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Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh announced $2 million in American Rescue Plan Act grants Tuesday.

“The funds will help businesses and organizations recover from the impact of the pandemic,” Walsh said in a press release. “In addition, we structured the program to also ensure the grants have a permanent positive impact on neighborhoods.”

He said the 43 grants will help businesses in Syracuse recover from the pandemic and generate new growth in neighborhood businesses through the Commercial Corridor Improvement Fund. Walsh said in the press release that using COVID-19 relief money from the ARPA funding will create lasting improvements in all parts of the city.

“The grants epitomize the purpose and promise of the American Rescue Plan,” Walsh said.

The grants will fund projects including the reopening of Laci’s Tapas Bar in the Hawley Green Neighborhood. The city also granted Eva’s European Sweets, a Polish restaurant in the Far Westside Neighborhood, $50,000 to invest in a new building for events and storage.

The ARPA funding will create more than 230 jobs and retain another 92 in Syracuse, Walsh wrote. Additionally, two-thirds of the grants will go to for-profit entities owned by entrepreneurs who identify as women, Black, Indigenous or people of color.

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The city allocated both Growing Good Works Inc. and Downtown Syracuse Foundation Inc. $100,000, the highest amount of funding.

Growing Good Works will be using the money to invest in ornamental street lights to illuminate around five blocks of James Street. The Downtown Syracuse Foundation will also use the money for lighting in addition to “gateway signage” and “sidewalk kiosks.”

Walsh first opened the Commercial Corridor Improvement applications six months ago with the intention of supporting local business’ recovery from the impact of COVID-19.

Tuesday’s announcement follows a series of initiatives from the mayor’s office to revitalize the city.

In Jan. 2020, Walsh announced the Resurgent Neighborhoods Initiative, which he hopes will lead to investments in ten neighborhood business corridors throughout Syracuse to reduce property blight.

In a similar legislative action to revitalize the city, the Syracuse Common Council authorized Walsh’s application to receive funding from the Restore New York Communities Initiative, a state program that provides funding for cities to demolish and redevelop blighted structures. Syracuse will apply for $5 million in funding, the maximum for a city its size.

The ARPA grants and the Restore New York Communities application also coincide with Walsh’s campaign for promoting neighborhood stability and community rehabilitation programs throughout Syracuse during his re-election efforts last fall.

Syracuse Deputy Commissioner of Business Development Eric Ennis said the city is looking forward to working with each of the award recipients.

“The projects selected and supported through the ARPA Commercial Corridor Fund will result in tangible benefits that will be seen and felt throughout Syracuse’s neighborhoods as these investments get underway,” Ennis said.

Published on October 18, 2022 at 11:30 pm

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