By Megan SaylesAFRO Enterprise Writermsayles@afro.com
Mayor Muriel Bowser and the Division of Small and Native Enterprise Growth (DSLBD) is celebrating D.C. Small Enterprise Week from April 29 to Could 4 with a number of free occasions and summits open to the District’s greater than 70,000 small enterprise house owners.
On the prime of the week, Bowser introduced that 64 brick-and-mortar retail companies grew to become recipients of the Sturdy Retail Citywide Grants. She additionally toured a number of companies and nonprofits situated on Rhode Island Avenue Predominant Road which have acquired authorities funding.
“If we now have extra jobs, we now have extra companies and we put extra D.C. residents to work, then we are able to proceed to make historic investments in colleges, transportation and in our human companies applications,” mentioned Bowser.
The week coincided with the U.S. Small Enterprise Administration’s Nationwide Small Enterprise Week. Following the kick-off occasion, the D.C. Chamber of Commerce, D.C. Well being Hyperlink, DSLBD and Division of Insurance coverage, Securities and Banking (DISB) hosted a small enterprise summit and expo on April 30. The occasion featured workshops masking finest enterprise practices and networking and grant alternatives.
On Could 1, small enterprise house owners had been invited to a DSLBD workshop on accessing capital and a pitch and useful resource exhibition on the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library. The Downtown District Enchancment District organized an unique celebration and networking gathering for Licensed Enterprise Enterprises (CBEs) on Could 2. There, enterprise house owners related with their friends and trade specialists.
The companies Bowser visited through the kick-off included Studio Chique Salon, Zeke’s Espresso, Emma’s Torch and Bandura Design. The latter, a women-led hospitality and multi-family inside design agency, held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for its reworked house on the Ward 5 hall.
“My wonderful group, fondly often called the ‘Bandura Babes,’ has doubled in measurement since we moved into this location. That development has offered the chance and want for continued growth in our house,” mentioned proprietor Jennifer Farris.
Due to nonprofit D.C. Squared, Bandura Design was the recipient of a facade enchancment grant, which is funded by the D.C. Division of Housing and Neighborhood Growth (DHCD).
“We’re beginning, at present, to carry our workplace to the following degree together with this wonderful, thriving neighborhood right here on Rhode Island Avenue.”
By DSLBD, the 64 Sturdy Retail grantees are set to obtain $10,000 to cowl eligible enterprise bills, together with wages for workers, lease, utilities, insurance coverage and cleansing provides. For the reason that grant program’s inception, the company has deployed almost $4 million to companies spanning the District.
“These investments clearly reveal that D.C. is placing our cash the place our mouth is after we say that our small companies are actually the spine of our native economic system,” mentioned At-large D.C. Councilman Kenyan McDuffie, chair of the Committee on Enterprise and Financial Growth.
Bowser’s proposed Fiscal 12 months 2025 funds contains a number of investments to additional help native, small enterprise enterprises. The mayor allotted $4.9 million for the Predominant Streets Program to bolster the revitalization of District enterprise corridors and $26 million to enact the Enterprise and Entrepreneurship Help to Thrive (BEST) Act, which is able to streamline town’s licensing course of. She additionally designated $6.7 million for DSLBD’s Clear Groups, which work to beautify D.C.’s industrial districts.
These investments accompany Bowser’s $401-million Downtown Motion Plan, which presents a five-year financial growth technique for the restoration and transformation of D.C.’s downtown.
“I wish to acknowledge Mayor Bowser for ensuring that our small companies—our entrepreneurs who reside right here, had been born and raised right here and rent our native residents— are getting the sources they must be part of this comeback,” mentioned McDuffie.
Megan Sayles is a Report for America corps member.
