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Lisa Bragau, owner and instructor of Zen and Now Wellness Studio on Flanders Road in Niantic, teaches a yoga class on Friday, July 22, 2022. (Daniel Paspara/ Special for the day)
Owner and Instructor in Niantic, Lisa Bragau, Zen & Now Wellness Studio, will teach a morning yoga class on Friday, July 22, 2022. (Daniel Paspara/ Special for the day)
Lisa Bragaugh, center, owner and instructor at Zen & Now Wellness Studio on Flanders Road in Niantic, Friday, July 22, 2022, smiles after teaching a yoga class. (Daniel Pasapera/Special for the Day)
Lisa Bragau, owner and instructor at Zen & Now Wellness Studio on Flanders Road in Niantic, teaches a second yoga session on Friday, July 22, 2022. (Daniel Pasapera/Special for the Day)
Lisa Bragow, owner and instructor of Zen & Now Wellness Studio on Flanders Road in Niantic, is seen after teaching a yoga class in front of a window on Friday, July 22, 2022. (Daniel Paspara/ special for the day)
This article is part of a series exploring how cities in southeastern Connecticut are allocating American Recovery Plan Act funds.
Lisa Bragow, owner of Zen & Now, a yoga and fitness studio on the East Side, has gone from 34 instructors before the COVID-19 pandemic to 18 now — but she’s trying to grow again, and she’s doing more advertising than she ever had. Do it before.
At the time of the pandemic, Bragaw was earning as a pharmacist, when fitness classes were only virtual in the spotlight, but she said she had to subsidize that work for Zen and now.
She’s grateful for the $5,000 grant she recently received from Eastern, especially considering a loan from the Paycheck Protection Program when she’s ineligible for many other grants. Her teachers are contractors, not employees.
Zen & Now is one of several small businesses across Southeastern Connecticut receiving dollars from cities and towns under the federal America’s Rescue Plan Act. Not all municipalities are giving ARPA dollars to small businesses, but some have already cut checks, others have allocated but not yet paid out, and some are in the early stages of administering a grant program.
“We’re against sewers and air conditioners and city vehicles and all kinds of things,” said Lisa Konicki, president of the Ocean Community Chamber of Commerce. Making money means going to city council meetings. Our businesses.”
How Norwich, New London and Stonington partnered with the Southeast Connecticut Cultural Coalition to administer a grant program for artists, nonprofits and arts businesses, the Chamber awarded ARPA funds to local municipalities to administer a grant program.
Konicki said the council received $100,000 from Westerly, $75,000 from Stonington and $19,000 from Stonington Borough, with 80% of the money being distributed in each community. The Charlestown, RI, chamber is scheduled to vote Aug. 9 on whether to grant $60,000.
In the city of Stonington, $64,000 is for small businesses, $6,000 is for the council’s administrative fee, and the rest is for a new event this summer. Businesses must complete their projects and submit invoices.
Koenigse broke ground on some projects in the city and county: Denison Pequotseppos Nature Center got $3,544 to replace a broken embankment, Soundwaves magazine got $2,000 to make up for lost advertising revenue. Coffee and Sandwich Co. is getting $2,000 for outdoor seating.
As for the new phenomenon, Koenig did not provide specifics when applying for funding and basically said, “Trust us.” Citing the success of Stonington’s Lobster Trap Tree, she said the class has gained trust.
The class has since created a website and released details for the event: Starry Lights, a “temporary, two-state, magical holiday art installation will make Westerly-Pawcatuck merry and bright this holiday season.” The department is contracting with artists to create artwork that will cover Donahue Park and Wilcox Park for three weeks in December.
Stonington gave $13,000 to the Greater Mystic Chamber of Commerce, which will go toward a former mail truck purchased for $14,000. Bruce Flax, who was the department’s executive director at the time of the outbreak, said it has been branded and used for marketing in downtown Mystic and at events. Due to financial struggles, the room was moved from the Greenmanville Avenue Visitor Center to a second-floor location in downtown Mystic, with less foot traffic.
Flex said the department is trying to get funding for the design from the Town of Groton, which reviews applications for community projects and initiatives.
Flakes had asked Stonington for money to pay an outstanding $8,000 police bill from the 2019 Secret Outdoor Art Festival. He said the city chose to waive the bill.
“We promise that we will never and will never allow this to happen again. We are financially very strong now,” Flax said. He pointed out that the police bill for the 2021 festival has been paid within 30 days.
Going beyond existing businesses
Kevin Brown, president of the Norwich Community Development Corporation, said NDCC’s ARPA spending will run the gamut from expanding existing businesses to helping new businesses create spaces of opportunity.
Norwich allocated $2 million to NCDC last September. In October, Ventura Barber Shop received $10,073 in a pilot award to help cover building code improvements. NCDC opened an application process in February and in March selected Enfield-based Lead Construction to oversee and coordinate the $2 million program.
