Neighborhood Economic Recovery Fund

Provide low barrier opportunities for businesses to enter the online North Seattle Marketplace, create stability, and positively activate the business core. Create a Business Incubator and Arts and Culture Space including a "year-round" pop-up market for community use and BIPOC farmers and vendors; Support BIPOC businesses with lease negotiation assistance and startup costs to occupy vacant storefronts; 8-week training program to teach sewing skills and business licensing with Refugee Artisan Initiative. Expand 31st Ave Market Street for 8 weeks during the summer providing outdoor seating and increasing revenue for adjacent businesses. Connect volunteers to a local business for support and promotion and work with at least three BIPOC owned business to improve signage, lighting, and facades. Increased capacity will bring consistency and informative value to our community website and support for a business block watch program. 

Ballard Alliance aims to support businesses, improve the public realm, fill commercial vacancies, elevate the sense of place and community in the neighborhood through programming at a local district level. Specific recovery projects include: Produce a variety of videos that feature Ballard's BIPOC and woman-owned businesses among others; Create a new website to be used as a vehicle to drive business, resident and employee recruitment and retention; Design and install light pole banners along NW Market Street to celebrate Ballard's Indigenous history, Scandinavian history and the VisitBallard brand and create a mural in the Ballard core. Activations include: Produce a free Ballard HolidayFest event that is open to all with live music, refreshments, festive decorations and Santa photos; Buskers to bring live music to downtown Ballard and add liveliness to the street; and Love Your Local incentive-based program to encourage visitors to shop and dine during the holidays.

Recovery projects focus on public realm improvements and communications infrastructure. Repair or clean current public art in Fremont, install signage or wayfinding in Troll Knoll, and fund artists to photograph public art in Fremont to be uploaded onto Google and Apple maps to more easily locate and appreciate. Translate the Fremont Chamber website in multiple languages and update and digitize the Fremont Walking Guide. Update the damaged and graffitied Hysterical Markers that provide cultural, historical and wayfinding information.

Three key strategies will support the recovery of Aurora Avenue. A mural initiative of 5 large scale murals that are quick, noticeable wins. Establish a neighborhood theme or image for business owners to rally around and do quick installations along the corridor (with paint, decals, etc) to provide a tangible representation of the change in narrative and atmosphere. Organize several community events to promote local businesses, including a pop-up holiday market utilizing vacant commercial spaces in the Oak Tree complex, and a Restaurant Tour to highlight BIPOC restaurants along Aurora Avenue with rewards to residents visiting local restaurants. 

Multiple strategies support the recovery of the district and its diverse small businesses. Small business outreach and support projects include small business outreach and general technical assistance, support for public outdoor dining areas, and tracking commercial vacancies to prevent displacement. Cultural and arts district exploration will engage multiple stakeholders and identify a potential path forward. Public realm projects include tree lighting along the commercial corridor and painting murals and designs in high-pedestrian volume areas to mitigate the negative impact of solid waste collection in commercial district alleys.

Immediate efforts focus on restoring, strengthening and maintaining the connections needed to help our businesses and community recover and thrive. Projects include subsidizing the services of a business consultant to work with our hardest hit businesses needing a path out of debt and back into profitability; covering a year of PNA membership costs for BIPOC-owned businesses to better connect and learn about their needs, share resources, and strengthening connections. Two events to safely bring our community and businesses together: The Bite of Phinneywood (subsidizing participation costs for BIPOC businesses) and Lunar New Year collaborating with our East Asian and Chinese businesses.

Create a supportive business community and implement strategies to support and attract BIPOC business owners. This will be done through three major elements: creating an online marketplace and a neighborhood business directory, partnering with other neighborhood organizations to join the North Seattle Marketplace. Implement a public art mural on the Homan Road overpass led by a BIPOC artist. Continue development of the Holman Grove community gathering place as a neighborhood heart.

Continue and expand upon their annual signature event the Green Lake Food Walk, an event that brings over 1,000 people into the community and has the potential to draw even more people while maintaining social distancing. 

Increased outreach capacity to take advantage of new programs like business tenant improvement funds, potential property acquisition funding and food/business incubation opportunities.  Create an online presence for businesses, support events that create and promote community involvement and engagement with local businesses.

