Troy officials lent their support Wednesday morning to two local businesses looking to expand or maintain their presence in the city.

The city extended Troy Bank and Trust’s lease on their downtown location by 10 years, a move Mayor Jason Reeves said is focused on keeping downtown vital.

“In 1994, Troy Bank and Trust gave the city their old downtown location at the same time they opened their large location on U.S. Highway 231. They’ve  grown considerably over many years and are interested in maintaining a presence downtown.”

Reeves noted the bank’s help to Troy University in the purchase of the former Regions building downtown, which the school plans to turn into the “IDEA Bank” for business scholars.

They gave a $500,000 gift to work on making that happen,” Reeves said. “With that in mind, they approached us about extending the lease for the downtown building. Because we own the building, we have to do a 772 notice to give them thing of value.”

The council unanimously approved the lease extension with the bank.

The council then turned to giving financial help to the Pig Café as that business seeks to expand.

“In the past we have helped local businesses with 772 money to offset some of their costs to expand – the last one we did, I think, was with Chicken Salad Chick. We’re all committed to seeing every part of Troy grow.”

Reeves said the owners are expecting to invest up to $500,000 through the expansion. The city offered to reimburse the company 10 percent on capital materials up to $50,000.

“I appreciate what they do in the community and how hard they work, and that they’re willing to put their money at risk,” Reeves said. “I’d like to see us help them as we continue to revitalize the north side of Troy.”

The council again voted unanimously to assist the business in its efforts.

“We’re going to be adding about 1,200 square feet to the existing building,” said owner Yanni Tempelis. “We’re going to move the kitchen to that position and going to increase the dining room square footage.”

Tempelis said he saw an opportunity to expand the business when he bought it in 2012 and that he has been able to grow the restaurant to the point where expansion is necessary.

“We’ve outgrown our restaurant,” Tempelis said. “Our corporate clients make business really big and we’re at 100 percent capacity almost every day in the dining room; you can’t find a chair.”

Tempelis said the restaurant has prepared to make the expansion with over half a million in their own money, but needed some help in order to increase the size of the parking lot, which is when he turned to the city.

“They have been kind enough to guide us through this process and help us,” Tempelis said. “The people in this area are great and we want to be able to serve our local customers better while serving our corporate customers more efficiently.”

The council will meet again Tuesday, June 12 at City Hall. The executive committee will meet upstairs at 4 p.m. and the council will convene at 5 p.m. in the City Council Chambers.