The MLK Ignite Capital Grant program, which awards $100,000 to small businesses located on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive recently awarded 14 businesses. Invest Atlanta, the city’s economic development arm, created the grant program as part of the city’s overall efforts to revitalize the MLK Jr. Drive Corridor. The 14 small businesses will receive $5,000-$10,000 each to meet their immediate, short-term needs, such as building façade upgrades, property improvements and equipment purchases.
Atlanta City Councilmember Ivory Young, Jr., joined Mayor Reed for the ceremony today.
Each small business was required to provide 30 percent of the cost of the capital investment they proposed to make for their business. The grant award covered the remaining 70 percent of the capital cost. The grant funds come from the $10 million federal TIGER VII grant awarded to the City of Atlanta in August 2016, and is the centerpiece of the $35 million renovation to improve safety and mobility and promote economic development along more than seven miles of this historic street.
The grant recipients are:
Latifah Allah, Unity Hair Salon;
Terrance Barron, University Barbershop;
Khadijah Baynes, The Beauty Industry;
Phoebe Dawson, Alfonzo Dawson Mortuary Inc.;
Kenneth Dean, All-Pro Insurance Agency;
Marion Hargett, Jamal’s Buffalo Wings;
Imani Maisonelt, Imani’s Too Hair & More Salon;
Edward Martin, Murden’s Barber Shop;
Jaseph Moultrie, Jr., Aesthetic Ink & Design;
Dr. Charles Nichols, Alphia Health & Wellness Solutions;
Corey Reeves, Aldridge Services Inc.;
Hope Stoney, Hope Health & Wellness Center;
Andrew Taylor, Pro Cuts ATL; and
Pauline Warrior, Warnun Industries Ltd.
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