Photo credit: heartofhowell.com
Creating an environment that attracts small businesses also can accrue many other benefits for a community, including quality of place for residents and new job opportunities. Local governments’ role in helping create this kind of setting was the topic at a SEMCOG University workshop this summer. Participants discussed how they are implementing several of the strategies from SEMCOG’s Partnering for Prosperity economic development plan – in particular, the Supporting Business Growth, Growing Entrepreneurship, and Strengthening Quality of Place strategies.
At this workshop, presenters demonstrated the range of services that local governments can provide to help support business growth and enhance the community, and generated good conversation as well. An example from Howell follows below. If your community has been working with new entrepreneurs and small businesses and is interested in showcasing its efforts in future SEMCOG publications and events, please contact me.
Partnership breeds success at Heart of Howell
Shea Charles, Howell City Manager, talked about the city’s efforts to promote small business opportunities in downtown Howell. Its main street, Grand River Avenue, has been recognized for its architectural and business collection as a Top Ten Main Street as well as a finalist for the Great American Main Street Award.
This corridor is home to 100-year-old buildings, including the “Heart of Howell,” a highlight of the city’s success in attracting new development activity. This mixed-use redevelopment project involved combining and renovating three historic buildings. New electrical, heating, cooling, and accessibility features have made the Heart of Howell an attractive home for businesses.
Heart of Howell under renovation, previously featured in SEMCOG Corridor Redevelopment Toolkit
These enhancements, which took multiple years and millions of dollars to complete, have helped to attract several small businesses, including a salon, jeweler, and bar. Heart of Howell has brought 40 new jobs to the downtown center. According to Charles, the success of this project relied heavily on public-private partnership. To make this project possible, it took a combination of capital investment by the property owner, a 12-year tax abatement through the Obsolete Property Rehabilitation Act (OPRA), funding from the Michigan Community Revitalization Program (CRP), and support from Michigan Main Street.
Heart of Howell was also a featured example of the CRP in SEMCOG’s Redeveloping Corridors Toolkit under Planning and Implementation.
Leave a Reply