Dayton City Commissioners have approved a $7 million First Floor Fund to help local businesses. The fund is intended to help businesses-owners obtain low-interest and forgivable loans when other more traditional resources may not be available. City leaders say the loans are meant to help activate storefront spaces that were impacted by COVID-19 and will have a particular focus on minority-owned businesses. “We know first-floor space is so important to activating sidewalks and creating vibrancy,” Dayton City Manager, Shelley Dickstein told the Dayton Daily News. “Those are places that people want to be and it’s a great element of place-making.” Applications for the First Floor Fund are expected to open in late October. The money for the First Floor Fund comes from the $138 million Dayton received as part of the American Rescue Plan Act.
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