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SURVIVING AND PROSPERING IN TIMES OF CHANGE

Reports from Small Business Owners, Merchants, and

Entrepreneurs in the Silver Spring Region

Silver Spring Regional Commercial Hubs

Organized by the Silver Spring Regional Center and CASA

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Table of Contents:

Section Name: Page Number:

Introduction 3

Takoma/Langley and Long Branch – The International Corridor 3

Fenton Village 3

Greater Lyttonsville 4

Montgomery Hills 4

Four Corners 5

The case for supporting small businesses 6

Small Business Workshop Series 7

Kick-off: Friday, February 26th Silver Spring Civic Building 7

Takoma/Langley businesses - El Golfo Restaurant, March 9, 2016 8

Montgomery Hills and Four Corners businesses - Casa del Mofongo Restaurant,

March 10, 2016 9

Fenton Village and Brookville businesses - Abyssinia Restaurant

March 11, 2016 10

Wrap-Up – Silver Spring Civic Center 11

Conclusion 11

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Introduction

In the spring of 2016, CASA and the Silver Spring Regional Center hosted a series of discussions with

small business owners1 and other stakeholders to discuss ways to strengthen the capacity for

independently and minority owned small businesses to survive and prosper in times of change. The

meetings sought to identify shared interests and challenges, explore needed assets to support the

survival of small businesses, and create an action plan to achieve the resources needed. The series

included two large meetings of small business owners from all six commercial hubs at the Silver

Spring Civic Center and those meetings were supplemented by focused area meetings in Long Branch,

Montgomery Hills, and Fenton Village to dive deeper into the issues business owners in each

neighborhood face.

Within the Silver Spring Regional area this report focuses on six commercial hubs: Takoma/Langley,

Long Branch, Fenton Village, Montgomery Hills, Greater Lyttonsville, and Four Corners. The greater

Silver Spring Regional Area within Montgomery County is one of the most diverse parts of the state of

Maryland. Both the 2010 U.S. Census2 and the Montgomery Diversity Explorer3, a newly created tool

by the County, confirm the Silver Spring Regional Area leads the county in diversity. The small

business climate of each area is reflective of the diversity and vibrancy of the residents living within

these neighborhoods. They not only offer a variety of restaurant and service options but include

manufacturing and light industry. Each commercial area has an established identity that is threatened

by pending and confirmed transportation or redevelopment projects.

Takoma/Langley and Long Branch – The International Corridor

The Takoma/Langley and Long Branch commercial areas fall within the International Corridor, a

culturally diverse stretch along University Boulevard and Piney Branch Road that spans both

Montgomery and Prince George’s County. Takoma/Langley and Long Branch residents represent over

50 countries. Latinos, with origins in Central America, are the dominant ethnic group with smaller, but

still diverse populations that hail from Asia, West Africa, and the Caribbean. That diversity is further

reflected in the nearly five hundred small businesses that populate the area’s shopping centers. These

businesses have helped shape a local economy that provides jobs, goods, and services that cater

primarily to the local, immigrant population. 4

Fenton Village

Often called the “hidden gem” of Silver Spring, Fenton Village features over 200 eclectic and diverse

businesses.5 Locksmiths, shoe repair, tailoring, auto repair shops, and a diverse array of ethnic

restaurants line the streets between Wayne Avenue to the north, Georgia Avenue and Fenton Street to

1 “Small businesses” refers to local and independently owned commercial enterprises that sell goods or services.

https://www.sba.gov/sites/default/files/FAQ_March_2014_0.pdf 2 http://www.census.gov/quickfacts/table/PST045215/2472450 3 https://countystat.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapJournal/index.html?appid=44330b45b2324ad795e0d16f2f6af2d6 4 Long Branch Sector Plan and the Takoma/Langley Sector Plan-http://www.montgomeryplanning.org/community/longbranch/documents/Long%20Branch%20Sector%20Plan%20reduced%20size%20-%20Approved%20and%20Adopted%20Low%20(3-19-14).pdf 5 http://www.mymcmedia.org/silver-spring-regional-director-talks-taste-the-world-in-fenton-village-video/

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the east and west, and Sligo Avenue to the south.6 Fenton Village is predominantly a commercial area,

but the area’s Master Plan calls for increased height to accommodate mixed use zoning and the

construction of residential buildings with first floor storefronts, adding pressure to the existing

communities. 7

Greater Lyttonsville

Greater Lyttonsville has a vibrant and diverse population that is reflected in the commercial

establishments in the area. According to the Greater Lyttonsville Sector plan and the 2010 U.S.

