Downtown Girard Small Business e-Commerce Mini Grant

Downtown Girard, in collaboration with Girard Borough and with funding provided by a Mission Main Street Grant from the Erie County Gaming Revenue Authority, is offering matching grants up to $2,500 to businesses located within the downtown to create or enhance their e-commerce.


Overview
The purpose of the Downtown Girard Small Business e-Commerce Mini Grant Program is to facilitate technology access for small, private businesses located in downtown Girard. Projects for which grant funding is available include: development or improvement of online shopping systems, search engine optimization, website design and development, online marketing strategies, and other enhancements that increase traffic and e-commerce to the business. Annual maintenance or service fees (internet service provider, priority listing, domain name, or website hosting fees) are not eligible for grant funds.


Grant Eligibility
To be eligible for a Small Business e-Commerce Mini Grant, the applicant must be a for-profit small business located in downtown Girard, Main Street from the McQuillen car dealership to Old Ridge Road, and Rice Avenue from Main Street to Vine Street.

For the purposes of this grant, a small business is defined as a business which is at least 51% independently owned and controlled by one or more individuals who are U.S. citizens or legal resident aliens, and together with affiliates, has 250 or fewer employees, or average annual gross receipts of $10 million or less for the previous year. One or more of the individual owners shall control both the management and daily business operations of the small business.


e-Commerce Program Grant Deadline and Amounts
Grants are made on a first come, first served basis and are limited to available funding. Eligibility is determined at the discretion of Downtown Girard.

Grant awards shall not exceed 50% of the total project cost up to a maximum of $2,500.


Grant Approval Criteria
Applicants must satisfy the following criteria to be considered for funding.

  • Must be a business currently licensed in and with its principal office located within the program boundary.
  • Projects must be legal and commercially viable, with no adult-only material.
  • Grant funds cannot be awarded for a project which has been completed prior to approval of a grant application and the execution of the Grant Agreement by the Applicant and Downtown Girard. The intent is to incentivize new e-commerce services rather than pay for a project that has already been completed.
  • Grants are to be used for the creation or enhancement of e-commerce sites and cannot be used for domain registration, web hosting, general maintenance services, or annual subscriptions.
  • Applicant must provide Downtown Girard with at least two (2) estimates from e-commerce providers with the application.

Eligible Uses of Funding

Consultation Services: Information technology strategic planning, e-Commerce needs and marketing assessments as it relates to the services below.

Web Design and Development Services: Custom website design, information architecture and graphic user interface planning, database driven website design and development, content management solutions, usability testing, advanced scripting and programming, custom database development.

e-Commerce Services: Shopping carts, donation and membership systems, and online security assessments and testing tools.

Internet Marketing Services: Email marketing, mobile apps, search engine marketing, search engine optimization, e-Newsletters, blogs, RSS, Wikis.

Other e-commerce innovations and enhancements as approved at the discretion of Downtown Girard.

Grant Application Process

  • Qualified business obtains guidelines and application from the Girard Borough website, or by other means.
  • For all projects an applicant must obtain two (2) quotes from a Service Provider for the desired work. An applicant, at its discretion, may select the provider of preference regardless of price, and is not required to take the lowest bid.
  • Applicant completes, signs, and submits the application to Downtown Girard via mail, hand delivery, or electronic submittal.
  • Application is reviewed and is approved or denied within (20) business days, pending verification of eligibility.
  • Letter and email are sent to applicant with notification of decision and, if approved, providing notice of the amount of grant funding they are eligible to receive. The applicant’s contract with the Service Provider should be conditional upon the approval of the Grant by Downtown Girard and the execution of the Grant Agreement by the applicant and Downtown Girard. Applicant has 90 days from receipt of the letter to complete and return the Grant Agreement, or grant funds may be revoked at the discretion of Downtown Girard.
  • Applicant must enter a contract with Service Provider setting forth the scope of the services to be performed. The contract must be approved by Downtown Girard and will be attached to, and become a part of, the Grant Agreement between the applicant and Downtown Girard. The applicant’s contract with the Service Provider should be conditioned upon the approval by Downtown Girard and the issuance of the Grant.


Grant Payments
Authorized Service Provider completes the project as quoted and invoices the grantor (Downtown Girard) for its services and a grant check will be issued to the Service Provider for the grant amount. Evidence of payment of the applicant’s proportional costs to the Service Provider should accompany invoice. All project work should be completed within one calendar year (365 days) of acceptance of grant. If the applicant is not able to fulfill this requirement in the allotted time, grant funds may be revoked at the discretion of Downtown Girard.


Questions
If you have questions regarding the completion of this application or the eligibility of your project, contact Borough Manager Rob Stubenbort at (814) 774-9683 x 203 (Office), (814) 392-4169 (Cell), or robs@girardborough.com

Downtown Girard Small Business e-Commerce Mini Grant Application

Business Applicant:

Business: _______________________________________________________________________­­­­______

Business Address: ______________________________________________________________________

Contact Person: ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­________________________________________________________________________

Phone: _______________________________  Email: _________________________________________

Website URL (If applicable): ______________________________________________________________

e-Commerce Service Provider:

Business Name: ________________________________________________________________________

Business Contact: ______________________________________________________________________

Address: _____________________________________________________________________________

Phone: ________________________________  Email: ________________________________________

Provider Website URL: __________________________________________________________________

Tax ID Number: ________________________________________________________________________

Project Summary & Cost Information:

Provide a written summary of proposed work.

Two (2) detailed quotes from two (2) e-commerce service providers must be submitted with this application.

Quoted Total Project Cost: $_____________                      Grant Funds Requested*: $________________
*Grant Funds Requested must not be greater than 50% of the total project cost or $2,500.

Certification:

I certify that at the time of this application, the proposed project has not been completed and that everything stated in this application is true and correct to the best of my knowledge.

Signature: ______________________________________________________      Date: ______________