County Offering Free Facelifts for Local Businesses
Local business owners, you could be eligible for a free facelift from the county. The Castro Valley Municipal Advisory Council (MAC) heard a plan to improve facades around town during their Monday night meeting.
The MAC got an update from the county’s Economic and Civic Development Department (ECD) about its efforts regarding business attraction, the beautification of the commercial areas, and promoting community identity.
The ECD said the facade improvement program means local businesses can apply to the county for up to $40,000 (with no cash match) or $80,000 (with a cash match) for improvements such as new signs, paint, lighting, landscaping, and awnings.
In the past year, the county has invested more than $250,000 to improve the looks of Castro Valley businesses including the Lake Chabot Public Market, JP’s Restaurant, and Castro Valley Lumber.
If you are curious about which business will be undergoing upgrades or what new businesses are coming to town, there is a “development activity” tab on the county’s website where the public can see all the current projects in development (www.acgov.org/cda/ecd/). The county also regularly publishes an e-newsletter on its website.
The ECD also spoke about the $2.78 million in federal COVID stimulus American Rescue Plan funding it has received to help local businesses.
“We are especially focused on helping businesses recover from the pandemic,” said Susan McCue, Assistant Economic Development Director.
The ECD has allocated $1 million for small business grants for those in the unincorporated area (individual grants of $10,000 for businesses with 25 or fewer employees) and awarded $450,000 to the Chamber of Commerce to expand mentoring and training for small businesses and to open an office in the Ashland/ Cherryland area, among other small business pandemic relief and recovery efforts.
The ECD also touted its efforts in creating identification banners along the Boulevard and wayfinding signs around town.
“I love the banners downtown,” said MAC member Chuck Moore. “When you see them, they create such excitement.”
Also at Monday night’s meeting, the MAC also heard a brief update about the upcoming merger of the Hayward and Castro Valley California Highway Patrol (CHP) offices.
Beginning in the fall of 2023, the current Castro Valley CHP location on Redwood Road will close and merge with the Hayward CHP in a new office at 25100 Santa Clara Street in Hayward. Services—including existing beats—will not change.