Franklin County Economic Development Corporation CEO Jeremy Evans stands on the Lake Colby causeway of the Adirondack Rail Trail on Thursday. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)

SARANAC LAKE — Small business owners and entrepreneurs looking to capitalize on the busy traffic on the Adirondack Rail Trail and Adirondack Scenic Railroad may be eligible for up to $35,000 in grants after the towns of Harrietstown and Tupper Lake were awarded $200,000 each for a program supporting the businesses supporting the new state infrastructure.

The window to seek eligibility for these grants is closing this week, and there are still plenty of openings for people to apply for the money.

The Franklin County Economic Development Corporation is facilitating the Rail Trail Small Business Fund for new and existing small businesses in Harrietstown and Tupper Lake to expand or start up new ventures servicing the rail trail and railroad.

“We’ve been hearing for years that the rail trail will bring a lot of economic benefit to the region,” Franklin County EDC CEO Jeremy Evans said while standing on the trail outside Saranac Lake Thursday. “That’s only true if people use it and spend money. … It, by itself, does not generate economic impact.”

The state made a large investment in the area. He said now is the time for them to leverage it. Looking at existing rail trails in other states, he said they can be transformative, but that doesn’t happen without businesses adapting to serve its users.

The second phase of the 34-mile trail — a former railroad corridor connecting the villages of Tupper Lake, Saranac Lake and Lake Placid — opened in August. The state Department of Environmental Conservation’s trail is now open from Lake Placid to Floodwood Road, after running through Saranac Lake. The third phase — from Floodwood to Tupper Lake — is underway, with completion scheduled in 2025. This third phase will be open during snowmobile season, from Dec. 9 through March 31.

The train depot in Tupper Lake, where the rail trail ends and the trail line begins, brings train riders back and forth between Tupper Lake and Old Forge.

The state is putting more than $30 million into the 34-mile trail and more than $30 million into upgrading the train track. The DEC is predicting between 56,000 and 800,000 visitors to the trail annually. Exact numbers of users on the partially opened trail are not known yet.

On Thursday afternoon, the rail trail was hopping in the sunshine, with dozens of bikers, pedestrians and dogs on the causeway crossing over Lake Colby.

The EDC assisted the towns of Harrietstown and Tupper Lake with submitting grant requests. Both towns were awarded the maximum amount of $200,000.

Grants for businesses range from $5,000 to $35,000.

The window to seek eligibility for the grant opened on Sept. 11 and closes on Wednesday at 5 p.m.

FCEDC will announce the fund recipients in December. They plan to roll out the money by the end of this year, so plans can be put into action by the next summer season.

Evans said Thursday he had hoped for more applicants by now, but said that some come in at the last minute. If they don’t award all the money in this round, they’ll do another round, he said. The EDC will distribute the grant money until it is all gone. If this program goes well, he said they may try to get it again.

Evans said it should take around 5 minutes to fill out the eligibility form. After they determine who is eligible, those business owners can then fill out an official application. Finally, a review committee will pick out which projects to help fund.

This is federal funding passing through the state as a state Community Development Block Grant, administered by the county EDC to businesses in the two towns.

The grants are for very small businesses — ones with five or fewer employees.

Evans said if a small business has more employees but a good idea, they still want to hear from them because there are other funding sources for slightly larger businesses.

“This is one of the few programs that is available for the smallest businesses in a community,” Evans said, adding that it’s one the EDC has wanted to bring to Franklin County more often.

It’s fun to see entrepreneurs think big, he said, but there’s a lot of risk involved in new ideas.

It’s a jobs program, Evans said, with a requirement that recipients create at least one job, or that the owner of the business is part of a low- to moderate-income household.

The grant money can be used for equipment, supplies, marketing initiatives or other working capital needs, but not things like construction. Start-up businesses that have been around for less that six months get more priority for the grants.

The grants have a 10% match requirement from the business owner, which is pretty generous for state money, Evans said.

Government funding always comes with strings attached, but he said this one was made to be as accessible for small businesses as possible. Evans said that so many small- and medium-sized businesses aren’t eligible for government economic development funding. This big gap bothers him.

He understands that the state and federal governments want to do big things. Creating one or two jobs here and there isn’t a priority.

While the government often finds large pots of money for large projects — a good thing, he said — it’s less common for them to find a small amount of money for a small project.

“Making $20,000 available is almost harder for them than making $20 million available,” Evans said.

Initiatives like the Rail Trail Small Business Fund are why EDC was created through the Franklin County Industrial Development Agency, he said.

More details of the program can be found at the “Rail Trail Fund” tab at tinyurl.com/4rm352kv. The eligibility form can be found at tinyurl.com/ympftwhf.

For questions, contact Adirondack Frontier Community Development Manager Rachel Child at rachel@adirondackfrontier.com or 518-481-8211.