A total of $1 million from the American Rescue Plan is being funneled toward North Killeen.
It's being done in an effort to help incentivize and encourage businesses to set up and continue to grow in the downtown Killeen area. Businesses have been affected throughout the pandemic and the city is hoping these grants can help.
Tyrone Murphy owns Blades Barbershop in Downtown Killeen and has had the business for 10 years. His belief is that the downtown area needs a quality barbershop like his and he loves the fact that it's close to the Fort Hood area.
For those reasons he is grateful for such a grant, he said, “It helps catapult you, helps with remodeling, helps to turn your business… do some upscale looks so clients can want to visit because the downtown area looks a little run down already.”
He added that the grant could help him improve his decor and in the long run, that'll attract more customers.
"We have two grant programs that started today so one is for existing businesses located within the city of Killeen who had financial impact due to covid and its essentially 10,000 dollars," said Danielle Singh, City of Killeen assistant manager.
Singh said in addition to the program for existing businesses in downtown Killeen, there's another program.
“The other program is for start-up or business expansion in the downtown Killeen area," Singh said.
The programs are really directed toward smaller businesses with 50 employees or less.
They can request up to 10,0000, for more information on the requirements, click here.
