DSDC pushing to lure businesses downtown

Local News

September 18, 2008

Incentive programs available for retail, professional ventures

By TRICIA NEAL, CJ Staff Writer The Commonwealth Journal Thu Sep 18, 2008, 12:41 AM EDT

Looking for a spot for your small business?

Downtown Somerset just might be the perfect place — and the Downtown Somerset Development Corporation just might be able to help you get started.

The DSDC is offering two new incentive programs to business owners who would be interested in opening or relocating to the central business district. Incentives would be available for both retail and professional ventures, says DSDC Director Gib Gosser.

DSDC officials want to work with retailers who could attract shoppers to the downtown area. That, they say, would help existing businesses by increasing traffic.

The DSDC is also offering help to firms that might use upper-story space for ventures which need less visual exposure.

Assistance from the DSDC could include “rental subsidies, second mortgages, partial financing of equipment and inventories, or a variety of other forms that would help new businesses get on their feet,” Gosser says.

The DSDC’s Economic Development Committee is in the process of creating an application that potential businesses could complete to help determine what level of assistance could be offered.

The applications state that, in order for a business to qualify for financial assistance, it must “improve the retail or dining opportunities available to downtown visitors without jeopardizing the existing business climate.”

The committee will review completed applications to determine what positive effects would be felt by the downtown business community if a certain business were to locate in the area.

Based on the information obtained in the initial application, the committee will schedule in-person interviews to better determine what kind of assistance is available.

“If (the committee) determines the applicant has a viable business proposal, it will then offer to award financial incentives in hopes of creating a partnership with the organization,” Gosser said.

Committee Chairman Bob Burgess says the organization is primarily interested in finding new first-floor retailers, but he’s also aware that a number of new ventures need floor space and downtown amenities, but don’t need visibility.

For instance, Burgess says, some other communities have seen a growth in Internet-based businesses that operate in second and third story spaces. Those companies like the availability of government offices and banks, and the close proximity of other businesses. At the same time, however, they need no storefront, warehouse or other more traditional spaces — making downtown upper story space ideal for their business.

The DSDC is concerned about the continual loss of locally-owned businesses.

Burgess says it’s increasingly difficult for independent businesses to get established when they have to compete with franchised and nationally-owned stores and restaurants.

“The organization hopes to level the playing field somewhat by filling the gaps that might prevent a locally-owned operation from getting started,” Gosser said.

Individuals interested in exploring these opportunities are asked to contact Gosser to begin the process. Gosser can be reached by calling (606) 679-8376 or by e-mailing ggosser@windstream.net.

Text Only

Local News

Hal Rogers defends Somerset’s Streetscape project
February 9, 2012 1 Photo
Survey may attract commercial passenger service
February 9, 2012 1 Photo
Somerset on verge of becoming natural gas hub
It sounds like a Buck Rogers fiction series, but it’s true. The city of Somerset is about to become the energy hub of Kentucky, maybe even regionally or nationally.
Somerset Mayor Eddie Girdler, gas company manager Dan Henderson and city engineer Reggie Chaney discussed the grandiose energy network this week with a reporter for the Commonwealth Journal. It’s more than a vision. City officials say it’s about to become reality.

February 9, 2012 1 Photo
Old districts are back ... for now
The more things change, the more they stay the same. Such is the legislative redistricting debacle in Frankfort.
Judge Phillip Shepherd in Franklin Circuit Court on Tuesday tossed out the General Assembly’s controversial redistricting plans and reverted everything back to where it was before.

February 9, 2012
Fast-moving blaze guts mobile home off Slate Branch Road
February 2, 2012 1 Photo
Big Bang Theory
Pulaski County is not at war. The booming you may hear at dusk is mock cannon fire to scare away birds.
Stuart Spillman, environmental director for the Lake Cumberland Health Department, said at least three cannons are on loan from the department to residents who want to scare away swarms of starlings and blackbirds settling in to roost.
He said a cannon is being used by a resident on Laura Lane off Ky. 39; another is in the Oak Hill Road area and a third is on Ashurst Street in the eastern part of Somerset.
Spillman said a timer on each cannon allows it to “fire” at whatever frequency is desired. The cannons must be used as the birds circle before going to roost. “After they settle in, nothing will chase them out,” Spillman said.
The Health Department doesn’t operate the cannons unless there is a specific complaint in an area where there are lots of birds, Spillman noted. He said so far this year the birds are not as bad as in the past.

February 2, 2012
Boil water advisory is lifted countywide
The water controversy that Pulaski County has been boiling over — so to speak — for the last week is finally over.
At 10 minutes after noon Wednesday, the “boil water” advisory for the Western Pulaski Water District was lifted — almost a full week after the problems began around 1 p.m. last Thursday.
Prior to that, the Somerset Water Service — along with the other water providers in its system, including Science Hill Water, Southeastern Water, and Eubank Water — lifted their advisories, with Somerset on Saturday afternoon and the last, Southeastern, by Monday morning. Western Pulaski was the last in the system to complete sample testing for potential contaminants, due to not being able to access its Pikeville-based testing lab until Monday.
Somerset Mayor Eddie Girdler thanked the public for its patience and understanding during the duration of the boil water advisory — put in place to keep citizens from drinking water that could have been contaminated after an accident last Thursday at the water plant site — and also thanked all the city employees for their hard work during this time.
“The boil water advisory went about as well as would be expected,” said Girdler.

February 2, 2012
SCS to host Medal of Honor recipient
The message is clear: There are heroes. Even here in our own hometowns.
That’s the idea organizers hope to get across Saturday night at Somerset Christian School, when Congressional Medal of Honor winner Sgt. Dakota Meter speaks to all who choose to attend.
For further questions, ticket purchases, and sponsorship opportunities please contact Susan Adams at (606) 875-0255.

February 2, 2012 1 Photo
Newspaper veteran name Publisher of Commonwealth Journal
SOMERSET — A fourth generation newspaperman has been named publisher of the Commonwealth Journal.
Rob McCullough, 50, who started working in a newspaper mailroom when he was 15, officially assumes his duties today. He succeeds Jack McNeely who has accepted a position with the Daily Mountain Eagle in Jasper, Alabama.

February 2, 2012 1 Photo
Blakley receives worldwide honor
February 1, 2012 1 Photo
More Local News Headlines

Local News

Search Results

DSDC pushing to lure businesses downtown

Incentive programs available for retail, professional ventures

Site Map