Dontay Brown loves to talk about his business, Triceys DC Café, located at Sycamore & Oak retail village on the campus of St. Elizabeths East in Southeast, D.C. When he heard that members of District Mayor Muriel Bowser’s administration would be stopping by the site on Aug. 13 for National Black Business Month, he looked forward to engaging them.
“The Bowser administration has been very supportive of me and the other businesses here at Sycamore & Oak,” said Brown on the morning of the mayoral officials’ visit. “The exposure means so much to us. It is important that we are promoted.”
Brown was visited by Nina Albert, the deputy mayor for planning and economic development (DMPED) and Rosemary Suggs-Evans, director of the D.C. Department of Small and Local Business Development, as a part of a Black Business Tour through the Congress Heights and Anacostia neighborhoods.
“There are 15 Black businesses here at Sycamore & Oak and we are here to do what we can to support them,” said Albert. “We have spent a lot of time east of the river. We want to make sure that people in the neighborhood patronize Black businesses here.”
According to recent data, there are approximately 3.12 million Black-owned businesses in the United States. These businesses employ 1.18 million people and generate $133.7 billion in total sales, highlighting their significant contribution to the economy.
Albert said 33% of all businesses in the U.S. are owned by people of color. In the District, 28% of businesses are owned by people of color.
Albert said that her department and the administration are committed to working with entrepreneurs to help them get the grants, financial support and technical assistance needed in order to be successful.
During the tour, employees of DMPED offered businesses the chance to participate in the Small Business Census, a comprehensive survey designed to collect and analyze data from businesses that may not have the chance to engage with the government. The goal of the census is to establish a baseline and work toward the goal of increasing the number of minority-owned businesses as outlined in D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s DC Comeback Plan.
Business Owners at Sycamore & Oak
At Sycamore & Oak, Albert and Suggs-Evans visited WeFitDC and spoke with its owner, Joe Houston.
“It is my goal to have a presence in Ward 8,” said Houston, 30. “I want to make sure that as many people as possible are fit.”
Houston said he wants to build more facilities in the District in Ward 7 and in Ward 5.
Next, the pair visited Paradyce, a clothing company that specializes in sustainable outerwear in the form of hats, pants, t-shirts and shirts. Pierre Batchler, the owner, stood behind his counter smiling as the pair came in.
Batchler, 39, told officials that he has the store and sells his clothing online. He made it clear his goal is success.
“This is my life, my vision,” he said.
Josei Harris, the owner of Black Bella DC, was happy to see the officials and told them to continue to support Black businesses.
“It is not easy,” said Harris with a sigh. “It’s not easy but I am going to make it work.”
The pair also visited The Museum Store, co-owned by LeGreg Harrison and Muhammad Hill. They chatted briefly about the store and Albert noted that The Museum Store had a location on Rhode Island Avenue, NE.
The mayoral officials also walked around the back of the facility to its row of eateries. They went to Brown’s businesses, where he had the chance to engage them and even offered them a sample of his southern, Caribbean and West African cuisine.
Albert and Suggs-Evans then made a quick stop at Buna Talk Café at the southern end of the row of eateries. Meryem Yusuf, the co-owner of Buna said she not only owned the eatery but also resided on the St. Elizabeths East campus.
“I live right over there,” she said, pointing to the collection of townhouses. “My husband and I wanted to own our shop and live in the same neighborhood.”
The Anacostia Leg
After visiting Sycamore & Oak, Albert and Suggs-Evans boarded an Art to Go-Go Shuttle with Kristina Noell, the executive director of the Anacostia Business Improvement District. As they traveled north on Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue SE to Anacostia, they talked about the development of the neighborhood as an arts district and possible enhancement of Bellevue, an area north of Congress Heights.
When the shuttle arrived in Anacostia, the trio visited the site of the Go-Go Museum, which is under construction. Ron Moten, the founder of the museum, conducted a hard hat tour, pointing out where exhibits will be showcased.
“I am looking at a soft opening on Sept. 18,” Moten said.
The final sites visited were 6CO Eatery with its offerings of sandwiches, burgers and southern cuisine, and then they proceeded to Enlightened, with noted entrepreneur Antwayne Ford as its president and CEO. Ford showed the trio its offices and some spaces it has for small businesses.
The tour ended at Kitchen Savages, owned by former Ward 8 advisory neighborhood commissioner Darrell Gaston. Gaston hosted the pair and several Black entrepreneurs for lunch as they discussed the day’s developments.
“We are here to help Black businesses,” said Albert. “Whether [the businesses] give their customers more access to goods and services and access to restaurants, we are here to help.”
Source: Washington Informer
