Briana Pace | Southern Indiana Business Report
Seven small businesses have been awarded a total of $40,000 in grant funding from the Orange County Economic Development Partnership (OCEDP), focused on improving their physical appearance, property value and growth.
In its third year, the Small Business Grant program was open to OCEDP member businesses with 30 or fewer employees and had ten applicants requesting over $90,000 in funds. The businesses selected include Elite Therapeutic Massage & Tanning, French Licks, Hawkins Health Center, King Cat Tattoo, Lost River Co-op & Cafe, Kirk Veterinary Service and The Superburger.
“These projects may look different from business to business, but they all represent meaningful investments in growth, sustainability, building improvements and the customer experience,” Executive Director of OCEDP Skylar Whiteman said. “OCEDP is proud to support our member businesses as they continue to serve our community and strengthen the local economy.”
The grants are awarded to each business individually in the form of reimbursement checks. So far, French Licks has received a check for their purchase of a soft serve ice cream machine, and Hawkins Health Center for the KDT Neural-Flex Table they bought. King Cat Tattoo also was reimbursed for new flooring.
“The floors were a necessity,” Tarra McGee, co-owner of King Cat Tattoo said. “Because it is such an old building, and they [the previous building owner] had put in floating floors and with the building shifting, they were just starting to fall apart. It was a necessity.”
McGee and her husband, and other co-owner, Shawn McGee, opened the shop in an old, historic building, during March 2025. It started as a part-time endeavor as they built their clientele and in January 2026, the McGees took it on full-time.
Before Hawkins Health Center in French Lick purchased the decompression table thanks to the grant, they added one in the Loogootee office. With the new treatment option, patients’ health improved significantly and decided the other location needed one too.
“It just opens up our ability to help patients get better in a different way, in a different approach,” Hawkins Health Center Office Manager Gabby Hyde said.
The business was able to add the decompression table to their second location much faster and start new treatments for patients, because of the grant.
“The small businesses, especially in a small county like Orange County,” Whiteman said, “they are really the backbone of what keeps us going. They’re kind of the heartbeat of our community, so we feel like helping them is helping the whole community.”