State announces $4 million Purple Line small‑business grant as county outlines stipend and outreach plans

Maryland transportation officials on Monday announced a $4,000,000 small‑business assistance grant program intended to help merchants hurt by Purple Line construction and urged rapid outreach to ensure eligible businesses apply.

"So we are launching a $4,000,000 small business assistance grant program," said Jacqueline Hartman, assistant secretary for transportation investments at the Maryland Department of Transportation, describing the program as $1,000,000 per year for four years. She said awards of up to $50,000 will be prioritized based on recent and near‑term construction impacts, business size and gross sales.

The announcement matters because businesses along the Purple Line alignment — particularly in Silver Spring corridors including Bonifant Street, Piney Branch and Lyttonsville — have reported substantial drops in foot traffic, parking access and revenue during active construction.

"It's been messy. It's been economically impactful," said Stephanie Helsing, president and CEO of the Greater Silver Spring Chamber of Commerce, citing businesses she said were hard hit by the Spring Street Bridge closure and daily construction impacts.

Montgomery County staff described a complementary local program. Jean Smith, manager of the Montgomery County Business Center, said the county allocated $900,000 in a recent budget for targeted grants and stipends focused initially on Bonifant Street and later extended to Piney Branch. He said roughly 40 businesses are receiving monthly stipends under the county program and that staff perform quarterly checks to confirm ongoing eligibility and good standing with state requirements.

Council members pressed program administrators on eligibility and outreach. A council member noted that the state's initial eligibility criterion requires businesses to have been operating on or before Jan. 1, 2022; Hartman said that starting cutoff aims to prioritize longer‑tenured businesses but that the program can be modified in later rounds. Committee members also asked for clearer definitions of excluded categories — for example the program's treatment of beer‑and‑wine retailers versus liquor stores and of cannabis‑related businesses.

Project officials also updated the committee on construction progress. Ray Bates, senior project director for the Purple Line with the Maryland Transit Administration, said the January 2025 report shows 74.2% completion by the JCR calculation and that the project remains targeted to open in winter 2027.

Officials described other nonfinancial supports: Hartman and Purple Line staff said they maintain a directory of more than 800 businesses along the alignment, run monthly business spotlights and are considering promotional maps and coordinated marketing at opening to encourage riders to visit nearby merchants. Chamber and regional services representatives offered to help with outreach, translation and joint promotional events.

Applications for the state program are scheduled to be due by March 14, with awards announced about a month later. Committee members said rapid, multilingual outreach and hands‑on application assistance will be critical during the roughly six‑week application window.

The joint committee adjourned after the exchange.