Takoma Park Is Open for Business

by Eric Bond

Over the summer, the City of Takoma Park began distributing funds to small businesses in the city through its Open for Business grant program. Funded through the City of Takoma Park’s Neighborhood Commercial Corridor fund, part of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). Grants are capped at $10,000 to a single business and are calculated as follows:

• Ground-floor businesses outside of the Old Town commercial
  district may be funded at up to $6/square foot.
• Old Town businesses, and upper- floor businesses elsewhere in Takoma Park may be funded at up to $4/square foot.

Red Hound Pizza, Well Paid Maids, San Alejo Restaurant, and Richardson School of Music are all current grantees. Red Hound Pizza is a new restaurant that opened on Carroll Avenue in July. Well Paid Maids is an existing Takoma Park business that recently expanded its office space. San Alejo is a popular Salvadoran restaurant in Hyattsville that is adding a new location in Takoma-Langley Crossroads. And Richardson School of Music is located on Carroll Avenue in Takoma Junction.

Charbel Abrache says that the $2,000 grant allowed him to establish outdoor seating for the pizza shop, which specializes in a whole grain crust. Abrache was previously a pastry chef at Seylou Bakery & Mill in D.C.’s Shaw neighborhood. Abrache brought a unique approach to pastries, using only whole grains like millet, buckwheat, and eichorn and eschewing all refined sugar. Abrache said that Takoma Park seemed like the right place to apply the same approach to pizza for a slice unlike any other in the area.

Several years ago, Abrache and his wife, Andrea, found themselves in Takoma Park quite a bit, bringing their red hound, Arepa, to the vet.

“We really liked the vibes of the neighborhood,” says Abrache. “You know how it feels how everyone seems to know each other and supports each other. We saw this opportunity and we said ‘Okay let’s give it a shot.’”

“[The Economic Development team] was super amazing and they helped us through process of opening the shop. And the grant gave us a little bit of oxygen to figure things out,” he says.

Aaron Seyedian, a Takoma Park resident, launched Well Paid Maids in 2017 in response to the Fight for $15 movement. Cleaners start at $26 an hour, in keeping with Seyedian’s philosophy. As the business has grown, it has required more office space, and the grant for $7,000 helped it move into the new space more quickly. Seyedian says that he appreciated that Takoma Park has “a long tradition of trying to support its small business community.”

When his business was faced a setback because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Seyedian took advantage of ARPA funding through the City’s Economic Development office. And he is grateful for a little push now that his business is thriving.

“The space that we were in in our building was quite cramped, especially in a job like this with folks are on the phone all the time, says Seyedian. It’s a lot of noise, and we needed a bigger space. Without the grant program, we probably would have waited another year. I think, is just going to make us a more productive firm.”

There is no restriction on use of grant funds—they can be applied where most needed, whether to support capital expenditures and hard costs related to new business fit-out, for existing tenant improvements, or to serve as a one-time subsidy to offset cost of lease.

“The thing that’s special about this grant is the funds are not restricted by us as to what they can be used for,” says Grants Coordinator Patti Mallin. “The owner is the one who knows best where they need the help.”

Mallin says that business owners receive half of the grant upon signing the agreement with the City and the other half at a grand opening or grand re-opening. She says that the City still has $50,000 in funds to award and encourages small businesses to apply online.

Mallin also says that she hopes business owners will take advantage of the newly launched Façade Improvement grant program, which is also funded through ARPA. The City is looking to disburse a total of $75,000 to Takoma Park businesses, with a $10,000 cap per business.

“We would reimburse expenses paid by small businesses to improve or repair their front-facing structures,” says Mallin. “That could be signage and awnings. It could be safety glass. Anything that is storefront, street facing.

“We want to have a vibrant commercial community, and these are ways we can help do it,” says Mallin.

This article appeared in the October Edition of the Takoma Park Newsletter. Check out this article and more on the City webpage.