Personality, quality, and heart; that is what makes up a local business; itâs not about branding, celebrity endorsements, or labels. Small businesses have two priorities: what they do, and who they do it for. Their passion is their products and services, and the people they share them with. Nobody opens a small business to get rich, they do it to impart their talents and treasures with those closest to them, their communities. If you think local businesses are in it for the fame or fortune, think again.
2020 has been a year for everyone; but besides health care, nobody has been affected more by this pandemic than small businesses. To put it matter of fact, nearly 7.5 million local businesses in the United States will be at risk of closing permanently over the coming five months (a reference from RETHOS Main Street America). Sadly, that fact does not even include the already millions of small businesses that have shut their doors over the past eight months of the COVID-19 pand
Special by Kyle Kramm, City of Seguin Main Street and CVB director
(Seguin) In 2016, Main Street America (MSA) launched the pilot round of the Historic Commercial District Revolving Fund (HCDRF), administered in partnership with the Texas Main Street Program (TMSP) and made possible by generous support from The 1772 Foundation, Inc. In 2019, the success of the pilot program in San Augustine, Texas, and Texarkana, Texas, allowed MSA to expand the HCDRF into three communities in Maine, in partnership with the Maine Downtown Center.
Now, in 2020, MSA and TMSP have extended the HCDRF into three new Texas Main Street communities: Rockwall, Seguin, and Winnsboro. This fund will provide $55,000 in zero percent interest loans for façade improvements and COVID-19 space management projects.