COVINGTON, KY – On Tuesday evening, the Board of Commissioners authorized the issuance of two façade improvement incentive grants to Peppe Cucina and Wunderbar through the City’s Small Business Program.
Throughout fiscal year 2017-2018, the City has budgeted $72,000 for the Covington Small Business Program. The program provides approximately 12 rent subsidy or façade improvement grants to Covington businesses, nine of which have been awarded.
Below is an overview of the Small Business Program incentive grant recipients:
- Peppe Cucina: Located at 39 W. Pike Street, owner Nathan Chambers plans to open an Italian deli & restaurant titled Peppe Cucina in 2018. Peppe Cucina’s menu consists of hot and cold sandwiches, wood fired pizza, house made soups and pasta dishes. Chambers is also the founder and owner of Wunderbar.
- Wunderbar: Located at 1132 Lee Street, Wunderbar is a restaurant/bar that specializes in affordable, high quality, house made German American food. Due to the restaurant’s success, Wunderbar will expand its upstairs and add a patio and deck, increasing their seating by 40 seats.
The two businesses were recommended by the City’s Loan Committee and are expected to create 22 jobs in total, leveraging an average 31:1 ratio of private-to public investment.
On September 15, 2017, seven additional businesses received funding through the City’s Small Business Program. The businesses include Chako’s Bakery Café, Chops, Cheese & Chives, Flying Axes, Grainwell Market, Moonrise Doughnuts, Olde Towne Tavern and Smoke Justis.
The Small Business Program’s mission is designed to stimulate the establishment of new Covington businesses and help existing Covington businesses expand.
The competitive program awards funding to projects that support small business growth, create jobs, leverage private investment, and that are anticipated to be catalytic for the community through rent subsidy and façade improvement grants.
For those interested in applying for the City’s Small Business Program, please visit the City’s website by clicking here for more information.