Incentive Programs Drive New Downtown Business

The City of Windsor is reporting an increase in new businesses opening in the downtown core, some as the result of incentive programs designed to encourage relocation and increase foot traffic.

The city and the Downtown Windsor Business Improvement Association have been working with potential retailers to move into vacant storefronts and provide incentives to encourage businesses to upgrade and expand. Acting Director Debi Croucher of the DWBIA said she is pleased to see that main floor vacancy in the downtown area has dropped since last year, thanks to the association’s Commercial Rent Subsidy Program.

“Since we launched this program in the fall of 2013, we’ve decreased our main floor vacancy rates,” said Croucher. “So, we’ve gone from a vacancy rate of 23 per cent down to 11. So that’s huge.”

Croucher said the program encourages certain types of businesses to set up shop by offering owners an application to have a portion of their rent paid, along with property improvement funds. Funding is also available for property owners to fix up their storefronts. If a business falls under a type that is sought after downtown, the DWBIA would cover up to $625 per month in rent for one year, or half the rent up to $625, Croucher said, depending on the rental rate.

“There is also a facade improvement grant,” said Croucher, “So they can fix up the front of the building, and we will pay up to 50 per cent of the cost up to $5000. These are incentives that wouldn’t be out-of-pocket, we would help encourage them to make the storefront look good and help them with their rent.”

According to an overview of the CRSP provided to the Converged Citizen, up to eight businesses a year are encouraged to apply for the program. The types of businesses eligible include grocery stores, bakeries, shoe stores, home décor businesses, bookstores and independent movie theatres.

Other types of firms have been operating downtown under the auspices of the Downtown Windsor Business Accelerator. We-Tech Alliance, a technology-based business, has been a tenant at the Accelerator. Interim president Yvonne Pilon said that the business began as one of 17 Regional Innovation Centres in Ontario in an effort to develop the information technology sector. Despite the establishment of satellite centres in Essex County, Pilon said the downtown location is ideal and conducive to the development of entrepreneurs.

“We work very closely with the university (of Windsor) and the (St. Clair) college,” said Pilon, “so being central to them is very important for us. We’re seeing a big influx of young entrepreneurs so with the relocation of the campuses downtown, in five years, I imagine this is going to be quite the entreprenurial hub for our students.”

Pilon said We-Tech and the Accelerator work together to help innovation and technology-based entrepreneurs find their footing downtown. Even though We-Tech is 80 per cent funded by the government, Pilon says the Accelerator’s affordable rent and office set-up options are ideal for start-up businesses to develop, and move out to become stand-alone businesses. Expansion is also on the minds of the folks at We-Tech.

“There’s a lot of things in the works,” said Pilon.

With the foot traffic being created downtown by these new businesses, the DWBIA believes downtown events also play a key role in bringing people to the core.

“Balloonapalooza and Winterfest are wonderful family events that showcase the downtown as a viable family destination,” said Croucher. “It really changes the dynamic of the city centre into what many perceive as to be adult-oriented and more entertainment-oriented.”

The Winterfest Holiday Parade is scheduled for Nov 29 and runs down Ouellette Avenue from Giles Boulevard to Pitt Street.

Information on incentive grants offered by the DWBIA can be obtained by calling their office at (519) 252-5723 or by going online at www.downtownwindsor.ca. The DWBIA office is located at 419 Pelissier Ave. The Downtown Windsor Business Accelerator is located at 720 Ouellette Avenue and can be reached at (519) 997-2871 or online at www.downtownaccelerator.com.