Staff photo by Clay Schuldt EDA Coordinator Heather Bregel hands Royal Oak owner Nicole El-Sawaf and manager Megan Hoffmann a Small Business Incentive grant for $10,000.

NEW ULM– Royal Oaks Events Center was the latest new business to receive the $10,000 Small Business Incentive grant from the New Ulm Economic Development Authority.

Royal Oaks officially opened on March 7 in the former New Ulm Event Center building. Owner Nicole El-Sawaf and manager Megan Hoffmann have been busy the last few month rebranding the building.

El-Sawaf said they recently finished updating the lighting and audio system. Additional interior work will include the creation of a brides and grooms room and flooring updates. The gazebo located next the event center will be updated as a wedding venue site.

Royal Oaks is the sixth business to receive the $10,000 small business grant in 2022. In a typical year, the EDA allocates $50,000 to the program and funds five new small businesses, but there has been a sharp increase in demand in 2022. Six applications for the grants were already submitted by January.

Additional applications continued to be submitted, so a recommendation was made to increase the 2022 allotment by $40,000 approved by the EDA in June. This means, $100,000 in small business grants will be awarded this year to 10 businesses.

EDA Coordinator Heather Bregel said the EDA received 15 applications this year, so even with the additional grants, there are five business on the waiting list for next year.

Started in 2019, the Small Business Incentive grant program is designed to support new small businesses with startup expenses during their first year of operation. The business must be open at least three months before the $10,000 is given.

Currently, all businesses that have received this grant remain in operation. By the end of the year 29 businesses will have benefited from the grant.

One of the businesses scheduled to receive a $10,000 grant in 2022 is Midwest Indoor Storage, which is located in the same building at Royal Oaks and is owned by El-Sawaf. The storage business is currently under construction and will be climate controlled.

This will be the first climate-controlled storage units in New Ulm. El-Sawaf said there was already a request for storage units. The business is expected to be complete by September.