$3M In Grants For Businesses On Route 1 Approved By Supervisors

PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY, VA — The Prince William Board of County Supervisors adopted the Route 1 Refresh Grant Program on Tuesday. The program will allocate more than $3 million in grants to locally-owned business along the Route 1 corridor.

The proposed grant program arose from the supervisors' stated intention to change the name of Route 1, also known as Jefferson Davis Highway, in Prince William County. The road will be renamed Richmond Highway, but supervisors expressed their intent to minimize the impacts of the name change on small businesses.

Leading up to the renaming, Prince William County's Economic Development office conducted a survey to measure the impact on small businesses. At town halls and in survey responses, business owners reported that "they anticipate a direct impact to their business in terms of financial expenses and staff resources," officials wrote in a report.

The Department of Economic Development also consulted with George Mason University's Small Business Development Center to measure the exact financial impacts on business. They determined that the average small business would spend between $3,000 and $4,000 in staff time and marketing materials to update their address after a street renaming.

The grant program will have three different levels of grants available for businesses, starting at $500 and reaching more than $20,000 in reimbursable funds for the top level of recipients. The lower level grants would not require itemization or receipts, though upper levels would.

The grant program will begin accepting applications in July 2022. The program's application will remain open for at least six months.

To be eligible, a business would have to have a Jefferson Davis Highway business address, a Prince William County business license, and be current on applicable business taxes. Detailed information about the grant application process and eligibility requirements is available online.

The grant program was approved unanimously by the Prince William Board of County Supervisors at their meeting on Tuesday, July 20. Supervisors commended the county executive's office, which established the program, for the breadth of the program's offerings for different businesses.