An affiliate of Chattanooga Football Club, of which Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly is a minority owner, on Monday received a $10,000 small business grant from the city.
But a Chattanooga official said there’s no conflict of interest in the awarding of the grant money to the professional soccer club, adding the mayor’s interest is in a blind trust. Kelly co-founded CFC in 2009.
Beautiful Game Inc. was awarded the Growing Small Business Incentive Grant with a unanimous vote from the Chattanooga Industrial Development Board. The board is appointed by the city council.
Alton Byrd, CFC’s chief executive, told the board the grant will support growth and added jobs.
He said plans are to open a soccer-focused retail site at 191 River St. on the North Shore.
Byrd also said plans are to further develop CFC’s women’s team, and the club is looking to create an e-sports initiative.
That and other activity is expected to create 20 new full- and part-time jobs, he said.
Jermaine Freeman, Kelly’s chief of staff, said in an interview at the meeting there’s not a conflict of interest for the mayor. He said the mayor’s interest in CFC is in a blind trust, where the mayor put his business holdings after his 2021 election.
Freeman also said the Southeast Tennessee Development District, which is owned and governed by county and municipal governments in the area and performs planning and other services, vetted the small business grant application.
“They give us the green light or the red light,” he said. “Having a third-party review is great.”
Byrd said CFC’s front office now has 40 full- and part-time jobs, up from nine full-time staff when he came on board in June 2023.
Last month, work started on CFC’s new headquarters building, which is one of the biggest residential and commercial buildings to go up on Riverfront Parkway in years.
The six-story structure in downtown’s Westside at 1620 Riverfront Parkway will have 70,000 square feet.
The building will hold 49 apartments for players as well as team offices, officials said. Also, a restaurant, rooftop bar and other commercial space are planned.
Primary club owner Davis Grizzard, CEO of the locally based group Sage Hill Investors, said plans are for an early 2026 opening of the facility that’s within walking distance of the club’s home field at Finley Stadium.
Contact Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6318.