Developing & Managing Important Business Resources
Tiffin Facade Grant Program
This award winning program, developed and launched by TSEP in 2014 for the City of Tiffin, has been a huge success in stimulating investment downtown.
In 2014, Tiffin Mayor Aaron Montz approached TSEP about developing a downtown facade enhancement grant program to improve the appearance of buildings in downtown Tiffin. Amy Reinhart was hired that summer, and Tiffin became a Main Street affiliate. We then benchmarked other Ohio programs and developed a program that would reimburse up to half of the exterior improvements of a building in the downtown historic district, up to $10,000, as long as it was approved by the Architectural Board of Review.
The program launched fall of 2014 with $50,000. Through the end of 2020, the City of Tiffin has invested more then $597,000 into the program resulting in a total of 95 facade projects and $2.3 million of private investment - meaning for every $1 invested, $4 of private funds had been spent to preserve and improve the downtown's appearance. I 2018, the City of Tiffin and TSEP were recognized with the Best Public/Private Partnership award from Heritage Ohio at its state conference. The award was created to recognize partnerships between organizations and government, which leverage resources to create a positive lasting impact.
Programs TSEP Administers include
- Downtown Facade Grant
- community development block grants (CDBG)
- Enterprise Zone (Tiffin)
- Community Reinvestment Areas
- Tax Increment Financing Districts
- Municipal Income Tax Credit (New Jobs Program)
- Sandusky-Seneca-Tiffin Port Authority
- Tiffin/Seneca CARES Grant Program
