Cortland — Dana Winant, owner and operator of the Common Grounds Café located in the rehabilitated Crescent Commons building at 165 Main Street, Cortland, planned to open her coffee shop when she retired. But while the COVID pandemic forced many small business owners to close their doors, the pandemic pushed Winant to pursue her long-term dream much sooner than anticipated.
A graduate of the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry with a focus in natural resource management, Winant initially pursed a career in the Adirondacks but later relocated to Cortland with her fiancé to pursue what they believed to be a better
life balance. Winant took a position at the USDA farm service agency here but when the pandemic hit, she decided to pursue that distant dream of opening a coffee shop.
Wondering where to start, Winant reached out to Karen Niday, an economic development specialist with the Cortland County Business Development Corporation.
She was soon knee-deep in navigating the process of opening her business including obtaining her sales tax registration, developing a solid business plan, and finding a location. Ultimately, she settled on vacant space in the Crescent Commons building that was renovated for her shop with the help of her fiancé, family, and friends.
“I did not know how to start a business, and at the point when I signed the lease, I had never made a latte’ in my life,” Winant said. “If I didn’t know Karen, I don’t think I would have actually gotten anything off the ground.”
While Winant had her vision and her location, she still needed resources to get her café up and running. As luck would have it the Cortland County Legislature allocated $600,000 in federal American Rescue Plan Dollars to the BDC to fund three small business programs. Winant applied and was awarded $5000 to help defray her rent payments for her new space and another $10,000 to support the purchase of equipment and supplies for her start-up.
Winant said she never would have been able to open without the grants and the help of the BDC.
Common Grounds is thriving today in part due to the steady stream of customers that live in the redeveloped Crescent Commons building as well as sales to customers at other business that have located in the mixed-use facility. Winant is already looking to the future and is considering opening another café in Cortland, her long-term vision for retirement now building her bridge to the future.
Note: The Cortland County Business Development Corporation is publishing a series of stories highlighting the small businesses that received funding from Cortland County’s American Rescue funds allocation. The BDC was tasked with distributing $600,000 in funds to qualified small businesses.
