Indianapolis Facade Rebate Progam

A member of our staff, Amanda Gates, brought a wonderful program to my attention.  This program, the 2010 Commercial Facade Improvement Program, is a grant through the Fostering Commercial Urban Strategies (FOCUS) Initiative. 

This opportnity allows any business owner or tenant in the city of Indianapolis to apply for a grant to assist the funding for visible improvements to primary facades and primary building entrances.  These improvements include but are not limited to doors, windows, signs, awnings, and brick, stone, wood or other building surface material. 

This grant will potentially fund up to 50% of project costs up to a maximum grant of $20,000.  The application deadline for the first round is February 26th.

A facade grant selection committee will award projects with priority consideration to projects that will achieve the highest impact on: 1) the property being improved, 2) the block where the property is located, and 3) the neighborhood in which the property is located.  Preference will be given to businesses in the targeted Focus Commercial Corridors: Martin Luther King, Jr. Street, West Washington Street, Fountain Square area, East 10th Street, 16th Street, North Meridian Street and Irvington.

I have included a link to the program documents below.

Program Documents

This grant is like any other, it has requires paperwork filled out and guidelines followed, but the benefits far outweigh the costs.  It is refreshing to know that organizations like FOCUS are working diligently to improve the image and perception of Indianapolis. 

FOCUS is an innovative partnership between LISC, the Central Indiana Chamber of Commerce, the Indianapolis Coalition for Neighborhood Development and the City of Indianapolis. This city-wide collaboration is making changes in the planning, advocacy, and delivery of economic development projects. Through this partnership, the FOCUS initiative is creating vibrant neighborhood business districts and establishing long-lasting relationships that connect neighborhoods with businesses and new resources to revitalize urban markets. 

This is a fantastic initiative and I look forward to finding ways Sign Craft can increase our participation. I am excited about the potential opportunity to utilize our expertise in developing products that both enhance the aesthetics of the community and provide the advertising/identification needs of the business community.

Guns at Work

I am so excited. The state of Indiana is promoting “Bring your gun to work day” every working day of the year. While I understand many believe that it is their constitutional right to brandish a weapon where ever and whenever they deem necessary, I have to question the timing and the necessity of this legislation.
There are several in Sign Craft whom will disagree with my evaluation of this issue. I employ several hunters. A primary argument in favor of this legislation revolves around the hunters’ ability to participate in their sport prior to work and go directly to work without return their weapon to its rightful storage area. Not a bad argument. However, this legislation does not pertain to just hunters. It pertains to anyone that owns a gun.

As a business owner, one of my primary responsibilities is the health and welfare of my employees. Like most, I take this very seriously. By the state mandating that I do not have the right to prohibit firearms on my property, they dramatically increase the chances of an incident occurring.

While I am sure, that there are those currently bringing firearms to Sign Craft, I am also confident that they understand our views and policies prohibiting this action. In these difficult economic times, managements of companies have to make some difficult decisions which sometimes include layoffs and other actions that are not popular. This legislation significantly increases the pressure on these decisions. If an employee has a firearm in his/her vehicle, the timeframe for “cooling off” has been greatly diminished. I am comforted to know that the legislature through this legislation has held us harmless if something does happen, it is a financial comfort, not a moral or psychological comfort.

I know that this is a significant issue to some, yet I fail to see how this issue is of dire importance when the unemployment rate in Indiana hovers around 10%, the state of the commercial real estate market is in shambles and small businesses are struggling due to current lending practices. 

The verbiage of Senate Bill 25 is copied below.

Firearms in locked vehicles. Prohibits a person (which includes an individual, a corporation, and a governmental entity) from adopting or enforcing a policy or rule that prohibits or has the effect of prohibiting an employee of the person (including a contract employee) from legally possessing a firearm that is locked in the employee's vehicle while the vehicle is in or on the person's property. Excepts possession of a firearm: (1) on school property, on property used by a school for a school function, or on a school bus; (2) on certain child care and shelter facility property; (3) on penal facility property; (4) in violation of federal law; (5) on property belonging to an approved postsecondary educational institution; (6) on property belonging to a domestic violence shelter; and (7) at a person's residence. Provides that a person who, in compliance with the prohibition, does not adopt or enforce such a policy or rule is not liable for resulting injury or damage. Authorizes a civil action for damages, costs, attorney's fees, and injunctive relief to remedy a violation. Deletes an outdated reference.