St. Paul launches commercial-corridor assistance pilot; $1.4 million allocated for 18 corridors

City staff presented an update on the newly launched Commercial Corridor Organization Assistance Program, a $1.4 million pilot intended to support 18 commercial corridors across St. Paul through marketing, events, beautification, public art, business support and planning.

"Last year, $1,400,000 from the economic development start budget was allocated to the 2025 budget," senior project manager Annie Byrne told commissioners, describing the program as a new, quarterly reporting pilot that launched in May after the council adopted guidelines in April. Byrne said the city selected a mix of district councils and community-based organizations to administer funds and begin work in each corridor.

Byrne described the planned distribution of uses and counts of participating organizations: 13 corridors plan marketing and promotions (the largest single allocation category, just over $400,000 in total), 13 will hold events, nine will do beautification (bike rails, flower baskets, tree plantings, graffiti removal and cleanups), five will invest in public art, six will provide small-business subgrants and four will use funds for planning or branding work. Byrne said the program uses a pre-disbursement model: organizations receive 80% of their funds up front; quarterly reports are due and the first report is due Sept. 30.

Byrne gave examples from participating groups: the Fort Road Federation will offer microgrants for small events on West Seventh; Rondo Exchange will support Small Business Saturday and the Rondo Community Land Trust will support Selby Jazz Fest; ESNDC will conduct graffiti removal and partner with other corridors on business mitigation funds. Byrne said one corridor will use the funds for billboards and several corridors will use culturally resonant, multilingual messaging.

Commissioners expressed broad support. Commissioner Prabotsky called the upfront disbursement an important design feature given reimbursement challenges in other programs. Vice Chair Jost, Commissioner Bowie and others praised the diversity of uses — from marketing around construction closures to community tree plantings — and noted opportunities to leverage state funds and Port Authority-managed vitality funding. City staff said their goal is to have every contract in place by the end of the month and to continue quarterly updates to the council.

No council action or formal vote was taken on this item during the meeting; it was an informational update.