Small businesses have until Friday to apply for City of Covington’s facade, rent incentive programs

Friday is the deadline to apply for the latest round of the City of Covington’s funding offered through two incentive programs that have helped 84 small businesses and projects since 2017.

Covington hopes to award about $35,000 during this round under a competitive application process, which offers up to $500 a month for first-year rent or a forgivable loan of up to $6,000 to match investment dollar-for-dollar in façade improvements to a commercial building.

Among the 84 small businesses and projects helped by the Small Business Program is The Bottle Shop, a boutique retail wine and sundries shop that opened just a few days ago on Pike Street. (Photo from City of Covington)

This is the first of four rounds of funding for the 2021-2022 fiscal year under what the city calls its Small Business Program.

The program is offered citywide.

“We crafted this program to support the needs of small businesses that are not traditionally supported and to land new, unique users to Covington,” said Ross Patten, the City’s Assistant Economic Development Director. “For small businesses and property owners, a $6,000 incentive can make a huge difference to their bottom line. I strongly encourage people to finish their applications and get them to me.”

Businesses interested in applying for either the façade or rent programs should contact Patten as soon as possible at 859-292-2144 or rpatten@covingtonky.gov. The applications themselves and information about the programs can be found on the city’s website at www.covingtonky.gov.

Patten said the Small Business Program is so successful that he often receives inquiries from other local governments seeking details about its implementation so they can emulate it. Since 2017, the program in Covington has:

City of Covington