Jefferson Wants You Incentive Funds still available

Special to the Jefferson Herald

The Jefferson Wants You Incentive Fund for new small businesses and remote workers still has funds available.  

New businesses locating to Jefferson in 2022 - 2023 can apply for up to $5,000 of start-up costs in establishing the business. Those types of costs include tables, chairs, office furniture, computers, point of sale system, etc. These costs are a one time cost to get the business up and running. Ongoing and administrative costs are not eligible. The application is available on the experiencejeffersoniowa.com website  under the Grow Here tab - Entrepreneurial Opportunities.  
The Jefferson Wants You Incentive Fund for remote workers is designed to encourage people who work remotely to utilize Gravitate Coworking in downtown Jefferson. Connectivity with high-speed broadband and connections with other remote workers makes Jefferson a great option for those want to live in a vibrant, rural community. This fund is available for current remote workers and those moving to Greene County and includes a one year floating desk membership. Applications can be found on the experiencejeffersoniowa.com website under the Grow Here tab - Entrepreneurial Opportunities.

Both of the applications are available in English or Spanish.  

To date, four new businesses have been awarded start-up funds and two remote workers have received a year’s membership to Gravitate.  
For more information, contact Executive Director Matt Wetrich at director@jeffersonmatters.org or call 515-386-2155

Existing business growth mini-grants also offered

Local shopping has never been more important. Local retailers have gone above and beyond to meet the needs and wants of local consumers. New customers are being connected to local businesses, and existing customers are happy to be shopping and supporting local.
Is there a product or service that is not easily available in the  local economy that your business would like to introduce? Maybe it’s men’s clothing, a sporting goods line, or children’s toys. These are just some of the examples from the data collected in Jefferson that represents some of the wants and needs of the community members.

The goal of the Existing Business Growth Mini-Grant of up to $500 is to help take some of the financial fear away from introducing a new product. This grant program is to assist business owners in Jefferson financially to diversify and grow product lines based on ESRI data and demand of product. The grant is available at jeffersonmatters.org under Resources - Existing Business Growth Mini-Grant.
While the organization knows that every single product cannot be available locally, we want to assist in providing the products and services that we can in our community. It is important that we invest in YOU, our local businessperson.
This is a project of the Economic Vitality Team. Please contact Executive Director Matt Wetrich at director@jeffersonmatters.org or call 515-386-2155 with questions.