The Greater Wyoming Valley Chamber of Commerce is excited to offer the ReSpark Tenant Property Improvement Grant to business and property owners located in Downtown Wilkes-Barre. The ReSpark program will provide 1:1 matching grants to assist Property Owners, businesses and entrepreneurs with physical structure and tenant improvements for long term sustainability to help activate commercial storefronts, support business growth, and encourage additional private investment.
This program will be administered by the Greater Wilkes-Barre Industrial Fund and is made possible due to funding received through a “Main Street Matters” grant from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s Department of Community and Economic Development and our partnership with Diamond City Partnership (DCP) and the Downtown Wilkes-Barre Business Improvement District.
Eligibility Area and Requirements
Thank you for your interest in our grant program. While our current funding is fully committed, we are keeping the application window open for waitlist status. We encourage you to apply, as we will actively review waitlisted submissions if supplementary funding becomes available on a first come-first served basis.
There are several time-sensitive requirements that must be met to qualify for this grant. Applicants are not authorized to begin work until each phase of the application process has been approved by GWBIF. Work that has been commissioned prior to written approval to proceed will not be considered as eligible for grant funding.
- To apply, your business or property must be located within the Downtown Wilkes-Barre Business Improvement District.
- Grant will provide a reimbursement of 75% of eligible expenses up to a maximum
reimbursement of $5,000. - All upfits and improvements must be in place for a minimum of 12 months and applicants are eligible to apply once every five years.
If you have any questions about the application, please reach out to Diana Schwartz at 570-823-2101 or diana@wyomingvalleychamber.org.
Next Steps
Once we have received your application, we will contact you to collect any outstanding information and provide a denial with an explanation, or a conditional approval to proceed. Once you have conditional approval, the following must be completed within 90 days.
- 2025 Federal Income Tax Return
- 2024 Federal Income Tax Return
- Current Lease Documents
- All elements of the project require a minimum of 3 bids from qualified licensed and insured contractors. If your project does not require construction, you are still required to provide three cost estimates. You do NOT have to accept the lowest bid/price. You will need to provide the bid/cost information as part of your application items.
- A confirmed scheduled session with SBDC
- A confirmed scheduled session with the Connect program specialist.
Approval to Begin Work
Once you have provided all information and selected your contractor, you will submit the final grant request amount and information about the selected work and provider. We will provide you with a letter that confirms approval to begin the project, the total amount of the grant award (based on the contractor bid), and the process to be reimbursed after the work is complete.
Please note that work on this project should NOT begin prior to the receipt of a confirmation letter. Work conducted prior to the completion of an approval letter is not eligible for reimbursement.
All work MUST be completed within 12 months of the confirmation letter.