OBSERVER Photo by M.J. Stafford The city of Dunkirk is touting a public information meeting set for Tuesday on a Small Project Fund for businesses. From left are EJ Hayes, deputy director of planning and development for the city; Jody Falkner, a consultant helping the city run the fund; and Vince DeJoy, Dunkirk’s director of planning and development.

Public information meetings on a Small Project Fund for city of Dunkirk businesses are set for Tuesday.

The meetings will be 10 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. at the SUNY Fredonia Incubator, 314 Central Ave. There will be information on how eligible business and business property owners can apply for funding.

The fund has $473,000 in it from the city’s $10 million Downtown Revitalization Initiative award from the state.

The city has retained Jody Falkner, a local consultant based out of the Incubator, to help run the fund. She and city Planning and Development Department officials talked about the fund at Tuesday’s Common Council Economic Development Committee meeting.

EJ Hayes, deputy planning and development director, said an application to use money in the Small Projects Fund “went live” Tuesday. It’s on the planning department’s page on the official city of Dunkirk website. Applications are due May 2.

“Business owners have been extremely enthusiastic” about the fund, Falkner said.

Hayes sought to “hammer home these projects are reimbursable,” explaining that successful fund applicants can get up to 75% of projects paid back, but they have to front the money.

Falkner said that even after she explained that to local business owners, she still “had a lot of positive feedback” about the fund.

Non-profit organizations are also eligible to access the fund, if they have a project planned in the city’s Downtown Revitalization Initiative zone, Falkner told the OBSERVER after the meeting.

She invited any representatives of businesses or organizations interested in the funding to contact her if they have questions. Falkner’s phone number is 716-679-6147; her email address is jodyfalkner@gmail.com.