Daily Dunklin Democrat: Local News: Studio 119 receives grant for façade improvements (01/26/12)

Tara Duffel, owner of Studio 119, is presented a check for $500 by Sara Graves, executive director of the Kennett Downtown Revitalization program. The check was presented to Duffel for completing improvements to the building that houses her full service salon. Pictured from left are Katrina Hamlett, Tara Duffel, Dora New, Sara Graves, Bobbi Bibbs, and Carrie Pritchett.
( Staff photo by Lecia Forester)

One more downtown business has joined the ranks of those who have taken advantage of the Downtown Façade Improvement Grant (FIG) program.

Tara Duffel of Studio 119, located at 119 South Side Square in Kennett's Downtown District, recently received a $500 check for completing improvements to the building that houses her full service salon. This is the fourth project utilizing Kennett's Downtown FIG program. Other recipients have included Body Mechanics, The Gym-BKA Athletics, and Mindy's Beauty Shop.

The program reimburses an approved project up to $500 in matching funds. Sara Graves, executive director of Kennett's Downtown Revitalization Program, was on hand to present the check to Duffel and her coworkers last Friday, Jan. 20.

According to Graves, the Downtown FIG program has encouraged a wave of improvements in the downtown district.

"From the time the grant was first publicized to now, downtown improvements have flourished. More and more individuals are investing in their properties. This helps downtown remain a viable and thriving business center," she said.

The building is owned by Duffel and houses Midsouth Massage and Innovations Esthetics. These businesses have been a fixture in the downtown district for many years.

Work began on the building at the beginning of this month. Improvements included exterior painting to the brick and trim, new columns and a new sign.

Graves said the Kennett Downtown Revitalization Program (KDRP) and the Kennett Community Development Corporation (KCDC) are very pleased with the outcome of the building.

When asked about the improvements made to the building, Duffel said, "The square was once such a prominent part of the City of Kennett and we feel the face lift is bringing it back to that era."

Asked about the façade grant process, Duffel said, "I feel like there was a definite need for the cosmetic updates and the replacing of the sidewalks. This process has allowed all of that to happen and for that we are all thankful."

A program description and application is available by contacting Graves at sara@downtownkennett.org or by phone at (573) 888-7496.

The Downtown Façade Improvement Grant program is administered by the Kennett Downtown Revitalization Program of KCDC and funded by the Missouri Department of Economic Development, Neighborhood Assistance Program.

It goes like this..You send your money(taxes) to the State or Feds, and they decide to send you a portion back...always with rules on how you spend it. Same as with the schools have to do with the "free lunches" and the subjects they teach. Don't be griping about high taxes and trillion dollar debts when a business will take $500 ( the business couldn't afford even $500 ?!?) They took it because it was another so-called "free' government program. Wake Up ! My good old Missouri folks !!

-- Posted by joekoule on Thu, Jan 26, 2012, at 9:42 PM

The Department of Economic Development (DED) will issue 50% or 70% tax credits to an eligible taxpayer who makes a qualified contribution to an approved Neighborhood Assistance Program (NAP) project.

In case you don't understand what that means: Instead of tax dollars leaving our community and being used throughout the state on things we may never see, use or care about, tax credits make it possible for local tax payers to put their tax dollars back into their own communities. Isn't that a wonderful thing?

The current Downtown Revitalization Program is a NAP project. One part of this project was to assist downtown property owners with improvements to their buildings.

Obviously your not a property and business owner or you would know it is not cheap to run a small business and make improvements to your building at the same time.

The work for this building and the other buildings that have made improvements cost much more than $500- about 5x's that and actually more in some cases. Therefore, $500 was just a drop in the bucket. In addition, its not a free handout as you put it. In order to receive this little $500 grant, the property/business owner had to match that amount out of their own pocket.

I'm not sure if you understand how hard it is to keep a business running today and I'm also not so sure that you understand the importance of the small business on our economy and our community.

If you would like anymore information about this program or facts to further understand what is really going on with this story, please let me know. Thanks.

-- Posted by smartcookie on Fri, Jan 27, 2012, at 11:09 AM