Local Small Business Repair Grants

This program offers grant support to local small businesses

The Local Small Business Repair Grants are emergency funds that use existing tax increment funding (TIF) resources and funding allocated by City Council to provide support of up to $10,000 to local small businesses needing immediate repairs. Grants are available throughout the city where businesses have sustained physical damage – such as broken windows or doors, graffiti, or sign damage – as a result of vandalism. Grants are intended to help the eligible business remain open and operational and should contribute to maintaining a healthy street environment. Prosper Portland will provide the grant on a reimbursement basis, with no required match.

Demand for this assistance is high; thank you for your patience as we respond to inquiries and applications. If you have any questions, please contact us at RepairGrants@ProsperPortland.us.

Apply now

Repair Grant Details

Eligibility

  • Local small businesses occupying a ground-floor storefront, either owner-occupied or as tenants.
  • Mobile or stationary food cart owners or tenants.
  • Nonprofit organizations, with approval of the Prosper Portland executive director, if located in an occupied ground-floor storefront
  • Businesses must have a current City of Portland business license and be registered with the State Business Registry.
  • Businesses which have previously received Prosperity Investment Program grants from Prosper Portland are eligible.

Eligible Repairs

Grant funds will be issued on a reimbursement basis for repairs to physical damage which occurred within 6 months of the application date to the exterior ground floor storefront of a building or food cart, provided that the repairs did not require city permits and have not been included as part of an insurance claim. Eligible repairs include:

  • Temporary window or door board-up
  • Window repair / replacement
  • Door repair / replacement
  • Graffiti removal / Paint over
  • Sign repair / replacement
  • Repair to customer entrance/egress

Ineligible Entities

  • Property owner who does not own or operate a small business occupying the ground floor storefront space of their property
  • Any business located in a storefront space that is not zoned for commercial use.
  • Property management company working on behalf of a property owner that is not itself an eligible entity (only tenants or owner-occupied businesses are eligible for repair grants).

Ineligible Repairs

Examples of loss items that are not eligible for reimbursement:

  • Interior repairs
  • Inventory replacement
  • Anything that is not part of the building’s or food cart’s physical storefront.
  • Total loss of a food cart
  • Business operating costs or losses related to repairs
  • Lost sales or wages
  • Any work that requires a city-issued permit
  • Any damages that have been submitted to insurance as part of a claim, unless that claim has been rejected and closed.

Mural Repair Policy

  • Murals damaged by vandalism may be eligible for repair grant funding.
  • Only eligible businesses may apply.  For example, a mural artist or organization may not apply on behalf of a storefront.
  • Only sidewalk level vandalism repair is considered an eligible expense.
  • The clear coat of a mural is considered an eligible expense, when combined with a repair.  For example, a business pays for graffiti removal on their mural, and clear-coats it directly afterwards for future damage prevention.
  • If the clear coat is applied independently of a repair, it is not eligible.  This program does not reimburse for upgrades which are not in connection with a repair.
  • Power washing of a damaged mural is an eligible expense.

To Apply

Materials to prepare before filling out application:

  • Invoices and proof of payment for completed repairs (such as copies of cancelled checks and/or of debit/credit card statements).
  • If you paid cash for any of the work for which you are seeking reimbursement, please have vendor providing that work email repairgrants@prosperportland.us with the following information:
    • Repair grant # (provided to you via email)
    • Your business name
    • Address where work was completed
    • How much was paid in cash
    • Itemized list of work completed, with amount for each line item
  • Images of damaged property and final repairs made (5 photos maximum). Only sidewalk-level vandalism is eligible.
  • Copy of a police report (if one was filed)
  • Signed and dated W-9 for grant payment
  • Completed application

Selection Process

Prosper Portland will review applications as they are submitted. Applications will be approved based on eligibility.

Only tenants or owner-occupied businesses are eligible for repair grants. If a property manager or building owner has paid for eligible repairs and is charging the tenant for the cost of those repairs pursuant to the terms of a lease agreement, the tenant may be eligible for a Repair Grant to reimburse the tenant for their share of those charges.