Main Street Grant to Benefit Downtown St. Cloud, Foley

ST. CLOUD (WJON News) -- The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development has announced nearly $6.2 million in grants to help boost Minnesota's main streets.

This is the third and final round of funding from the $80 million program signed into law in 2021.

The Greater St. Cloud Development Corporation has been awarded $624,000 to be used on projects in downtown St. Cloud and downtown Foley.

CEO and President NeTia Bauman says St. Cloud was previously awarded $1.5 million in a previous round which benefited projects like the 539 Building on East St. Germain Street and the Great River Children's Museum. She says the application process this time around will be similar to last time.

The St. Cloud EDA and the city of Foley will have their own application process, it'll be a universal application, but they will host the portal, they will have their own review committees, and then make their recommendations to the GSDC.

Bauman says they hope to have the application portal open in four to six weeks. There will be some parameters for applicants to keep in mind.

Top impact higher job creators, what's the long-term economic impact to those projects, and whether those projects will be completed by June 2026 when those funds expire.

The grants will cover up to 30 percent of the cost of a project with the other 70 percent being covered by the developers. Bauman says that means an estimated impact of over $22 million worth of private investment in the St. Cloud and Foley downtowns.

Businesses that apply for and receive funding can use the money for property repair or renovation, building construction, landscaping and street scaping, demolition and site preparation, predesign and design, engineering, or related site amenities.

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DEED says to date statewide, more than 600 businesses through the Main Street grants have raised nearly $700 million in matching funds.  The awards have also helped create or retain more than 8,700 jobs and increased the local tax bases by almost $369 million.

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