Decennial Census, Greater Lyttonsville has a population of 8,121 people. Greater Lyttonsville is more

racially diverse than the County as a whole. In 2012, the population was 35 percent African American,

30 percent non-Hispanic white, and 24 percent Hispanic compared to 17 percent, 49 percent, and 17

percent, respectively, countywide.

The small business community reflects this diversity. Professional and technical service providers

make up the largest share (18 percent) of business establishments in Greater Lyttonsville. Area

companies in this category include mostly small to mid-sized firms providing legal, architectural,

software, computer systems design, landscape architects, interior design, photography, marketing,

research & development, management consulting and other services. Business and household services

(including landscaping, cleaning, recycling, staffing agencies) account for 13 percent of area

companies. Greater Lyttonsville also has 57 construction companies providing a broad range of

building, remodeling, and specialty trade services to commercial and residential markets. These firms

are primarily concentrated in the Brookville Road area. 8

Montgomery Hills

The Montgomery Hills Commercial Center, located along both sides of Georgia Ave between the

Capital beltway and 16th Street, is an older commercial area. Georgia Avenue is a seven lane highway

that carries more traffic than any non-interstate road in Montgomery County (85,000 cars per day).9

The area is surrounded by established neighborhoods such as Lyttonsville, Linden, and North

Woodside-Montgomery Hills. A current State Highway Administration study is examining how to

resolve the major challenge facing the small businesses in the area: how best to accommodate the high

level of traffic in the area and still establish a “sense of place”. 10

6 http://takomavoice.com/2014/01/30/fear-in-fenton-village/ 7 Silver Spring- Takoma Park Master Plan http://www.montgomeryplanning.org/community/plan_areas/silver_spring_takoma_park/master_plans/nw_ss/nw_ss_toc.shtm 8 Greater Lyttonsville Sector Plan – http://www.montgomeryplanning.org/community/lyttonsville/documents/lyttonsville_briefing_book.pdf 9 Montgomery Hills Proposed Concept. http://www.montgomeryplanning.org/community/plan_areas/silver_spring_takoma_park/master_plans/nw_ss/montgom_hills.pdf 10 The purpose of the MD 97 Montgomery Hills Project Planning Study is to establish a balanced approach to transportation within the Georgia Avenue corridor by evaluating existing vehicular, pedestrian, and bicyclist mobility and safety while accommodating proposed transit enhancements and establishing a sense of place* within the Montgomery Hills community.http://apps.roads.maryland.gov/WebProjectLifeCycle/MO224_11/HTDOCS/Documents/Location_Design/MD%2097%20Montgomery%20Hills%20Hearing%20Brochure.pdf

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Four Corners

According to the 1996 Four Corners Master Plan, Four Corners is made of up five distinct

neighborhoods with closed-in residential areas, local convenience shopping, schools, and parks. The

Commercial district, at the intersection of Colesville Road and University Boulevard is the heart of the

community, as well as the entry point to the surrounding residential neighborhoods. 11

The case for supporting small businesses

Supporting local small businesses through patronage and favorable public policies results in positive

outcomes for the local economy. The British Columbia division of the Canadian Union of Public

Employees commissioned a study that confirmed that each dollar invested in independent businesses

generates more dollars in economic activity than spending that same amount of money at a chain

retailer.12 The study found that for every $1,000,000 in sales, independent retail stores generate

$450,000 in local economic activity, compared to just $170,000 for chains. Independent restaurants

generated more than twice as much as chain restaurants. Compared to chains, independent restaurants

