DSI innovation center gets $500k grant
PHOTO COURTESY / DSI - A rendering of the proposed Center for Education, Business, and the Arts.
SHENANDOAH – Downtown Shenandoah, Inc.’s innovation center project received another hefty financial boost, three state legislators announced Tuesday.
DSI’s Center for Education, Business, and the Arts received a $500,000 state grant through the Department of Community and Economic Development’s Keystone Communities Program.
“CEBA will be transformational,” said Karen Kenderdine, the President and Treasurer of Downtown Shenandoah, Inc. “It will give people the opportunity to create jobs, not just look for them while giving them the tools they need to be the best they can be and move our community forward.”
The center has been in the works since at least 2016. On the site of the former Davison’s Furniture Store and Thunder Road nightclub on North Main Street, DSI plans to build the center, which will feature a business incubator, as well as event space and classroom space for Penn State Schuylkill, among other amenities.
“CEBA is already strengthening our community,” said Susan Williams, the Executive Director of Downtown Shenandoah, Inc. “New businesses are opening, blighted buildings being removed, and an increasing positive energy is happening. We are looking forward to this momentum continuing and are very thankful for this grant.”
“This highly competitive funding is one more major step to help transform a vacant, blighted site into a keystone for Shenandoah’s revitalization,” said Senator David G. Argall (R-29). “CEBA has been a dream of many dedicated volunteers in Shenandoah who have worked tirelessly to breathe new life into their town for many years. Thanks to this new funding, it is now even closer to reality – but there is still more work to be done.”
CEBA will offer programming, training, and mentorship for budding entrepreneurs and small business owners at a blighted downtown site which has been vacant for many years. The center will also provide spaces for makers and artists, a business incubator, community event space, culinary makerspaces, a community computer, and a conference room. This project is a key part of dedicated local efforts to revitalize Downtown Shenandoah.
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