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Main Street directors tell Committee that stagnant base grants limit services as costs rise
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Summary
Main Street program leaders said baseline grants have not kept pace with inflation and that the one-time enhancements the Council added helped, but they need permanent increases and a review of delivery models to serve more of the city's small businesses.
Directors of multiple DC Main Street programs urged the Committee to convert one-time enhancements into recurring baseline funding and to commission a program review to explore new delivery models.
"The annual grant award was $150,000. Adjusting for inflation that same amount is nearly $200,000 today," Brianne Dornbush, executive director of District Bridges, told the Committee, adding that stagnant core funding hampers staff retention, program capacity, and the ability to respond to both shocks and opportunities in neighborhood commercial corridors.
Witnesses described uses of recent enhancements and specific outcomes: Columbia Heights and Mount Pleasant programming helped a local business purchase property through the Commercial Property Acquisition Fund; Georgetown Main Street used a growth-fund grant to launch a Stick Around Georgetown lease-renegotiation assistance initiative; and Tenleytown Main Street reported $10,000 in incremental sales for a participating retailer following an Art All Night event.
Main Street managers asked the Committee for two measures: (1) make the recent Council enhancement funding permanent and (2) commission a formal evaluation of Main Streets to consider models like a ward-based multi-main-street approach, stronger technical-assistance platforms, and neighborhood management authorities.
Committee members acknowledged the requests and said they will consider written budget language and a program review to determine sustainable funding mechanisms.
