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Carrollton unveils Small Business Program, highlights retail-rehab grants and concierge services
Summary
City staff presented a Small Business Program aimed at simplifying permitting and attracting retail and restaurant investment; councilors praised a one‑stop concierge service, and staff outlined multiple grant programs and metrics showing hundreds of retail tenants and millions in private investment tied to prior grants.
Carrollton leaders on Jan. 7 presented a new Small Business Program that centralizes permitting help, expands outreach and highlights existing facade- and retail-rehab grants aimed at keeping independent retailers and restaurants in the city.
The program is intended to guide small business owners through permits, inspections, zoning and sign rules and to connect entrepreneurs to local resources and incentive programs, Executive Director of Development Ravi Shah said. Shah told council the city now lists about 1,660 retail tenants and that prior retail-rehab grants helped revitalize almost 1.2 million square feet of shopping center space.
Shah said the program packages a website checklist, a “concierge” front counter and pre-application meetings so business owners face a single point of contact for occupancy, finish-out and signage questions. “We want to make this process much easier for them to navigate,” Shah said, describing three move-in scenarios — move-in ready, needing building improvements, and requiring zoning changes — and a 3-step workflow for each.
The presentation listed several existing incentive tools: a Retail Rehab and Redevelopment matching grant for shopping centers, a downtown retail-rehab performance grant, a specialty-retail and restaurant incentive to attract new unique merchants, and a vacant-anchor program to backfill big-box grocery vacancies. Shah said total city grants tied to past rehab work were about $3.5 million and that the private investment associated with those projects was roughly $32 million, with assessed valuation gains on rehabilitated property shown in staff slides.
Council members praised the program. Mayor Pro Tem Fleming and Council Member Jason Carpenter said the one-stop approach has been repeatedly cited by business owners at ribbon-cuttings. Members suggested expanding food-incubator and entrepreneur‑incubator concepts and noted opportunities near Trinity Mills Station. Shah said staff has discussed incubation with potential private partners and that Trinity Mills Station’s new office construction could accommodate entrepreneurial space.
Staff said the program will continue to schedule business outreach and networking events and will coordinate with the Metrocrest Chamber to increase business awareness of incentives and permitting resources. The presentation did not propose a new fiscal appropriation; staff framed the program as an operational and outreach initiative built around existing incentives and permitting resources.
City staff said they would return with additional implementation details and timelines as the program matures.
