Girard celebrates completion of downtown facelift

By GRAIG GRAZIOSI

ggraziosi@vindy.com

GIRARD

Rick Gresley was pleased; he was 10 years ahead of schedule.

As the owner of Environmental Protection Systems in downtown Girard, Gresley had initially thought it would be 10 years before he could renovate the outside of his aging building at the corner of West Liberty and Market streets. Thursday, alongside dozens of other business owners, he celebrated the completion of his building’s makeover.

Thanks to a collaboration among a group of business owners, the city of Girard and the Trumbull County Commissioners’ office, 27 downtown businesses received major renovations as a result of the 2015 Community Development Block Grant from the federal government.

The CDBG is reserved for low- to moderate-income areas.

County commissioners received nearly $500,000 of federal grant money for use in the revitalization project.

To celebrate the completion of the nearly two-year project – the commissioners’ office won the grant in 2015 and spent more than a year renovating businesses – officials from the city, the county and local business owners and residents attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony outside the Blackhorse Tavern and Grille, one of the businesses benefitting from the grant.

Mayor James Melfi addressed the group gathered outside the business, particularly the small-business owners who participated in the revitalization program.

“We recognize the demands of running your own business. Small-business owners work long hours and bear the burden of maintaining their own properties,” he said. “Government grants like this afford small businesses the opportunity to continue to operate.”

Julie Green, the grants manager for the commissioners’ office, was frequently cited by city and county officials as the secret weapon behind securing the grant. Referred to as “one of the best copywriters in the state,” Green oversaw and helped shape the county’s grant proposal.

“I love my job,” she said. “I’m grateful to collaborate with the city of Girard and the business owners and contractors involved in the project,” she said. “We got to help a lot of people.”

Business owners were expected to initially invest their own money into the repairs and updates they wanted to undertake. The business owners were then reimbursed a portion of their investment, which was determined by the number of workers they employed and the size of their initial investment into the project.

Between the CDBG funding and the investment from private businesses, nearly $800,000 was spent on the renewal project.