BDDC requests slight budget boost from city

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This article was published 25/01/2024 (603 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Brandon Downtown Development Corporation handed out more than $300,000 in grants for capital projects in 2024, board chair Jay Buizer told Brandon City Council on Monday.

Buizer said the BDDC received $400,000 in funding from the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce to disburse to local businesses last year.

The BDDC is a non-profit aimed at promoting business growth in downtown Brandon.

One funding stream provided up to $125,000 plus another $5,000 for design costs for capital projects, while another stream provided up to $6,000 per project for business improvements.

In the first stream, Buizer said 32 grants totalling $307,000 were sent out through the first stream, facilitating a total aggregate cost of $1,559,000. Some projects accomplished under that program include Chez Angela expanding its footprint and renovations at Fieldstone Dental.

The second stream, Buizer said, facilitated $157,000 worth of projects like marketing, website design and security upgrades.

Last week, the Sun reported that the BDDC handed out $605,000 in funding in 2023. On top of those two business improvement funding streams, the rest of the money disbursed, $141,000, was for the corporation’s façade improvement program.

Buizer said there are three major capital projects the corporation is assisting with this year.

They include $125,000 for work at the Brandon Professional Building and $125,000 in funding toward the Brandon Fresh Farms project at the old McKenzie Seeds building.

While an application has yet to be submitted, Buizer said the new owner of the old Brandon Sun building at 501 Rosser Ave. is planning to make a $50,000 grant application for improvements.

Helping the corporation achieve its goals in 2024 is $400,000 in expected funding from the federal government. Reached by phone on Tuesday, BDDC executive director Emmanuel Ahneku said these funds will be received in instalments over 2024 and 2025 and is earmarked for business improvement projects.

This year, the corporation is asking for $350,000 in funding from the city, up from the $322,341 it received in 2023.

Typically, Buizer said, the BDDC received matching provincial funds based on its municipal funding under the Pallister government and the corporation is trying to secure a similar arrangement from Manitoba’s new NDP government.

After the Brandon Downtown Biz requested $150,000 in funding from the city at the first council meeting this year, in part to help fund administrative work, Coun. Bruce Luebke (Ward 6) asked if the BDDC could partner with the Biz to provide that assistance.

Buizer said Ahaneku is too busy to devote time toward the other organization’s efforts.

On the subject of the Princess Site properties in downtown Brandon, Ahaneku said Tuesday that the hope is to meet with a prospective buyer to go over their proposal for the site next week.

Also making a funding request to council was YWCA Westman executive director Lois Ruston, who requested that the city continue to waive tipping and landfill fees related to the demolition of the former Meredith Place transitional housing facility.

Last year, the city waived fees and deposits worth around $17,500 relating to the demolition.

While the building has been torn down, Ruston said work on clearing the site still continues.

Any funds the city can help the YWCA save during the process, Ruston said, can be put toward a conceptual plan for a new facility intended to include both transitional housing and a crisis shelter.

By doing so, Ruston said the city would be acknowledged as an important contributor to the project.

The original Meredith Place was built in 1917 and closed in 2022 after mounting repair bills needed to keep the facility operational became too much for the YWCA to manage.

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