The Sterling City Council approved an economic development incentive agreement for improvements around a Second Street business Monday night.

The office building owned by Liven Holdings LLC at 502 E. Second St. falls outside the enterprise zone, is not in a TIF district and falls outside the limits of the Main Street facade program, Sterling City Manager Scott Shumard told the council.

“They have invested over $100,000 in the building and they were interested in redoing the parking lot so they can get access to Second Street. Currently, the way the parking lot is configured, people have to back out into the alley,” Shumard said.

Matt and Ela Hilty of Liven Holdings LLC said the work on Second Street started earlier than they expected, and that was why they had approached the city for help with the parking lot.

“When we purchased the building, we talked to the city and they said they were going to work on Second Street, but it would be a couple of years,” Ela Hilty said.

She said the parking lot is configured so people using it have to back into the alley.

“The only entrance and exit is off of the alley, and the alley is really difficult to drive on. We want to change the orientation of the parking and be able to get in and off of Second Street,” she said.

Matt Hilty said they envision the office building being used in a professional services capacity, such as an attorney or accountant.

“Our entity is called Liven Holdings, and it’s a small venture, but we are really committed to Sterling. We want to see businesses come to Sterling and thrive in Sterling,” Matt Hilty said.

Shumard said action needed to be taken because the contractor who is working on Second Street needed to know how to proceed in order to finish work on the street.

“We need to get this project going as much as they would like to see this project going. This is a means to getting them on their way and to us getting Second Street wrapped up,” Shumard said.

Engineers from Willett, Hofmann and Associates said the proposed improvements will cost about $42,000 and include barrier curb, drainage improvements, ADA parking and sidewalk.

The economic development incentive agreement with Liven Holdings LLC allows for a $10,000 reimbursement on completion and a waiver of fees for the work. The council voted unanimously to approve the agreement.

Another item of economic development before the council was hearing a presentation from Dallas Knack, executive director of the Sauk Valley Area Chamber of Commerce, about the new entrepreneurship program.

“The Sauk Valley Future Founders Program is a middle school entrepreneurship program for grades six, seven and eight. It will start on June 10 and go through July 1, with five sessions for a few hours in the morning at the Whiteside Area Career Center,” Knack said. The program is a collaboration among WACC, Illinois 4-H and the Small Business Development Center at Sauk Valley Community College.

Knack said the initial class will hold 15 students. Students will have the opportunity to start their own business and do a business pitch for a $100 start-up grant. Students also will be able to have a pop-up stand for their business at Chalk the Walk on July 11 at the Grandon Civic Center in Sterling.

“We are hoping to bring out some students and have some support for them as they pursue their business opportunities and bring more families down to Chalk the Walk,” Knack said.

Knack asked the council for a donation of $500 to cover costs of materials for the program. The program requires a $50 registration fee per student that Knack said will go toward the start-up grants for the students’ businesses.

“That is so the students have a little bit of skin in the game. We don’t want parents to sign up and then something comes up, and they are taking one of those seats, since the seating is really limited. We also want to make sure we don’t have students who are dropping out halfway,” Knack said.

The council approved the $500 donation to the program.