JEFFERSONVILLE — Entrepreneurs interested in starting a business in Jeffersonville should take a walk.

Jeffersonville Main Street, a nonprofit organization working to revitalize Jeffersonville’s Historic Downtown District, is hosting a self-guided walking tour on Friday through downtown to view at least seven commercial properties that are available in the city’s historic downtown.

“It’s a great opportunity to see all of the available spaces in downtown in one evening,” said Jay Ellis, executive director of Jeffersonville Main Street, Inc. “We wanted to make it more of an event,” he said of the walking tour.

Organizers are asking that those interested in taking the free tour pre-register at Perkfection Café, 359 Spring St. All of the available spaces are within walking distance of the Spring Street business.

Jeffersonville Main Street decided to offer a walking tour as a more interactive alternative to just listing the properties online or through Realtors.

“We were kind of hoping people would come and get a map,” Ellis said.

He explained that either the property owner or a real estate agent will be on-hand at the various locations to answer questions about the property and the tour will also serve as a showcase of all of the things that are available downtown.

“Any time you have the face-to-face interactions ... it does give us a little bit of an advantage,” Ellis said.

“[We] wanted people to see the camaraderie and great atmosphere in downtown Jeffersonville,” said Rita Fleming, project chairperson and owner of Spring Street Properties LLC.

She said Jeffersonville has an identifiable strip of business along Spring Street and potential customers can easily walk from the river’s edge to Court Avenue.

Because the properties are within an Urban Enterprise Zone, there are a number of grant programs and tax abatements that are available to potential business owners.

“Those are extremely helpful,” Fleming said.

City officials, Main Street committee members and downtown business owners will attend the tour to discuss the grant programs that may be available to business owners and to discuss the advantages of locating a business downtown.

Among the programs available, Ellis listed discounted liquor licenses for restaurants located near the Ohio Riverfront, a signage grant, a facade grant and the city’s forgivable loan program for restaurants. Many of the programs offered are matching grants which will cover half of the expense, while the remainder is paid for by the business.

The bulk of the properties available are commercial storefronts, but there are some buildings with mixed-use potential and others with office space available.

Another highlight of the walking tour is to show people the variety of what is open in downtown Jeffersonville.

“We don’t always have to depend on bridge traffic, we have so much going on in Southern Indiana,” Fleming said. “You can pretty much live, work, play in downtown Jeffersonville and not have to cross the bridge. I do hope it will open some eyes as to what we have available.”