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Photo by Brett Tennyson
The City of Guthrie announced Friday it will soon be launching a new retail initiative in the downtown area, using funds received as part of T-Mobile’s Hometown Grant program.
At a news event Friday afternoon, local representatives from T-Mobile presented a check to City officials for $50,000 to be used for construction of a pop-up-shop park intended to serve as a retail incubator and vibrant community space.
The concept is focused on providing a low-cost option for start-up retailers as a gateway that will lead them to move into one of the vacant, full-sized retail spaces in the downtown district.
“The funding of the downtown ‘Pop Up Shops’ via the T-Mobile Hometown Grant Program will provide a unique opportunity to infuse new ideas into our downtown area,” said Steve Gentling, Mayor for the City of Guthrie. “It will provide incubator shops for new businesses and new ideas that will build and enhance retail activity in our community. It is exciting for new business owners and exciting for Guthrie. Thank you, T-Mobile!”
T-Mobile began its Hometown Grant program as part of the Federal requirements for approval of its merger with Sprint. The company has set aside $25 million in economic development grants to rural areas, to be distributed over five years (beginning in April 2021).
Since the program’s start, T-Mobile has given more than $5.5 million to kick-start 125 community development projects across 37 states, including those in areas of technology, healthcare and education. T-Mobile’s representatives also emphasized strong local support here since they opened their local retail store on Division Street, and they’re very happy to collaborate with the city in further economic development through this grant program.
Shawnda Rooney, Economic Development Director for the City, told the Guthrie News Leader that the main concept for the development is an open-air space similar to the City Garden space in midtown Oklahoma City. However, rather than focusing only on food trucks as City Garden does, the new incubator space will offer four spaces for general retailers as well as two dedicated spaces for food service retailers. The location for the new incubator space is not yet determined, but it will be in the downtown area. City officials are working through negotiations for an unspecified primary site and also are looking for alternative locations in case lease details for the primary site cannot be finalized.
The City will manage the leases in the new space, providing an additional revenue stream, as well as a pipeline to keep new businesses moving into the downtown district.
An application process is being put together for prospective tenants, and a committee composed of City officials, local business owners and community members will review all applications and decide on approvals. Initial requirements for tenants, such as minimum capital, are not yet certain. However, the City’s focus will be to provide flexibility for interesting and diverse retail options downtown.
Rooney stated: “We want to make sure we benefit downtown and the community. We want diversity in our retail that people will be excited to buy from.”
She noted that she had been working on this grant for nearly a year, and that she received word of the award on Aug. 22. Also, a $50,000 community development block grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture will provide additional funding.