Several business owners are asking for the City of Knoxville’s assistance in obtaining a state grant, which would allow them to rehabilitate and reopen unused businesses in town.

The Community Catalyst Grant offered by the Iowa Economic Development Authority would provide up to $100,000 in funding for a local business wishing to rehab an older building and convert it into a new location.

City Manager Aaron Adams tells KNIA/KRLS News these business interests could apply one at a time over the course of the next few years, and obtain the funding they need; and he says the city would be glad to help out.

“We can help facilitate that; and we’re always looking for opportunities to help expand businesses and to be able to make repairs to some of our downtown buildings,” Adams says.

“It’s a great opportunity; we’re appreciative for those folks for the research and hard work that they’ve done to bring that to our attention. We hope that this is something that could become an annual process.”

The city may be asked to offer tax abatements, but otherwise there would be no impact on its budget. All applications must come from a government source, so the city would have to apply on behalf of the interested businesses; those businesses have not yet been publicly identified.

For more on matters concerning the City of Knoxville this week, tune in to today’s edition of Let’s Talk Knoxville.