DDA approves pilot business-retention grant offering up to $10,000 per business

The Royal Oak Downtown Development Authority voted to establish a pilot Business Retention and Recruitment Fund that will offer cash grants of up to $10,000 to downtown businesses, subject to a matching requirement.

Staff member Julia Calleaguer said the pilot responds to business‑owner requests for flexible support outside existing facade and mural programs and downtown dollars. "We evaluated the vacancies, we talked with business owners and we wanted to come up with a program that was flexible for business needs," Calleaguer said.

Executive Director Isaac Grama described the financial structure: the DDA will offer up to $10,000 in cash and generally require a dollar‑for‑dollar match; in cases of need, up to half the match may be in‑kind. "The minimum amount of cash the business would put up is $5,000 to get $10,000 from us," Grama said. Proposed eligible uses include marketing, accounting and professional services, equipment and physical improvements, product/service expansion, sustainability upgrades and retail incubator support.

Board members emphasized establishing clear ineligible uses and key performance indicators to measure retention and openings. Director Duboc urged conservative pilot funding to avoid paying for early misses and recommended defining pilot parameters and evaluation metrics; Director Helswick raised recruitment and budget‑priority questions for later budget discussions.

A resolution to authorize the pilot and allow staff to bring the application and parameters back to the board was moved, seconded and approved by voice vote.

Next steps in the transcript: staff will develop an application, propose eligibility/ineligible uses and return with evaluation metrics and possible budget allocations for the full board.