11 Four Corners Master Plan http://www.montgomeryplanning.org/community/plan_areas/silver_spring_takoma_park/master_plans/4corners/documents/high_4corners.pdf 12 “Independent BC: Small Business and the British Columbia Economy” February 2013

http://nebula.wsimg.com/31f003d5633c543438ef0a5ca8e8289f?AccessKeyId=8E410A17553441C49302&disposition=0&a

lloworigin=1

Figure 1 Business 2 Community: This graphic illustrates the power of investing $10 in locally based small businesses. www.business2community.com/trends-news/how-supporting-a-local-small-business-benefits-you-096248#1smdFPk2lKO1jKcD.97

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and businesses together generated about 2.6 times more local jobs. The study concludes that a shift of

just 10 percent of the market from chains to independents would produce 31,000 jobs paying $940

million in annual wages to BC workers.” 13 The benefit of all this economic activity is that it remains

in the local economy and gets cycled through employers, employees, service providers, government

agencies and a host of other players. In addition to generating more local economic activity, small

business owners become more invested in the communities they do business.

Immigrants in particular are prone to establish their own businesses, sparking cities and jurisdictions to

create campaigns to attract immigrant entrepreneurs as they are two times more likely to open a new

business compared to the native born populations.14 The American Immigration Council writes “while

immigrants made up 13 percent of the country’s total population, 16 percent of the labor force, and 18

percent of business owners overall in 2013, immigrants were 28 percent of “main street” business

owners nationally. They were even more over-represented in particular types of businesses: they were

61 percent of gas station owners, 58 percent of dry cleaner owners, 45 percent of nail salon owners, 38

percent of restaurant owners, and 32 percent of both jewelry and clothing store owners.15

Locally, research performed by CASA with small businesses on the international corridor has found

that while small businesses are diverse and long standing with strong connections to the residential

community, they are highly vulnerable to rent increases and a lack of property ownership.16 This

project presented an opportunity to explore whether these concerns remain 5 years later and across

broader swathes of the Silver Spring Regional Area,

13 Id. 14 See Gateways for Growth partnership between Partnership for a New American Economy and Welcoming America. http://www.renewoureconomy.org/home/gateways-for-growth-challenge/ for a list of participating cities. 15 http://immigrationpolicy.org/special-reports/entrepreneurship-and-innovation-welcoming-cities-lessons-

chicago-dayton-and-nashvill

16 The International Corridor: Portrait of a Threatened Small Business Community - How the Purple Line Can Break or

Build a Neighborhood. CASA 2011. Available from author.

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Small Business Workshop Series

Kick-off: Friday, February 26th Silver Spring Civic Building

The kick-off was attended by over 32 participants;

representatives of 15 small businesses and over 17

technical support providers with a handful fitting

into both categories. The group divided into a

discussion for business owners and one for

providers.

Key Takeaways

There is an enormous disconnect between small

business owners and providers that seek to provide

services to them. Small business owners are

unfamiliar with the services and lack the time to see

them out. Technical support providers wonder why

their services have not been sought. Small business owners described that they would be most

interested in recruiting an experienced business owner to mentor them in navigating the system.

Marcie Wolf-Hubbard, a local artist, asked about the Arts and Entertainment designation and

wonders what Montgomery County, businesses, and Silver Spring are doing to support artists

Rossana Espinoza, Small Business Development Manager at the Latino Economic

Development Corporation (LEDC) understands why small business people do not know/trust

the many resource partners that exist around the County. She stated that as providers, we

MUST get out of our offices and into the community to build that trust. Mayra Bayonet of the

Hispanic Chamber of Commerce echoed the sentiment by stating that visits to the commercial

areas and personally engaging the business owners to learn about their issues help to get them

involved

Althea Grey-McKenzie, owner of a home-based business, had a wonderful experience

attending the workshop, but wondered how to address the challenge that many businesses are

virtual and often do not have a store-front; they are harder to find but similarly impacted by

changing times

Celeste Mitchell, a marketing entrepreneur, learned that small business owners need help with

marketing, but in speaking with owners and looking at their websites, she has discovered that

they are not quite at the level of sophistication that she regularly provides

Technical assistance providers committed to walking the neighborhoods. Paul Grenier from

Montgomery Housing Partnership will walk Long Branch. Mayra Bayonet will walk Four

Corners

Celeste Mitchell suggested pulling together a resource list of organizations for providers and

business owners to help bridge the gap between the groups.

