Driven by Salinas City Council’s interest in pushing for economic development, city officials are in the early stages of crafting a pilot program called From StreetFront to StoreFront with two goals: to support local entrepreneurs and fill vacant commercial spaces in downtown Salinas.
The program would focus on home-based businesses, helping them transition to a brick-and-mortar operation, says Assistant City Manager Lisa Murphy. “The financial barriers tend to be pretty high to start a business,” she adds.
The city will partner with owners of vacant commercial properties and negotiate below-market-rate rent of up to 50 percent. Then they are prepared to chip in for upstart entrepreneurs: “We will financially support them by paying the first six months of their rent. In return, they pay the city 10 percent of their revenues,” Murphy explains.
Besides financial support, city staff would connect business owners with resources, business coaching and financial planning.
The pilot would start with $10,000 to aid two businesses with hopes of expanding. The target group is retail businesses. “The intent is that they are secure enough and have done well enough that they want to either stay in that location or move to another brick-and-mortar spot,” Murphy says.
Various cities, including San Jose, Santa Cruz and Fairfield have implemented similar programs with positive outcomes, such as increasing sales, promoting business incubation and community engagement.
If the program moves according to plan, Murphy hopes they will start this winter. In a report to City Council on Aug. 12, she wrote, “From StreetFront to StoreFront is a low-cost, high-impact strategy to boost our local economy, and uplifts small businesses.”