Lexington Awarded $138,980 Through Two Grants To Assist Local Businesses

Press release from the Town of Lexington:

July 22, 2020

Our community was recently awarded $138,980 in grant funding, through two programs, to assist local businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic.

• The Massachusetts Department of Housing & Community Development (DHCD) awarded Lexington $84,150 in grant funding to assist microenterprises
• The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) awarded Lexington $54,830 to assist in expanding sidewalk space for businesses.

Supporting Local Small Businesses

The Baker-Polito Administration announced that Lexington and 22 other cities and towns were the recipients of a $4,950,000 grant from the DHCD to assist small businesses across the Metropolitan Boston Region. The $84,150 in funding awarded to Lexington is part of a $19.6 million award through the federally-funded Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program.

The DHCD grant award for these 23 communities will be utilized to award individual businesses grants of up to $10,000 for microenterprise businesses. A microenterprise is defined as a commercial enterprise with 5 or fewer employees, 1 or more of whom owns the enterprise and must be a for-profit entity.

The Economic Development Office will be distributing applications in the coming weeks to microenterprises in Lexington.

Shared Streets and Space Program

In addition to the DHCD grant, the $54,830 in grant funding from MassDOT will assist us in extending sidewalk space through a Shared Streets and Space Program (SSSP). The SSSP is intended to support projects that promote public health, safe mobility, and renewed commerce by quickly providing new or repurposed space for socially-distanced walking, bicycling, dining, retail, and bus travel.

The funds requested will be used to create additional sidewalk space for pedestrians and diners to maintain safe social distancing. This would provide the businesses with the opportunity to expand the outdoor dining into the street.

Additional Support for Local Businesses

In addition to the grants, we have been expediting the permitting process for outdoor seating for restaurants. So far, several restaurants such as Ixtapa, Via Lago, Mario’s, and Ma France have received their outdoor seating permits.

This press release was produced by the Town of Lexington. The views expressed here are the author’s own.