Small business center has big move & expansion ahead

WATERTOWN, New York (WWNY) – Watertown’s Small Business Development Center is heading downtown.

Neighbors of Watertown and Jefferson Community College are teaming up to make it happen.

Currently, the Small Business Development Center is a room inside JCC’s Extended Learning Center.

But soon that will change.

It’s moving to the former Club Rio and the attached storefronts on Public Square. The project will use $2.5 million through the Downtown Revitalization Initiative.

“We are envisioning we will have business services, our Small Business Development offices there,” JCC president Dr. Ty Stone said. “We’ll also have an open space where it’s a collaborative space for meetings, and also classrooms.”

There will be technology and workspace available for Watertown’s small businesses and aspiring entrepreneurs.

But first, it needs major reconstruction.

“The majority of this money will go toward redevelopment and renovations of both those buildings,” Neighbors of Watertown executive director Reginald Schweitzer said.

Neighbors of Watertown owns the properties. Schweitzer hopes they can start construction in the spring of 2022 and be done by the spring of 2023.

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