By Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com


Officials are continuing to work on finding different ways to help and support businesses in the City of Howell during the pandemic.

The Howell Downtown Development Authority Board met virtually Wednesday night and Director Kate Litwin gave an update on efforts to support merchants and different grant opportunities. She noted the cash mob gift certificates handed out for people to spend at local businesses were well received and so far they’ve given away over $15,000 - which is $15,000 right back into the community. Litwin said it was very successful, especially for restaurants but also retailers who indicted people were spending above and beyond what they probably would have without the gift certificates.

Litwin said surveys will be going out soon to local merchants and restaurants to gauge how their holiday season and end of the year went, the data from which she said will be important to help them advocate for COVID recovery at the state and national levels.

The Michigan Economic Development recently came out with a new Match On Main grant program that will launch next week. Litwin said it was a program they applied for a couple of years ago – noting the new Coratti’s Italian restaurant on Grand River near the historic courthouse successfully submitted an application and received $25,000 to go toward the purchase of a pizza oven. She called it a fantastic program but noted some changes have been. Litwin said it’s not a COVID-specific program but rather open to more businesses who may need to make modifications because of COVID. Litwin said things like PPE and masks probably won’t qualify but if merchants need to make modifications like installing plexiglass or reconfiguring their layout to be more COVID friendly, those types of things could qualify.

Also referenced during the meeting were the recent Mi Safe Start grants that only had a three-day window. Litwin said the state is trying to come up with some really creative programs to get money into the hands of entrepreneurs but as they found last week, there were more than 11,000 or 12,000 people waiting to submit applications at any given time so the need far exceeds available grant dollars. She said the more data they can collect and talk to local business owners to find out what they need for support, then the more they can advocate for them at the state and federal levels.

A lot of marketing and promotions are being anticipated to eventually get people back downtown. Litwin said they’ll be looking at modifications to hopefully bring back events with some changes to ensure that safety and everyone’s needs are met orgazationally and as a city and community - adding she’s really hopeful and optimistic about the coming year.