Naugatuck offers financial relief to businesses stuck in construction zone

Naugatuck is in the middle of some major roadwork to upgrade infrastructure in need of help.

There are currently six active projects in the city, one of which is currently on Church Street, and the businesses are feeling its presence.

“Now we are really at rock bottom so to speak, no pun intended,” said Stephanie Fusco, as she looked out the window of her shop where the road is literally down to dirt.

Construction in this area has been ongoing in various stages for about two years, shifting up and down the business corridor handling varying tasks.

They are completely overhauling the underground infrastructure, according to the city, including wastewater and storm water, sidewalks, electric lines and more.

“We are the luckier business of the businesses on the street, people can phone in or place an order on our website,” Fusco said of her business Teri’s Flower Shop.

They are one of the businesses who has lost foot traffic to the work. She describes it as a pain, but she remains optimistic.

“We do it with we swallow, and we breathe, and we just do it, we have to, we come here every day,” Fusco said.

Go up and down the corridor and you’ll find businesses with similar feelings.

“It has had its challenges,” Kojo Asante-Sakyi with Tazza’s Smoothie and Health Juice said.

They opened right when the construction really took off, so this is all he has known.

“It’s been harder for customers to get to us, sometimes you have a whole lot of machines out there,” he said.

He sees the long-term vision of a better and safer street with more foot traffic, which he looks forward to, but he along with others say it’s still hard.

“They are doing the best they can with what they have,” Bobbie Malatesta with 3-21 No Kiddin, a sober social club and functional drink store, said.

She estimates when the construction landed in front of her store, it cut business in half - a significant impact to another new business along the street.

She also sees the vision, but doesn’t downplay the struggle.

“It’s just hard to hang on to the finish line,” Malatesta said.

This is where the town is stepping in to help.

“Come up with a plan using interest we have accumulated on the federal and state money,” Mayor Pete Hess (D) said.

The town is propping up a grant program to assist businesses who have been impacted by the construction.

He noted they anticipated the struggle businesses would go through, but opted to take the shorter more acute pain that involved all construction happening at the same time, instead of over a decade of more spread out road projects.

They have approved and set aside $250,000 to use in grant funding for these businesses in need. Come May, they plan to roll out applications and hope to have the money in hand come June.

“We want to help them stay, remain, you know and get a jump start,” Hess said.

He anticipates with investments made, property value and rent could increase so the grants will help businesses absorb some initial impacts and recover after a significant period with down revenue.

For most, it’s about thinking long-term, and the joy patrons will get walking around the new and improved Church Street.

“I look forward to it being done and how much more foot traffic it eventually will bring,” Fusco said.