Grants (BIG). The BIG is similar to the façade grant except it is open city wide and can be used for exterior and interior improvements.

Businesses can apply for both the BIG and Façade grants, but the grants must be used for separate projects. For example, a downtown business could use the façade grant to paint their store front and the BIG program to upgrade their HVAC unit.

Both these grant programs are flexible to allow businesses to use them to their needs. The BIG program can be found at https://www.seguinedc.com/business/seguin-big-program.

“We hope businesses and property owners take this opportunity to think critically about the needs of their business and use these grants to support their growth and development,” said Kramm. “Supporting our independent businesses, preserving our character, and beautification of the community are all important goals being met by these grants.”

Façade grant applications will be due December 2, 2024 with a review of the grant applications by the Main Street Advisory Board at its December meeting.