MASSENA -- Downtown business owners or people interested in opening a downtown business can learn about a village grant program on Feb. 6 at 5:30 p.m. in the Town Hall’s second floor boardroom.

The Village of Massena and the Business Development Corporation will discuss the Core of the Community grant program, which is designed to help with downtown developments.

The program will have $30,000 to subsidize a business’s rent, $27,500 to help finance interior building projects, $7,500 for signage improvements and $60,000 for façade improvements. The signage packages will be given out up to $1,500 at a time in matching funds. The façade money will be doled out up to $15,000 per business, according to the mayor.

The village and the St. Lawrence River Redevelopment Agency are funding the program, which is being administered by the BDC.

“We have building design standards that came out of the Main Street Grant program, and these fund will only be awarded to applicants that follow those standards,” Mayor Tim Currier said. “Our goal is to enhance downtown both in appearance and occupancy. Downtown was once the core of this community and implementing a community development strategy that targets downtown, will improve our chances greatly to breathe new life in the downtown core.”