By Joe Jarosz
Northeast News
September 30, 2015

Editor’s note: The following is the second in a two-part story on the program, Invest Northeast.

KANSAS CITY, Missouri — Invest Northeast wasn’t just about demolition of dangerous buildings in the Northeast area.

The plan included four programs: business training scholarship program providing scholarships for business-related classes to aspiring and current business owners in the Northeast, property tax abatement for home and business owners who renovate their properties, micro-loans between $500 and $50,000, and targeted minor home repair program providing support to eligible homeowners for small, exterior housing repairs. First District Councilman Scott Wagner said there is still money from these four programs for residents who want to take advantage of these programs.

“Urban renewal zones created for Indian Mound and Lykins [neighborhoods], and they join Scarrit, Independence Plaza and Pendleton Heights,” Wagner said, adding those were completed last spring as part of the property tax abatement program. “We haven’t had a lot of success with the program yet, though, because only eight people signed up this year and they live in Pendleton Heights and Scarrit.”

If a resident makes a $5,000 investment, their property taxes will freeze for the next 10 years. The biggest challenge, Wagner said, is letting people know this tool is available throughout the Northeast.

“We hoped this would spur additional investment in Indian Mound and Lykins and it still could, it’s just I don’t think people are recognizing this opportunity is available to them,” Wagner said.

The Historic Northeast Minor Home Repair Program assists homeowners who make housing repairs such as roofing, windows, exterior paint (through the City’s Paint Program), or major mechanical systems such as furnaces or duct work and live in the target area of Benton Boulevard to Hardesty Avenue and from Garner Avenue to Eighth Street. The city started with $200,000 available for residents. One of the more successful programs as part of Invest Northeast, Wager said the program spurred 21 projects for a total of $113,000. Those projects included roof repair, furnace replacement or repair, and water and electrical projects.

“We’ve still got some money leftover that can be spent and I encourage people in that zone to contact us for project assistance,” Wagner said.

Invest Northeast wasn’t just for residents. There were also programs aimed at businesses in the area. The Justine Petersen Microloans provide microloans to business owners whose businesses are geographically located within Kansas City’s Historic Northeast. These loans typically range from $2,500 to $30,000. Requirements exist to ensure the microloans are being used appropriately. Wagner noted six area businesses have taken advantage of these microloans. There’s also the Northeast Business Growth Initiative, a program where residential and business owners in the Historic Northeast can obtain tools in a classroom setting. The city contributes by funding the Northeast Business Growth Scholarship for the Innovation Center classes.

“So, everything together, we’re making progress and doing things, but some of the tools we have, they’re there but not being taken advantage of,” Wagner said, adding the issue could be marketing. However, he said, it’s a work in progress and the city will continue to move forward with these programs.

“We can never assume people know that the programs are out there,” Wagner said. “We have to work just as hard getting the word out as we did creating the programs. We’re getting more recognition, but clearly, all these programs aren’t for everyone.”

His hope is that there are enough people interested to get enough out of these programs over time. The trick, though, is to keep pushing and pushing. His hope was word of mouth would spread about the programs because there’s no better advertisement than from the person who used the program.

“Until one day you look around and say, wow, this looks different,” Wagner said. “My feeling was always, demolition and signage needs to be done, but we’ll see real progress by creating business and updating homes. With these programs, the old adage of slow and steady winning the race becomes true and that’s okay because the money isn’t going anywhere.”

For more information on Invest Northeast programs, visit http://www.hnekc.com/index.html.