Lincoln approves $30,000 local business resource fund pilot, $6,000 allocated per district

The City Council on April 9 approved a six-month Local Business Resource Fund pilot program to provide small grants intended to help local businesses with marketing and development costs.

Erin Frey, Economic Development and Communications Specialist, told the council the economic development department would re-purpose $30,000 already budgeted for miscellaneous public relations and events to seed the pilot. The draft program in the staff packet proposed splitting the $30,000 evenly across the city’s five districts at $6,000 per district and operating the pilot on a first-come, first-served basis. Frey said the program would launch June 1 and run through Dec. 31, 2024, with eligibility guidelines and an application included in the staff packet.

Council members raised implementation questions, including what happens to district funds left unclaimed and how the city would get the word out to small businesses. Frey said unspent district allocations would sit unfunded under the current draft but that staff could propose reallocation options and that outreach would include chamber events, social media and direct business outreach ahead of the June 1 application opening. Public commenters endorsed the pilot but asked about prioritization criteria; staff said grant eligibility and selection criteria would be enforced by an internal selection committee and would be monitored so council could consider expansion in future budgets.

The council passed Resolution 2024-065 approving the six-month pilot by unanimous vote.