Strategic investments in the public realm, events and activations, one-on-one technical assistance for small businesses, and setting the neighborhood up for future recovery and growth. Public realm improvements include a Broken Window and Façade Improvement program for thirteen more storefronts already in the queue. Decorative, holiday, and art lighting and public art projects will be a draw to the neighborhood, along with public space activations in early spring 2022. Will also conduct a retail market study to understand the current state of the district, where retail trends are heading, and generate some bold and creative ideas to help sustain a vibrant ground-floor. 

Focusing on public space activations through art installations in vacant storefronts with local artists and entrepreneurs. Communications infrastructure development and digital marketplace will help address marketing and e-commerce needs of BIPOC and women-owned small businesses. A neighborhood wide communications strategy will encourage awareness and participation in Belltown United's neighborhood watch group, and community building will support development of a small business council and a cohesive group of Belltown residents, organizations and businesses to discuss solutions for Belltown's recovery.

Install murals, signal boxes, and Pride Progress Sidewalks to beautify the neighborhood and tie the struggles and victories of the LGBTQIA+ community with those of BIPOC communities. Create a retail and restaurant printed guide to highlight the great small businesses on Broadway, many of which are BIPOC-owned. Do a deep clean of the district to make it more welcoming for all. Holiday activations and new banners along the street will relay our community values ("Welcome All") and provide some festiveness for the holiday season ahead.

Develop a robust digital presence to share resources and improve community connectivity. Will also facilitate Capitol Hill businesses expanding into the online world by providing a space where all who do business can list and sell their products and goods. Public space activation are aimed to bring foot traffic to the neighborhood built around a voucher campaign to be spent at participating businesses.

Recovery projects will focus on Clean and Safe, with the Chamber establishing a new Community Block Watch and Cleaning program to support small businesses, employees, and residents of South Lake Union. Separately, the Chamber in partnership with local nonprofits will explore resources to support our unhoused population in 2022. The Chamber will also develop a new small business hub to provide training and informational sessions to small businesses in order to stabilize their operation.

Multiple recovery projects focus on a clean, safe and welcoming district. Work with Uplift NW to provide cleaning services in the public realm. Amplify the Uptown Arts District focusing on art along signal boxes and street banners. Support local businesses through local networking, business database, business newsletters, small events, and cross-promotions. Increased capacity will also help to monitor and address cumulative transportation impacts as the Arena and Seattle Center reopen.

Holistic proposal for neighborhood economic recovery with an arts focus, that leverages multiple partnerships. Specific projects include Black Spatial Histories Institute and activation of oral histories, Pop up vendor markets, BLOOM community-centered food justice project, and artist in residency program.

Will organize and host a summer community market, activate and beautify 12th Ave Square Park & 12th Ave Street with landscaping and tables and chairs for shared outdoor seating to create a vibrant and safe area for the residents, students, neighbors, and small businesses. Taste of 12th Ave Market will showcase existing businesses, provide opportunity for retailers without a brick-and-mortar location, and drive foot traffic into the area.

Will implement activations including a Creative Marketplace, music and dance performances, pop up galleries, etc. Ongoing regular activations will bring people into the district to support local businesses and provide market opportunities for BIPOC entrepreneurs and artists. 

Will convert the old restaurant space into a commissary kitchen and popup event space to help BIPOC businesses revive and grow. Affordable commissary kitchen space in Seattle will benefit many small cottage food businesses by increasing access to commercial kitchen space in neighborhoods, allowing them to more readily sell their products since most home kitchens are challenging to get certified. 

Improvements to the public realm will help promote the area as welcoming and safe for residents, workers, and visitors. Will repaint the columns under the freeway "Sunrise Over First Hill" that have seen significant graffiti, expand/repair flexible pavement in the neighborhood to ensure that risks associated with elders walking is minimized, and replace a few signal boxes that need new art installed due to them being destroyed.

Will develop an outdoor coworking space for BIPOC organizations needing affordable space for community-serving programs and BIPOC vendors to support economic growth.

