July 17, 2015

Dear Downtown Cedar Falls Stakeholder,

The Main Street program in Iowa has proven to have a significant influence on the economic health of our State. To continue this progressive momentum, the Iowa Department of Economic Authority (IEDA) has announced communities certified as Main Street Iowa Programs are eligible for an improvement grant. This funding is provided from the IEDA and is to be administered by Main Street Iowa through local programs such as Community Main Street.

The Cedar Falls downtown district is eligible to compete for these Main Street Challenge Grant funds. Only our local organization, Community Main Street, may submit the application on behalf of the project, and only one project may be submitted from Cedar Falls to compete at the State level.The application deadline isSeptember 11, 2015.

The design of the program is very similar to past Challenge Grant rounds. Grants will be from $15,000-$75,000 with a dollar for dollar local cash match required. Eligible projects include all aspects of building rehabilitation (interior, exterior, upper floors) and new construction on both public and privately owned properties. Multiple buildings may also be grouped together as one application. As always, the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation will apply to any historic properties.

Cedar Falls Community Main Street (CMS) is looking for a worthy project in our downtown district. We are aware of several projects in the planning stages of merit to compete at the State level, but we want to ensure all downtown property or business owners are aware of this opportunity. Interested parties should contact the CMS office at 319-277-0213 for details.

Application Timeline:

  • August 4, 2015- A one-page summary of the project should be presented to CMS no later than 4:30 p.m. August 4. The Business Improvement and Design Committees will review the summary documents on August 5, 2015.
  • August 12, 2015 – From this initial review, submitters will be notified of the status of their project and of any requests for in-person presentations. If necessary, up to three projects may be selected and developers/property owners will be asked to prepare a brief presentation for the Board of Directors to be given on August 12, 2015.
  • August 12, 2015 – Selected projects will present to the board of directors. After the presentations, one project will be selected and brought forward to the state level of competition.
  • August 12 –September 4 - CMS will work with the principals to submit a full proposal and application to Main Street Iowa.
  • September 4, 2015 - Community Main Street will submit the project and application to the Main Street Iowa offices in Des Moines.

Cedar Falls has been fortunate to receive eight previous rounds of funding that have been very valuable to individual property owners and in the overall development of the district.

If you are interested in learning more the challenge grant opportunity, contact the CMS office at (319) 277-0213. In addition, you may download Challenge Grant application materials from the CMS website:

Regards,

Carol LillyBrandon Gray

Executive DirectorBoard President