Live performances at the Historic Artcraft Theatre, a downtown multimedia marketing campaign and more capacity-building business grants are being powered by economic development fees paid to the city of Franklin.
The Franklin City Council and Franklin Economic Development Commission have both unanimously approved awarding grants to the Greater Franklin Chamber of Commerce, Franklin Heritage and Discover Downtown Franklin this month. The money comes from economic development fees paid to the EDC by companies with tax abatements.
The Franklin Chamber Foundation was granted $25,000 for its Small Business Capacity-Building Grant program, Franklin Heritage was granted $25,000 for a live performance series at the Artcraft Theatre and Discover Downtown Franklin was granted $57,679.08 for a campaign that includes regional marketing, signage and photography.
This year, the city was able to give out $107,679.08 in grants. This is the largest amount of money they’ve been able to award since establishing the fees, said Dana Monson, Franklin’s community development specialist.
The council gave their OK on the grants Monday, after the EDC previously heard presentations and chose how to allocate the funds at their May 13 meeting.
Franklin Chamber
The Franklin Chamber Foundation, the non-profit arm of the Greater Franklin Chamber of Commerce, will use the $25,000 in grant funding for its Small Business Capacity-Building Grant program. Now in its third year, the program has awarded $60,000 to 25 small businesses, said Rosie Chambers, president and CEO of the chamber, via email.
This year, the foundation plans to give $5,000 to at least five small businesses that have 10 or fewer full-time employees. This is different than previous years, where the foundation awarded grants worth up to $2,500 to around a dozen businesses.
“We thought this way would obviously have a much stronger impact on our businesses,” Chambers said at the May 13 EDC meeting.
Businesses can use the grants to expand their physical space, develop online shopping platforms, upgrade point-of-sale systems, enhance their websites and more. Applications are evaluated based on the business’s longevity, potential impact, sustainability, community engagement, local support, innovation, overall application quality and more, according to the application.
Chambers told the Daily Journal via email that she was happy about receiving the award and acknowledged the city’s support of the program.
“The Franklin Chamber Foundation is deeply grateful for the continued support and partnership of Franklin’s Economic Development Commission,” she said. “Their investment in our Capacity Building Grant Program helps us strengthen local businesses, which are the foundation of our community.”
Among other conversation, EDC vice president Shawn Taylor asked May 13 whether the chamber was giving the same businesses the grants or if it was different businesses each time. Chambers said there has only been one repeat business within the last two years.
Franklin Heritage
The Artcraft wants to put on at least eight live events from January through April 2026 with the grant funding. The events could include live music, comedy, magicians, variety acts, podcast recordings and more, according to Franklin Heritage’s application.
The series would focus on original acts and target different audiences. Franklin Heritage plans to book mostly Hoosier artists, and “a consistently timed and widely appealing live event series” will help the Artcraft become known for live music and similar events alongside being known for its classic movie series. This corresponds with the mission for the Artcraft’s stage to be restored to an original mixed-use space in the time of Vaudeville variety shows, the application says.
The goal is to provide affordable entertainment options outside of movies. The events would attract people to downtown Franklin during the slower months, and the EDC funds would help tickets remain affordable, said George Chimples, Franklin Heritage’s director of development and film.
“The movies have a lot less overhead than live events do,” Chimples said at the EDC meeting. “Our sponsorships usually run on average for a film $1,600 to $2,200 per each movie weekend. When you’re talking about live events where you need to bring in sound and lights, where you’ve got booking fees, where you’ve got just a big down payment to bring in a band, you’re talking about thousands of dollars.”
However, once the series gets going and they can prove how many people they can bring in and the economic impact, the series could be put up for sponsorship in the future and it can become sustainable, Chimples said.
Franklin Heritage also anticipates that a show could bring thousands of extra income to area businesses, the application says.
Chimples told the Daily Journal via email that Franklin Heritage was honored to receive the grant and “appreciative of the tremendous amount of support” from city officials and nonprofit partners, the Franklin Chamber and Discover Downtown Franklin.
Franklin Heritage requested $25,000 from the EDC, but the project itself is estimated to cost $40,000 to $50,000. Franklin Heritage will cover the other funding.
The EDC gave Franklin Heritage money last year to complete a strategic plan, which Chimples said is currently underway and is expected to be finished in August.
Taylor asked whether the Artcraft building’s condition was a concern for live performances, as it was in the past when a tornado came through and messed up some of the stage.
The theatre currently does not have an intricate lighting system, a dedicated sound person, or the technology to mix sound. However, there are plans to renovate the stage and upgrade sound and lighting in the future, Chimples said.
Discover Downtown Franklin
Discover Downtown Franklin plans to launch a wide-reaching initiative that includes a $50,000 marketing campaign, $2,000 for new sidewalk pedestrian signage and $5,000 for photography.
“My whole pitch to you today for Discover Downtown’s proposal is mostly a whole year’s worth of multimedia advertising for our downtown area,” said Danny Causey, executive director of Discover Downtown, at the May 13 EDC meeting. “Right now, I feel like I really do have the finger on the pulse of our local business community in the downtown area, and they’ve had a very soft start to the year. So there’s a little bit of panic in our small business community.”
Some of these pressures include the federal tariffs proposed by President Donald Trump and the U.S. 31 project, he said.
The marketing campaign will fund advertising via digital/Google, radio, social media and traditional methods. The goal is to keep people focused on downtown Franklin and attract regional visitors, Discover Downtown said in its application.
The downtown pedestrian signage aims to highlight public parking, key businesses, landmarks, restrooms and educate visitors about businesses that aren’t in central downtown or located directly on Jefferson Street. This could improve navigation, walkability and experience for visitors, the application says.
Discover Downtown is also partnering with the Franklin Chamber in their work with Galbraith Photography to get professional portraits of businesses, business owners and more that could be used in the marketing campaign and for other uses, according to the application. This will help “tell the stories of our downtown businesses and specifically the people that run them,” Causey said May 13.
“This investment is truly about our community,” Causey said via email. “Our downtown is the heart of Franklin, and this grant helps ensure that our small businesses not only survive but thrive. We’re grateful to the Economic Development Commission for believing in the power of our downtown business district.”
Among other conversation, Taylor asked whether the billboards for the marketing campaign would be used to highlight Discover Downtown’s events. Causey said less than 20% of this would be for events and it would largely feature landmarks and businesses.