Will support a monthly indigenous farmers market, capacity to coordinate, and efforts to source ingredients and products from indigenous suppliers as part of their indigenous foods café social enterprise. The farmer's market is an ongoing activation in an area prioritized by the neighborhood for positive activity.

Will support outreach to businesses in the Central Area to develop a BIPOC business directory. The directory will include a BIPOC contractor list that can be marketed to help BIPOC contractors that experience structural barriers connect with opportunities and contracts to grow their business.

Will establish a new pop-up market along Howell Street mini block that will showcase BIPOC businesses. Market activations would take place twice monthly for six months, with 4 businesses at a time. The budget includes stipends for small business owners to support their participation.

This award is shared between the Chinatown International District Business Imrpovement Area, Seattle Chinatown International District Preservation Development Authority, and Friends of Little Saigon. Investment focuses on tangible improvements in security and quality of life for workers, residents and visitors through several key projects: installing transparent security film on windows of neighborhood businesses, business outreach and support including in lanuage, and pressure washing major arterials and other public realm improvements.

Direct support to local businesses through several projects: mini grants to neighborhood businesses, customer loyalty program with coupons to local BIPOC businesses, and expanded e-commerce capacity of businesses with Essential Southeast Seattle digital marketplace. Public space activation projects include Black Summer Camp Movie Nights and support for Block Parties and other events, development of an affordable co-working and small business incubator, and a series of events to build awareness and connections about mental health. Planter pots will unify the commercial core, along with public art, graffiti removal, and holiday lighting.

Scale up a small business lending pilot to provide recovery capital and technical assistance to low-income immigrant, refugee, women, and BIPOC-owned small businesses in Southeast Seattle. Lead a research and development effort to develop a nonprofit cooperative delivery app service, to improve control, accuracy and reduce fees small businesses are subject to from third-party delivery apps. Continue to build out the Essential Southeast Seattle Marketplace and implement a plan to promote.

Recovery projects will focus on positive neighborhood activation, inclusive business outreach and support, and expanding digital access for local small businesses. Projects include: winter lighting, Tree wells and planters, and intensified clean ups in Genesee and Hillman City; District banners and shared seating areas in Columbia and Hillman City; Customer loyalty program in Columbia City and Genesee; Outreach to businesses currently underserved and inclusion in Essential Southeast Seattle digital marketplace; and increased capacity to support local businesses and facilitate neighborhood communication.

Partners will expand business outreach and support for small neighborhood businesses, engaging difficult to reach communities through language resources and cultural sensitivity, and expanding digital access support. Scale up small business programs to help BIPOC-owned businesses in Rainier Beach survive COVID-19 and to thrive beyond it, including an accelerator and entrepreneurship programs. Match community serving businesses with commercial spaces.

Increase capacity to focus and grow business outreach and support services provided through the Hub Alliance, continue collaboration with the Essential Southeast Seattle Marketplace to promote local businesses, support restaurants to participate in Plate of Nations and Seattle Restaurant Week. Other projects include: partner with Mt. Baker Mutual Aid to address safety issues, resume community clean ups and continue working with the City to address illegal dumping along Rainier Ave, and expand the Winter Lights project in the district.

Pilot an Ambassador program to help property and business owners and employees with issues including safety concerns, graffiti removal, illegal dumping and biohazard clean up. The team will respond to a variety of issues and concerns and focus on helping to keep SODO safe, clean and a great neighborhood to do business.

Will support Somali business complex with resources and façade improvements. Proposal builds on existing relationships to address some immediate needs for safety and recovery for 21 Somali businesses. These near-term projects support a longer-term focus on community-led development in the Othello-Graham station area.

Will make tenant improvements to a recently purchased property, including cold and dry storage, to support small BIPOC farmers through food aggregation and access to markets and wholesale opportunities to local restaurants. Their focus on supply chain is impactful and organization will launch programs to support farmers during the 2022 growing season.

Will launch a Hillman City Night Market featuring BIPOC vendors, redesign a building façade with a local BIPOC artist that houses 8 East African businesses to attract more customers. The grant will also fund additional outreach hours for a Rainier Ave cultural business advocate.

