The city of Rochelle has presented a facade grant program check for $1,550 to Salon Idyll.

The city’s facade grant program covers half the cost of any improvements made to business fronts in town with a limit of $5,000. The improvements included a new sign and replacement of a front window, owners Mckaylee Beeter and Larissa Valdivieso said. Salon Idyll opened in early December at the former Hallmark building at 400 Lincoln Highway.

“It’s exciting,” Valdivieso said Monday. “It was awesome to see our sign go up. That kind of made being open real for us. It was wonderful to get the window replaced so we can see outside now. We’re just so grateful for the opportunity to get this grant.”

Beeter said “it means a lot” to have access to the city’s facade grant program, especially for a business that’s just starting out.

“Literally every penny counts when you’re a small business owner,” Beeter said.

The city budgets $30,000 each year for the program and the money is distributed on a first-come, first-served basis. The distribution is done by the city’s community development department.

City Community Development Director Michelle Pease said she’s happy to see a business has opened in the formerly vacant 400 Lincoln Highway space.

“Vacant buildings are not what we want in our downtown,” Pease said. “To walk through the front door here and look and see what they’ve done, it’s beautiful in here. It’s a home run. It’s still the same building, but it’s a home now. It’s pretty exciting for us. It’s a vacant building that’s been filled up with a viable business and they’re going to continue to grow in this space, which is exciting for them.”

Pease said the facade grant program is a way for the city to invest in its businesses, namely its downtown, to encourage growth and improvement. The downtown area has been a point of emphasis for the city recently, with the construction of a pocket park on Fourth Avenue and ongoing construction on an event space off North Main Street and multiple parking lot reconstructions.

“It’s important that we create that foot traffic for our downtown businesses,” Pease said. “And with this program, just being able to help them financially, even if it’s $2,000-3,000, that’s huge for a small business. We’re lucky to have a mayor, city council and city manager that understand and believe in the value of small businesses.”