Field-Oriented Support in Finance, Rent, Sales Channels, and Public Utility Fees
"Implementing Diverse Policies to Lay the Foundation for Sustainable Growth"
A reference photo of 'Sseudam Sseudam Night Market' in Damidam Art District. Provided by Damyang County.
Damyang County in South Jeolla Province is implementing a comprehensive range of support policies to stabilize the management and enhance the competitiveness of local small business owners, aiming to revitalize the local commercial districts and ensure sustainable growth.
As of August 12, the county is supporting small businesses through customized programs in various fields, including finance, rent, social safety nets, sales channels, and public utility fees.
The Small Business Interest Subsidy Support Program is designed to ease the interest burden for small businesses that have taken out loans from financial institutions within the county. The program provides up to 2 million won per year at an annual rate of up to 3% for three years. In the first half of this year, 12 businesses benefited from this support.
The Vacant Store Rent Support Program aims to reduce the initial costs for small businesses moving into vacant stores within the county. The program provides up to 250,000 won per month, up to a maximum of 3 million won per year, and 12 businesses received this benefit in the first half of the year.
In addition, the county offers incentives to encourage enrollment in the Yellow Umbrella Mutual Aid Fund, which strengthens the social safety net for micro-enterprises. Under an agreement with South Jeolla Province and the Korea Federation of SMEs, small businesses with annual sales of 300 million won or less that newly enroll can receive a monthly contribution of 20,000 won, up to a maximum of 240,000 won.
In collaboration with the Jeonnam Credit Guarantee Foundation, the county is also providing management support such as credit guarantees, education, consulting, and financial training. Last year, credit guarantees were provided for loans totaling 18.1 billion won to 720 businesses, and this year, 9.1 billion won to 326 businesses.
The county is also continuously promoting the marketing and publicity of 'Meokgaebi,' a public delivery app, to help small businesses expand into online markets. Based on a fair commission policy, the county is running promotions and events targeting both franchisees and consumers, thereby contributing to increased sales.
Earlier this year, the county temporarily implemented a public utility fee support program for restaurant small businesses. The program provided 300,000 won each to 350 restaurant businesses with annual sales of less than 104 million won, totaling 105 million won, helping to alleviate their fixed cost burdens.
The county is also running parallel projects to improve the business environment, such as training 10,000 digital small business owners and supporting nighttime landscape electricity bills. The county provided up to 1 million won in smart device adoption costs, assisting 10 businesses in their digital transformation, and supported lighting electricity bills and timer installation and maintenance costs in major commercial districts such as Jungang-ro, Metaprovence, and Damyang Market.
Notably, last month, the Jungang-ro area was designated as Damyang County’s first alley-type shopping district. This designation enables the area to receive various forms of support, including commercial district revitalization projects, landscape improvements, and joint marketing, which is expected to greatly strengthen the competitiveness of local small businesses.
In the second half of the year, the county plans to continue its existing support programs while expanding the scope of digital transformation assistance and revitalizing markets and the old downtown through nighttime landscape improvement projects. In addition, the county will gather feedback from small business owners to identify new projects and implement policies that residents can truly feel.
County Governor Jeong Cheolwon stated, "We are pursuing policies that combine short-term management stabilization with long-term self-sufficiency," adding, "We will continue to promote field-oriented support that small business owners can truly experience going forward."
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