Will support the Drivers Solidarity and Resource Centre anchored in Othello and serving drivers in SE Seattle. They will help mostly immigrant and refugee drivers in SE Seattle get their TNC licenses reactivated which lapsed from not driving during the pandemic. This project addresses the immediate need for license reactivations so drivers can earn income which has a direct economic impact on families and cultural businesses in SE Seattle.

Organization will transform empty storefront space into a public community art space, including monthly art residency, marketplace, and ArtWalk CID to attract customers to the district and expand opportunities for creative entrepreneurs.

Little Saigon mutual aid hub will resource local restaurants to provide community meals and implement small beautification projects at 12th and Jackson.

Support JamFest and Hai!Japantown (Nihomachi) cultural activations. The Wing Luke Museum has extensive marketing and reach that expands beyond the CID to pull in visitors to support local businesses and is partnering with 13 neighborhood businesses for these activations.

Will support Massive Monkees Day in the Community including pop up events with free classes for kids, dance battles, and dance performances leading up to the community event. The event brings customers into the district that will support the small businesses and activations are youth oriented.

Will support placemaking projects such as facade and neon business lighting. Proposal supports all of Japantown, with over 40 businesses supported by these projects. Grantee is also receiving a DON grant to fund this work.

Recovery projects focus on public realm improvements and positive neighborhood activity. Specifically, repair damage from graffiti and vandalism, and treat surfaces with anti-graffiti coating to prevent further damage, lease parking spaces from WSDOT to encourage more visitors to the area, and provide shared outdoor seating and covered areas in some of the more well-travelled areas of the neighborhood. Invest in partnerships and sponsorships to invite the rest of Seattle to Georgetown and produce neighborhood guides and tourism information for online resources including guides highlighting our BIPOC owned businesses. Build relationships - with a focus on connecting with and prioritizing BIPOC business owners. Rebuild and expand the GMA website 

Recovery projects and funding will support strategic outreach by the Chamber to BIPOC and new small businesses in West Seattle. The West Seattle Chamber will offer free membership to small businesses of need and provide technical assistance, workshops, and consultant support to navigate public programs and resources. The Chamber will also produce at least five events in 2022 to draw communities to support and patronize small businesses across West Seattle, as the district has been impacted by the pandemic and also the closure of the West Seattle bridge.

Funds will help light up the district to contribute to a well-lighted and safe district. This will include brighter lighting across the buildings and lighting up the trees in the Junction, expanding the blocks to be lighted along SW Alaska. Expanding banners on the light poles will contribute to identifying the downtown neighborhood core and expanded cleaning services will serve more small businesses.

Activate and beautify public spaces, promote El Mercadito, install holiday lighting and decorations, and produce several community events.

Digital equity through presence on a district website, providing websites for businesses and marketing consultation, publicize South Park as a destination, and implement a small business mini grant program.

Will develop an outdoor covered seating area for community use and to support local activations. The seating area would be publicly accessible from the sidewalk and supported by local partners. 

The Black Arts Love Retail Project is focused on showcasing and promoting the work of black artists and BIPOC business owners. They will lease a retail space for a year to create and operate a collective market that serves 25-50 BIPOC vendors and artists. Group will also organize several activations in Central Area and/or Southeast.

Partnership to develop an ecosystem of support for BIPOC small businesses in high impacted neighborhoods (Rainier Valley, Central Area, South Park). Specific elements include scaling a culturally relevant business accelerator, support community loan fund infrastructure development specifically character-based underwriting, and small business coaching.

Will support BIPOC small businesses through awareness (business directory), engagement (online platform), and intentional spending (Intentionalist gift cards for small businesses). Will add 125 businesses to their digital gift card network from high impacted neighborhoods and will conduct supportive campaigns. 

Will establish space to house Queer and Trans BIPOC marketplace, technical assistance workshops, and event space for pop up markets.  

Will create big band community orchestra and support events and classes in 2022. Their events have successfully brought together diverse audiences, including small business vendors, and will help increase foot traffic and positive neighborhood activity.

Will support two new 6-month playwright residencies and neighborhood activations including public play readings and community play development workshops. This project provides economic support for the BIPOC and differently abled communities through job opportunities and vendor contracts. The organization will partner with BIPOC businesses at public performances and workshops.