The bank will provide $130,000 in grants to nonprofit groups to help develop businesses in the market and surrounding area.
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View full sizeWest Side Market in Cleveland.CLEVELAND, Ohio -- An investment from Charter One will help support development of businesses in the West Side Market and the surrounding neighborhood.
The bank will provide $130,000 in grants to nonprofit groups that are focused on building up the neighborhood as a Market District.
Those grants, to be announced at a news conference today, are the first of several potential Charter One investments in the district between now and late 2012, when the West Side Market will celebrate its 100th birthday.
As the city and community groups prepare for the centennial, attracting outside investment and development to the neighborhood is a major priority. The district, several blocks around West 25th Street and Lorain Avenue, already includes Great Lakes Brewing Co., popular bars, restaurants and the old United Bank Building, which has been redeveloped for offices and retail space.
The Market District plan involves establishing and marketing the area as the epicenter of the local food movement, driven by the diverse vendors at the market, a 6-acre urban farm, prominent local chefs and noted brewers.
Charter One's money will support grants for small businesses, including market vendors and farmers; a competition for start-up grants for new businesses; farm stands at the Ohio City Farm, at West 24th Street and Bridge Avenue; promotion of local food and sustainability efforts; education programs about healthy eating and nutrition; financial literacy and workforce programs; and public art in the neighborhood.
"This is just a beginning," Ken Marblestone, president of Charter One in Ohio, said of the $130,000. "We see Ohio City and the West Side Market as a great opportunity to take a tremendous amount of energy and take it to the next level. The timing is just so perfect, with the 100-year anniversary coming up in two years."
The money comes from the Charter One Foundation, which awards about 150 charitable grants each year in Ohio. The average grant is about $5,000. During the past few years, the bank has invested in areas including University Circle and the Gordon Square Arts District in Cleveland's Detroit Shoreway neighborhood.
In Ohio City, $75,000 of Charter One's investment will go to a single organization, the Ohio City Near West Development Corp. The neighborhood nonprofit has partnered with the city of Cleveland to plan for the West Side Market's birthday. The remaining $55,000 will go to Cleveland Public Art, Neighborhood Progress Inc., Entrepreneurs for Sustainability and the Refugee Response, which helps refugees adapt to Northeast Ohio and find jobs at places including the Ohio City Farm.
In a prepared statement, Mayor Frank Jackson said the investment will help "position Ohio City as the neighborhood that feeds the city." That includes giving residents access to more local food at the West Side Market -- one of many topics being discussed by members of a centennial commission the mayor formed earlier this year.
Cleveland City Councilman Joe Cimperman, whose ward includes the Market District, hopes Charter One's commitment will attract additional investors to the neighborhood.
"It's seed," he said. "It's going to encourage other kinds of development. I'm sure that, after the announcement, other people are going to pay attention."
