Motor City Re-Store Information Sessions provide Detroit business owners with free guidance

• Business owners can win up to $25,000 each in matching façade grants
• Free information sessions designed to answer questions small business owners may have
• Sessions will be held in various neighborhoods throughout Detroit from Sept 12 -28

DETROIT, Sept. 11, 2017 –Motor City Re-Store will host a wide range of free information sessions the weeks of September 11 and 18 for interested business in various neighborhoods and locations around the City of Detroit.  The program, which was first announced in July, will provide up to $500,000 every three months in matching grants to existing business owners and their landlords for façade and other exterior improvements.

Applications for the program will be accepted at www.motorcityre-store.com. The first awards from Round 1 (applications for that round have already closed) will be announced later this fall.

Motor City Re-Store gives business owners and commercial landlords a chance to improve the appearance of their building to make the business more attractive to new customers through façade improvements, landscaping, murals or public art design, outdoor dining options, historic preservation efforts and more.

Information sessions will begin September 12. Free information sessions this month will include:

• Sept. 12, 6p-8p @ Royalty Dance Studio, 16424 E Warren Ave.
• Sept. 13, 11a-1p @ Livernois Popup Storefront, 19410 Livernois Ave.
• Sept. 14, 6p-8p @ Mariscos el Salpicon, 8600 Vernor Hwy.
• Sept. 18, 9a-11a @ TechTown, 440 Burroughs St.
• Sept. 19, 6p-8p @ Family Bakery, 17032 W Warren Ave. Sept. 20, 6p-7p @ Grand River WorkPlace, 19120 Grand River Ave.
• Sept. 20 (West Side application workshop), 7p-8p @ Grand River WorkPlace, 19120 Grand River Ave.
• Sept. 21, 6p-8p @ Matrix Center, 13560 E McNichols Rd.
• Sept. 28 (East Side application workshop), 3p-4p @ Thinkers Co-Working Space, 14346 Jefferson Ave.

How Re-Store works

Motor City Re-Store’s aim is to make neighborhood business districts in Detroit more walkable, attractive and viable. The program is expected to provide tenants of existing storefronts and their landlords with matching funds to improve the exteriors of commercial buildings, including landscaping and parking lots. Matching grants are also available for design and architectural services pertaining to the exterior improvement projects.

Motor City Re-Store is supported by a combination of Community Development Block Grant funds and other sources. The Economic Development Corporation of the City of Detroit (EDC) has stewardship of the public funds and has approved funding to develop the program. It will be open to entrepreneurs who are currently open and operating a commercial storefront in the city of Detroit, and their landlords.

Detailed information about the program can be found at www.motorcityre-store.com. To register for any if the Info Sessions, visit:  www.motorcityre-store.com/news-events.