YEDC awards grant to Grand Theater for expansion
The Yoakum Economic Development Corporation awarded a $75,000 downtown revitalization grant going towards the purchase of a new building for the Grand Theater. This has been in the works since October.
The building will be right across the street from the Grand at 212 W. May St.
“I just want to expand, I want to make it bigger and bring in more people. I’m landlocked on both sides so expanding across the street was my only option. Council and EDC have been very supportive, and I feel like I’ve done my part with the theater in bringing in customers and people from all areas,” owner Tammy Steinmann said. “For this expansion, I’d like to put pizza (in the new building) and some arcade games in there. I really want to add more to what I have. I think it would be a fun place for kids.”
Along with pizza, there will be an ice cream and salad bar. The Grand has already bought several arcade games for the new building.
The Local Government Code uses the language “project” when referring to funding by an EDC. So, in the case of grant applications, when the board approves an application, they approve a “project,” as is cited in Section 505.158 of the Local Government Code.
Sales Tax Corporation Boards also consider jobs created or retained. In the case of the application for the expansion of The Grand Theater, there are 12 employees.
Wages range from $8-$12 per hour, which are the prevailing wages for similar jobs in small communities. With the business expansion, job retention is expected, and some job creation is anticipated.
This grant ticks four of the boxes of the YEDC Strategic Plan, with one of them being that Steinmann is a homegrown entrepreneur.
“In reading her application, she touches on four of the top priorities of the strategic plan,” YEDC director Genora Young said.
“She’s a homegrown entrepreneur, she’s a Yoakum native, and she has taken her big dream of making the theater an inviting place for guests outside of our community as well as those who live here.”
Entrepreneurs attract other entrepreneurs and another part of what is in the strategic plan is to attract new entrepreneurs, according to Young.
“Steinmann continues to dream big and through her dreams she creatively maximizes the opportunities and uses in her existing space. The primary purpose of The Grand is a movie theater, with two screens. At times, The Grand is an education center for children and adults, a center for live performances, a party place, and a workforce training center for those young enthusiastic employees of The Grand,” Young said. “The list of Steinmann’s creative concepts is lengthy and innovative. Through the expansion of her business, Steinmann has the potential to host more and larger events and generate more revenues and sales tax dollars. Steinmann and her many programs are potentially magnets for attracting new entrepreneurs.”
Downtown revitalization is another box that is ticked off in YEDC’s decision for the grant money.
“She’s taken an existing building that was on the brink of decay, and she’s made it back into a showplace,” Young said at an October Yoakum Economic Development Corporation meeting.
Finally, the other decision for the grant is that YEDC believes this new building will improve community aesthetics.
“Through the expansion of her business and the acquisition of the building across the street from The Grand, Steinmann will make improvements to the interior and enhance the exterior of a building that has been sitting vacant for approximately four years,” Young said.
“Another building will escape unsightly decay, will add to the property tax base, and will again generate foot traffic, revenues, and sales tax.”
Steinmann is ready for this expansion and construction should begin soon.
“Since I’m not teaching anymore, I’m ready to expand and bring a little more for the kids and families in this town,” Steinmann said. “We do plan on opening a little more than what we currently are in the future.”
YEDC’s hopes that with this grant there will be more to market and promote with more opportunities to bring “new money” from outside of the community to invest in the local economy along with more opportunities to increase sales tax revenues.