NCDC announced in June that eight development projects will be paid a total of $1.2 million upon completion. That’s for Ross Custom Switches, 45 Church St., to renovate road equipment with a new motorcycle showroom. That includes funding to replace the roof and make the second floor usable and open Ganesha Hospitality in the former Elks Club boutique hotel. On Main Street.
Other grants include Guy’s Brewing Company, Thayer Beach, Antenna Saloon and two development groups renovating 51-53 and 54 Broadway for future retail space.
Brown said the first installment of $2 million, about $125,000, will be used to help other projects with architectural, mechanical and engineering design so they can go through with building officials and become eligible for further funding. It also includes a 10% administrative fee to NCDC and Leading Edge Construction, which Brown has been an “awesome” partner with.
The remainder of the first installment, and $1.5 million for the second year, will be used to fund existing or new projects.
Brown said projects in the queue include a possible bakery in Taftville, a possible sandwich shop on North Main Street, a brick-and-mortar expansion of Basil Wood Fired Pizza Co. and boarded-up storefronts at 71 and 47 Franklin St. Ready entry for yet to be determined retail service.
Brown said he expects to open a new application window in the fall.
Also using ARPA funds, Norwich City Council on July 7 approved a $1.05 million package for Solar Seal, which produces custom glass panels for high-rise buildings: a $350,000 grant and two short-term interest-free loans of $350,000 each.
Solar Seal is moving into a 200,000 sq ft former Lightloir building in Stanley Israel’s Norwich Business Park.
Senior Vice President Jeff Heintz said the city’s help will help the company quickly prepare to begin production in Norwich this fall and plan for immediate expansion. With supply chain issues, Solar Seal is now placing orders for devices.
In New London, the City Council in April approved $20,000 for interior ventilation replacements at the Washington Street Bar, $50,000 each for a ceiling at 68 State St. and 312 State St., approved $50,000 for HVAC and interior renovations at the Bank Street building. Blue Duck Restaurant recently opened, $50,000 for facade and roof repairs at Hot Rod Cafe and more.
The City Council approved $100,000 for the building’s interior renovations in May and June, the Eastern Connecticut Chamber of Commerce for its new home and startup incubator, $75,000 for the reopening of The Lighthouse Inn after the fire, and $256,000 for the Women’s Business Development Council.
Elizabeth Nocera, the city’s economic development coordinator, said the WBDC will conduct a business grant program with applications open in September.
Nocera is on the Aug. 1 City Council agenda for $66,800 at 310 State St. It includes $50,000 for roof repairs at New London Elks Lodge No. 360, a fitness business owned by American Ninja Warrior finalist Summer Delgado.
All projects require a 25% match, and business and property owners can either make a purchase and have the city pay 75 percent, or the city can pay the contractor directly, she said.
Old Lyme and Waterford contract with external consultants
Old Lyme paid George Krivda $20,000 to use an outside consultant to manage the economic recovery grant program. The city selected all 33 Old Lyme-based businesses and nonprofits, mostly for $10,000 but less.
Abdul Khan, owner of EZ Mini Mart, has yet to receive the $10,000 check, but said it will be used to reimburse him for the cost of installing a new air conditioning system last October. (On a visit this past week in the middle of a heat wave, it was comfortably cool.)
Recouping that large cost will help Kahn offset the cost of inflation and supply chain issues related to the pandemic: The cost of buying a gallon of milk has gone from $3.69 to $5.19, he said.
Other businesses selected for $10,000 grants are Superior Emergency Products, Coffee Country Market, HS Plaut Environmental Company, Old Lyme Landscape, Teddy’s Old Lyme Pizza Palace, St. Germain Painting and The Bowerbird.
Like Old Lyme, Waterford is paying an outside consultant: The city is working on a $66,000 contract with Brianna Regine, said Planning Director Abby Pearsall. Waterford has allocated $300,000 to small businesses and says, “We are now in the building phase of our program.”
“We know we want to do multiple rounds of funding, so we’re creating a program that has some longevity,” Pearsall said. She said she plans to launch a survey of small businesses and nonprofits next week and share the results at a small business forum in August.
Pearsall said Regine helps business owners through the application process because, unlike nonprofits, some have never applied for a grant before — a point Koenig also raised.
He also chooses a few businesses in the east
On the east side, 19 nonprofits and 10 businesses requested a total of $1.56 million, and the city awarded $461,945 to 18 nonprofits — although some received only part of their requests — and three businesses. The subcommittee’s opinion for businesses that were not selected was that they provided insufficient information or had previously received substantial loans or grants.
The city allocated $20,000 to East Coast Taco, $8,000 to thrift store Serendipthrifty and $5,000 to Zen & Now.
Serendipityrifty owner Emily Semelrock said she received her grant a few weeks ago and plans to replace some of her shelves, get more furniture and keep up with rent and utilities. Since she opened the store last May, she has no point of comparison before the pandemic.
Semelrock said she heard about the program at an East Lyme community forum, and said, “It really took a lot of pressure off my shoulders, because I’m doing this myself.”
Daily Staff Writer Claire Bessett contributed to this report.
e.moser@theday.com
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