Pawtucket Business Development Corporation (PBDC) Launches New HVAC Grant Program to Support City’s Public-Facing Small Businesses
PAWTUCKET, R.I. – The Pawtucket Business Development Corporation (PBDC) is launching a new small business support grant program focused on heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) improvements and COVID-19 resiliency for public-facing Pawtucket small businesses. Grants will help support small businesses to make building/infrastructure alterations that improve or maintain good indoor air quality through ventilation with filtration, while providing thermal comfort. Eligible small businesses will be able to apply for up to $50,000 to improve their HVAC systems to reduce the ongoing risks of COVID-19 transmission and other illnesses.
“We know that many of our small businesses want to upgrade their HVAC systems to improve air quality and help prevent the potential spread of COVID-19, but making these investments can be cost prohibitive,” said Pawtucket Mayor Donald Grebien. “That’s why I’m excited to announce the launch of the PBDC’s new HVAC and COVID-19 resilience grant program. We want our small businesses to take advantage of this tremendous grant funding opportunity to upgrade their HVAC systems to make their businesses more comfortable for customers, while also reducing the risk of COVID-19 transmission.”
“The City Commerce Department is committed to finding ways to meet the needs of our small businesses and our team will continue to support initiatives like this which strengthen our community” said Commerce Director Sands Cano.
Public facing Pawtucket small businesses eligible to apply for PBDC HVAC grants include but are not limited to most retail stores, restaurants/bakeries/cafés/delis, bars, barber shops/salons, fitness centers, florists, etc.
The PBDC and the City of Pawtucket will be coordinating with RISE Engineering to work with and provide improvements for the Pawtucket small business community. RISE Engineering is providing free energy efficiency assessments to businesses in Rhode Island. RISE has been selected by Rhode Island Energy to help Rhode Island customers access some of the most aggressive small-business incentives available anywhere in the U.S. These incentives can cover much of the cost of a project and eligible public facing small businesses will now be able to apply to the PBDC for gap financing.
“The PBDC is here to assist the small businesses of Pawtucket and with this new HVAC & COVID-19 resiliency program, we can leverage our COVID-based, Federal funds, with other grant programs to make our impact even greater,” said Jan Brodie, President of the PBDC. “The PBDC’s new HVAC grant program is a great resource for Pawtucket’s retail stores, cafes, restaurants, and other small businesses to upgrade their HVAC systems, improve air quality and comfort, and help to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission. The PBDC is delighted to be able to offer this new grant program and is highly motivated to help.”
The new HVAC grant program is funded through Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) COVID-19 funds allocated to the City of Pawtucket by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and is administered by the PBDC.
Pawtucket small businesses can access a PDF pre-application form or a Word pre-application form from the City of Pawtucket website, Planning & Redevelopment page to begin applying to this program.