Recipients Named for B-Line Business Enhancement Fund

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 18, 2009

For more information, please contact:
Danise Alano, Director of Economic and Sustainable Development, City of Bloomington, 349-3477
Danny Lopez, Communications Director, City of Bloomington, 349-CITY, lopezd@bloomington.in.gov





Bloomington, IN - As construction for Phase I of the B-Line Trail nears completion, the City of Bloomington has announced the recipients of grant funds through the B-Line Business Enhancement Fund program.

Funding for the one-time grants for property and other improvements will be provided by the Bloomington Urban Enterprise Association (BUEA) and is intended to seed private investment in what Mayor Mark Kruzan has called "the most significant economic development project on the City's agenda."

"To leverage this new opportunity, it is crucial that private investment along the B-Line follows quickly on the heels of the public investment," said Danise Alano, the City's Director of Economic and Sustainable Development. "We are thankful for the generous support of the BUEA in making this investment a reality for these pioneering businesses, and we are excited to begin realizing the economic development potential these projects will spur along the B-Line Trail."

Announced in October 2008, the program was open to businesses adjacent to the first construction phase of the B-Line Trail.

"Our mission is simply to provide the means by which residents and businesses in the Zone can improve their economic, physical and social environment," said BUEA board president Roger Kent. "The B-Line Trail has such enormous potential in all of these areas, so we were thrilled that the City approached us to partner in providing the Business Enhancement grants."

Eight businesses and organizations submitted grant proposals, including budgets and timelines, demonstrating an ability to leverage business enhancement opportunities offered by the new trail.

Competitive grant proposals were reviewed by a team representing the City of Bloomington Parks and Recreation Department, Economic and Sustainable Development Department and the BUEA. Businesses selected to receive funding include WonderLab Museum of Science, Health, and Technology; the Bloomington/Monroe County Convention Center; Bunger & Robertson Attorneys at Law; Boomerang Hair and Janko's Little Zagreb. Grantees will be completing a variety of projects, outlined in the following table. Several of the funded projects are already underway.

For more information on other economic development incentives available to businesses through the BUEA, please call 349-3508 or visit www.bloomington.in.gov/BUEA. For more information on the B-Line Business Enhancement Fund program, please contact Miah Michaelsen at 349-3534.

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