Vivian ChuiOmineca Express
$10,000 of funding is still available until November for Vanderhoof’s businesses to upgrade their look.
So far, a total of $10,000 has been provided to two local businesses by the Northern Development Initiative Trust through its Business Façade Improvement Program — and the District has received just two applications, said Chief Administrative Officer Tom Clement.
The program contributes fifty per cent of a qualifying business’s project for up to $5,000, with a total of $20,000 per year to the District for improving the appearance of its businesses.
“The improvement of the Highway 16 corridor has been Council’s desire for a while,” said Mayor Gerry Thiessen. “Being able to provide financial incentive for those businesses along Highway 16 to upgrade the look of their establishments is a significant step in the right direction.”
For both the funding’s recipients — ARO Automotive Industrial Supplies and Streamline Signs and Graphics — the upgrade projects cost $40,000.
“You got to have a project that you could make work,” said Wayne Funk from Streamline Signs and Graphics. “You only have $5,000.”
When asked about the lack of applications, Funk said most people may not be giving it a lot of thought.
“I’ve talked to several people who have been applying,” he said. “People have been busy.”