Brian Phillips (right) owner of the Hi-Lanes Bowling Center in Homer with Cortland County Legislator Kelly Preston (R) 10th District, and Eric Mulvihill an Economic Development Specialist with the Cortland County Business Development Corporation. Cortland County lawmakers authorized $600,000 ARPA funding for small business grant awards.
Homer – For the last 13 years Brian Phillips and his family have continued the legacy of the Hi-Lanes bowling Center in the Village of Homer. While COVID impacted nearly every single business across many sectors it disproportionally affected some businesses including bowling alleys.
Phillips had to close his doors to all customers for nearly eight months in 2020 and when he was allowed to re-open it was under very strict guidelines including reduced capacity and stringent regulations. While some businesses received financial assistance to help weather the storm, Phillips received very little help from state and federal COVID recovery programs.
Phillips was grateful, then, when the Cortland County Business Development Corporation received federal rescue funds in the spring of 2022 and reached out to him to see if he would be interested in applying for assistance through one of its small business grant programs.
Ultimately, Phillips was awarded more than $8,000 to offset the cost of installing a new heating system in the building, a project that the pandemic forced him to delay. The upgrades have helped reduce his energy consumption, saving him money and reducing the operation’s carbon footprint.
Another award of more than $7,000 through the sign, façade, and street frontage program allowed Phillips to make repairs to the exterior of the building, where he corrected some drainage issues that had been causing him some problems and could have prompted more expensive repairs in the future. Phillips also painted the building and added new signage. In total Philips invested more than $20,000 into his business.
Phillips credited the BDC staff for making the process easy and straightforward. “ very straightforward. “I don’t have a lot time to do things and the process was made to be very simple,” he said.
Phillips says business is up over 2021 and he expects this upward growth trend to continue as Hi-Lanes rolls on.
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.
