Businesses in downtown Freeport are getting a boost as they work to open or expand with the Fit-Up grant program.

In its first year, the program has committed approximately $78,836 for 10 new and existing businesses in downtown Freeport, according to economic development director Brett Richardson.

The Fit-Up grant assists local property owners and businesses in developing, restoring, renovating or reconfiguring downtown commercial spaces in Freeport. A typical grant is about $10,000, with a minimum of $2,500 matched by private investment. The initial allocation of about $60,000 came from the American Rescue Plan Act.

“This is a direct offshoot of the downtown vision, so the funding was allocated as implementation dollars for the downtown vision, and it’s one of the big guiding principles of the downtown vision was to diversify Freeport’s offerings to have more local, regional and authentic Maine brands,” Richardson said.

Freeport’s Downtown Vision Plan calls on the community to foster small businesses and help diversify the town’s business community. The program supports local entrepreneurship and removes financial barriers for qualified redevelopment projects to attract more private investment into Freeport.

“Basically, what happens with the Fit-Up grant is they’ll take whatever your cost is on improvements, and you get a grant back for 50% of it,” said Dominic Petrillo, owner of Grande Burrito at 115 Main St.. “It made it a lot more approachable to look at the expense of building out a restaurant space.”

The grant helped Petrillo open his new Grande Burrito location years after a fire badly damaged his previous business, Petrillo’s, in 2022. Grande Burrito opened last month and applied for a Fit-Up grant to improve the space’s electrical and plumbing systems.

“I was going to do this either way, whether I got the grant or not, but it eased the pressure of the other expenses that come along with a business startup,” Petrillo said. “We’ll take that money they send us and do something positive for our business.”

The Fit-Up grant program hasn’t finished Petrillo’s process yet, but he expects to get back around $6,000. Petrillo said the grant process was easy to apply for, with open communication with the Freeport Development Office.

“I have a couple of friends who applied to the program after I was sharing with them my favorable experience,” said Kelleigh Dulany, owner and innkeeper of Brewster House Bed & Breakfast. “I think it shows Freeport’s earnest intent to support small businesses, and I truly appreciate that.”

Dulany applied for the Fit-Up grant for $10,000 to add a sauna and cold plunge as an extension of the inn. She supports the town’s efforts to make it easier for small businesses to apply for funding to help with various business ventures, but she said the process has been slow and wishes it was faster.

The Freeport municipal staff administers the grants through a committee that reviews grant applications and identifies qualified projects to receive funds from the Fit Up program. The committee reviews projects every month and awards grants until the funding is exhausted, with a deadline for applying to the program on the 15th of each month.

Business owners have 120 days to complete their project or to request an extension.