The Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce’s Economic Development team has announced the Midtown Small Business Resiliency Grant Program. This business support program is designed to provide financial assistance to small businesses that are most impacted by construction from the Omaha Streetcar.
The program is based on extensive coordination with property owners, the City of Omaha and other stakeholders. The goal has been to distribute funding in an equitable and efficient way that helps businesses weather the disruption and remain viable through the construction period. This process has taken months of effort and has culminated in a program that, similar to Chamber economic initiatives, can make a big difference for businesses that have already invested in the Omaha community. While the City of Omaha can’t pay for business impacts and does not offer a relief fund for businesses impacted by disruptive projects, the City is supportive of the initiative.
The goal of the grant program is to help businesses to stay in operation through the next three years as construction is at its peak with ongoing utility work under the streets and mainline track construction starting in 2026. The program can help mitigate any temporary setbacks in business revenues. The grant program is designed to assist the most vulnerable businesses that rely on daily activity in the corridor, which may be hampered by the construction with some lane and parking closures.
The funds are in addition to other business support measures that have been taken throughout the utility work that started in 2023: Signs along the corridor and on storefronts to promote businesses, additional parking lots and garages created to mitigate the loss of some on-street parking, and the promotion of businesses through news and social media outlets. The Omaha Streetcar Authority also provides construction updates through a variety of outlets.
The business support fund is focused on businesses in a specific zone that will see the greatest impact from streetcar construction. This area, on Farnam Street between 40th Street and Turner Boulevard, will have construction on both sides of the street and stop platforms in the middle of the street as two tracks are built along Farnam in a more narrow right-of-way than the rest of the corridor. This results in having to close more travel lanes and on-street parking than in other construction areas.
More information on the new business support fund can be found here on the Chamber’s website: https://www.omahachamber.org/greater-omaha-business-incentives/
In my next in-depth Grow Omaha article, I will look into a couple of other cities that have recently dealt with streetcar construction with a detailed report on how they have weathered the storm. While the streetcar will provide a significant boost to the metro area in terms of economic development and mobility options, it is essential to support the businesses through this time of putting the rails and streetcar stops in place so that these companies can stay in business and benefit from this new mobility option long into the future.
The City of Omaha hosts a monthly virtual meeting to discuss construction and answer questions. Register here for the October 1 meeting. The September meeting can be viewed here on the Omaha Streetcar Authority YouTube channel. You can also sign up for weekly construction emails here.
Eric Miller is the Streetcar Operations Manager for the City of Omaha. Eric has a 21-year career in the transit industry that includes work in both the private and public sector and work on planning and implementing bus and rail projects for transit agencies all across the country.
Photo by Eric Miller