Twenty Greenbelt businesses won working capital grants of up to $10,000 last November to aid with financial loss due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In a video posted on the city Facebook page (facebook.com/cityofgreenbelt) on February 23, business representatives expressed how the funds are helping them stay afloat during Covid-19.
The grants are part of the $300,000 Greenbelt Business Improvement and Recovery Fund, which was created to offer immediate financial assistance to local small businesses who have been impacted by the pandemic. Seventy-four applications were received and reviewed by an external committee, said the city’s Economic Development Coordinator Charise Liggins.
The American Legion Greenbelt Post 136 was one of those recipients. “It’s very gratifying to know that the City of Greenbelt wants to help us in our time of need,” said a representative.
Wylo, an online wash and dry-cleaning company, echoed the same gratitude: “This money really saved us and kept us open so we are really grateful for that.”
The funds can be used to support operating expenses related to business interruption, improvements and continuity. “It was so needed,” said a representative from PJ Professional IT Services. “I mean, I look back and I think about how would we have made it had we not gotten that grant.”
An A.C.T.I.O.N Sports & Fitness spokesperson said attendance has dropped dramatically since the pandemic began so the grant helped with handling costs, “revenues went down and you know, expenses pretty much stayed the same so the grant definitely helped with the expenses all across the board.”
According to Yelp, over 160,000 businesses have closed across the country since the pandemic began. Of that number, 60 percent have shut their doors permanently. The aim of the city grants is to help Greenbelt businesses survive.
Businesses that won these grants include:
– American Legion Greenbelt Post 136, Inc
– Samurai Hibachi & Wings – – – Now BBQ Chicken
– Greenbelt Barber and Stylist Shop
– A.C.T.I.O.N Sports & Fitness
– Bethel Medical Clinic, CHTD
– Café Continental
– Wylo, LLC
– Greenbelt Dental Care, P.C.
– Thompson Vision Care
– Mazique Pediatrics, P.C.
– PJ Professional IT Services
– Raja M. Din, MD PLLC
– New Deal Café
– TrainACE
– Greenbelt Auto and Truck Repair
– ViVi Trendsetter
– Beltway Plaza Hardware
– Jodeem Food Express
– IHOP 2113
– Cedars of Lebanon
Glory Ngwe is a University of Maryland journalism student writing for the Greenbelt News Review.