Grants provided to companies impacted by Purple Line development
Struggling companies alongside the Purple Line hall could get some reduction with a grant program being provided via the Maryland state authorities. Some are already making use of however who’s eligible and the way a lot funding are you able to doubtlessly get? FOX 5’s Shirin Rajaee has the main points.
SILVER SPRING, Md. – Struggling companies alongside the Purple Line hall could get some reduction with a grant program being provided via the Maryland state authorities. Some are already making use of however who’s eligible and the way a lot funding are you able to doubtlessly get?
Lots of the companies alongside the hall inform FOX 5 they’ve simply barely been hanging on. A lot of the highway is blocked off, creating site visitors congestion, parking points — all limitations for companies attempting to get clients within the door,
Companies Struggling
What they’re saying:
Household-owned enterprise Candy Candy Kitchen says they’ve began shutting down early on weekends and at nights as a result of there’s hardly any foot site visitors.
“It’s arduous for the shoppers to seek out our restaurant. Our gross sales went down. It’s actually rather a lot,” Candy Candy Kitchen proprietor Tericka Chambers mentioned.
“We was so profitable. Right now of day we’d have had 9 barbers on employees. The ready room can be full,” the proprietor of Ebony Barber Store in Silver Spring mentioned. “For the reason that undertaking began, it has been some time since we have had folks in right here within the afternoon.”
New Program Launched
How It Works:
Maryland rolled out a grant program that might supply as much as $50,000 to eligible companies to offset enterprise operation losses that they might have suffered due to the Purple Line undertaking.
Small companies are eligible in the event that they meet a number of of the next standards: 50 or fewer staff, product sales averaging $2 million or much less, or are licensed within the State of Maryland’s Small Enterprise Reserve Program.
As much as three software rounds will happen annually. The primary spherical of functions is due by March 14, 2025. The quantity will likely be decided by how a lot cash you’ve made and likewise how intently affected your corporation has been by the development.
Many companies like Candy Candy Kitchen have already utilized however they’re undecided how a lot cash they might obtain.
“I don’t suppose it’s going to be sufficient or cowl even half of what has occurred,” Chambers mentioned.
The identical goes for Ebony Barbers.
“Is that this going to final us via the undertaking, to maintain us open? We don’t know. We don’t know.”
What’s subsequent:
Montgomery County Council President Kate Stewart mentioned on Monday that the Purple Line undertaking is 74% full with an anticipated opening not until 2027.
Click on right here to study extra about this system and apply for a grant.
