The Downtown Dover Partnership updated small business owners on its master plan progress at the Merchants Committee meeting this week.
The DDP’s priority project is the Mobility Center, which will house 350 to 400 cars as well as bicycle storage and repair and several micro retail spaces.
The group is still looking for a four-story building for the center. It is also continuing to work on a mixed use, mixed income residential and commercial redevelopment project.
DDP executive director Diane Laird leads the Merchants Committee meetings about every quarter. She said it’s critical to involve local merchants in the planning process.
“In the plan, bringing more people to live downtown is a key strategy to ensuring that the businesses have built-in customers, and at the same time ensuring that those businesses are quality businesses and restaurants, retail shops, service providers, professional services.”
Laird added these quarterly conversations keep small business owners and residents in the loop on DDP programs like the Retention Expansion Assistance Program.
“If the business wants to expand from its footprint to, say, take an adjacent building and double in size or wants to expand a customer base so they need new kinds of inventory, this could be a couple of ways to support expansion of a business.”
The program offers small businesses up to $2 thousand to grow.
The DDP also has funding available to help small businesses update building facades and the Critical Improvements Program, which helps bring spaces up to ADA accessibility standards.
Downtown Dover Partnership officials are considering adding a $5 thousand bonus to new businesses that fill vacant spaces downtown.
The Merchants Committee will continue to meet every few months as the DDP master plan project continues.
