Planning is critical to building and
growing a business, and Downtown
Houghton is dedicated to your success.
With the MTEC SmartZone business
incubator on the waterfront, and centers
designed to assist start-up businesses,
a multitude of services is in close
proximity to help your business thrive.
Downtown Houghton is a hotspot for
tourist traffic, with a steady influx
from the nearby universities, Michigan
Tech and Finlandia, as well as event and
festival visitors, who all play a part
in maximizing your business potential.
Facade
Improvements
The City of
Houghton will provide four free hours of
design assistance for downtown property
owners who want to renovate their
storefront. The City has historic
preservation design guidelines for many
downtown buildings. There may be facade
grants available from the Michigan
Economic Development Corporation to
assist with historic facade
renovations. If you have questions
about facade improvements, please e-mail
citymanager@cityofhoughton.com
.
Marketing
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Any new business in downtown
Houghton can advertise for free on
the side of City busses for up to
two months. The business will pay
for the sign which they can keep
after it has been used on the bus.
-
Businesses can
be advertised on the City of
Houghton website. Please e-mail
ann@cityofhoughton.com
.
Downtown Business Association
The Downtown Business Association meets
the first Wednesday of each
month from 9:00 a.m. at
the City Center. The Association plans
special events and promotions for
downtown. If you would like further
information or would like to be added to
their mailing list e-mail
downtown@cityofhoughton.com
.
Downtown Parking
Shelden Avenue (main street) provides
one hour free parking for customers
only. All others will be ticketed.
Side streets and parking decks provide
two hours of free parking for customers
as well as permit parking. The City of
Houghton asks that people working
downtown park in permit parking areas to
keep adequate customer parking on
Shelden Avenue available. The City of
Houghton Police Department sells parking
permits. Please call them at 482-2121
for more information.
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