If you own a business in Ely, there’s money set aside to help you grow it. Most owners never ask for it.
It runs through the Ely Economic Development Authority (EEDA), the city’s business development office.
The biggest program is the Commercial Development Corridor Program, for businesses in Ely’s commercial and industrial districts. It can put up to $25,000 into your building project that you never have to pay back, alongside a 2% city loan and a match from your bank or the state.
To keep the $25,000, you must add one full-time job paying at least $15 an hour, fill it within six months of finishing the project, and keep it for two years. If you were planning to hire anyway, that’s free money for a decision you’d already made.
Two rounds of funding have already been awarded, and the EEDA has voted to run a third. The details aren’t posted yet, which means you have time to get ready. Getting ready means providing two years of financial statements and at least two bids on the work. Both take longer to pull together than most owners expect.
Most owners do it backwards. The roof leaks, the furnace quits, or the storefront needs work before summer, and that’s when they start looking for help. By then the clock is running and there’s no room to wait on an application.
If you own a commercial building in Ely, the Commercial Renovation Fund can help pay for storefronts, facades, accessibility upgrades, and heating, electrical, and plumbing work. The EEDA’s funding page also points to regional lenders and grant sources, plus a free calculator that shows what a loan would cost you each month.
The same site has a Data and Demographics page. It’s census numbers in plain charts, and one of them should shape how every local business talks to customers: nearly half of Ely residents are 55 or older. If your website or Facebook page is written for Gen Z, most of your neighbors may be scrolling right past.
This week: go to eeda.ely.mn.us and click Funding and Incentives. Spend fifteen minutes reading the two city programs, then ask yourself one question. Is there a building project or a new hire in my next two years?
If the answer is yes, click “Start the Conversation” and describe it in a few sentences. That gets you talking with the EEDA before you need the money, and ahead of the next Corridor round.
If the answer is no, bookmark the page anyway. You’ll want it the day the furnace quits.
Full disclosure: my business built the EEDA’s website.
Richard Stuart builds websites and revenue systems for owner-operated businesses from his home in Ely. Have a question you’d like answered in a future column? Send it to ibuild@richardstuart. me. If something’s quietly costing you customers, let’s talk: richardstuart. me.
