Staff photo by Clay Schuldt New Ulm Economic Development Authority Housing Coordinator Heather Bregel presents Inspire Wedding & Event Center business owners Brittany Jones (right) and Melissa Ostrom (left) a $10,000 small business incentive grant.

NEW ULM — Inspire Wedding & Event Center received a small business incentive grant Thursday.

This was the second incentive grant given by the New Ulm Economic Development Authority this year.

The small business incentive grant is for $10,000 and is used to provide reimbursement for eligible New Ulm businesses in their first year of operation.

Inspire Wedding & Event Center is located at 126 N Minnesota St. (old Ben Franklin building). The business is run by Brittany Jones and Melissa Ostrom. The new even center is still under construction, but has already hosted a few events. Jones said some additional work is being finished, including the elevator installation and roof construction.

Inspire Wedding is already has several bookings for the wedding season. Jones said in May they will have a full schedule.

The grants can be used by businesses to cover start up expenses. In the case of Inspire Wedding, the grant will help cover the cost of chairs. Jones and Ostrom said quality chairs for the event center were a major early expense.

The small business incentive program was started by the EDA in 2019. Each year $50,000 is put into the program to assist new businesses. Due to the popularity of the program the EDA decided to put $60,000 in the fund for 2022.

Two additional incentive grants will be presented next week.