Rosanna Espinoza recommends that we bring the groups together again for a networking event

to bridge the gap between small business owners, entrepreneurs and merchants and technical

support providers. ”It was useful to have the separate conversations, but it would have been

helpful to have a little more opportunity to dialog across the two groups. I hope there will be

future opportunities to continue the conversations.”

Pete Tan, a manager at Silver Spring Inc., a branding and marketing company, suggested to

“use technology to make future sessions accessible online via webinar”.

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1. Meeting for Takoma/Langley businesses,

El Golfo Restaurant, March 9, 2016

The Long Branch – Takoma/Langley areas gathering, held on March 9th, was attended by 10 small

business owners and community stakeholders. The conversation centered on the services offered in

Long Branch and the strong sense of identity the businesses and community have created. Long

Branch is composed of people from many parts of the world and the business community reflects the

same diversity.

Community based organizations and technical support providers have created a sense of trust with the

business community and together organize festivals, events and mural paintings to put the Long

Branch identity and sense of community front and center.

Key Takeaways

Participants of the focus

area gathering cited a

misconception of Long Branch

being a violent neighborhood as a

deterrent to attracting traffic from

other areas

Long Branch is not a

destination where people can park

and shop around. Small parking

lots serve the businesses they are

attached to and towing is enforced

at different intensities. Shared

parking would help drive more

clients to the area who would then

explore and shop around

Long Branch will be served

by two proposed stations of the Purple Line and its construction will have a major impact on

the neighborhood. It will be one of the only places with a tunnel

There are a lot of great things happening in Long Branch but its taking time to attract people

from other areas of the region

A lot on the corner of Arliss St. and Flower Branch should be developed as a County owned

public parking lot

Many things can be improved in Long Branch. Parking spaces can be shared and business

owners can help promote neighboring businesses.

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2. Meeting for Montgomery Hills and Four Corners businesses

Casa del Mofongo Restaurant, March 10, 2016 The focus area gathering for the Montgomery Hills and

Four Corners commercial areas was held at Casa del

Mofongo on March 10. Six small business owners and

community stakeholders attended the gathering.

Key Takeaways:

There are many infrastructure changes coming to the

smaller commercial hubs in greater Silver Spring and

unfortunately the business owner community has not been

engaged enough to impact the results of the studies.

Montgomery Hills is being reviewed by State Highway

Administration for a possible widening of Georgia Avenue

Commerce in the area has been more densely centralized

as the need for more Silver Spring residential spaces has

grown. The number of homes has increased in the

neighborhoods as the number of businesses serving the

area has decreased. People are going to downtown Silver

Spring for their needs

The neighborhoods have schools and other long

established businesses but there is not enough being done to market and refine the identity of

the two commercial areas

Technical support providers help by visiting the commercial areas and personally engaging the

business owners. “The input of the business owners is very important, so we have to create

programs so they can learn and see their businesses succeed. They are an important part of our

community.”

But there is still greater need for providers to connect and build trust with small business

owners as the neighborhood strengthens its identity

The neighborhood is in the stage of forming its neighborhood identity and marketing that to the

greater region. Pete Tan has created a directory for the area, but more needs to be done to

further promote it as a destination

A Multipurpose center modeled after the home ownership centers in Maryland could be a

solution to addressing the various needs faced by the small business owner community.

It’s important for organizers to identify the best method of communication to contact the small

business owners. Would texting be a possible solution

Participants propose walking tours of the neighborhood or library tours to help strengthen the

small business association that exists in the area.

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3. Meeting with Fenton Village and Brookville businesses

Abyssinia Restaurant, March 11, 2016

The focus area gathering for the Fenton Village and

Brookville/Lyttonsville commercial areas was held at

Abyssinia on March 11th, 2016. Six small business

owners and community stakeholders attended the

gathering. Fenton Village is a neighborhood with a

strong sense of identity. The small businesses see

themselves as neighbors and are part of the civic

association. Building that cohesion has taken time and

hard work but great events have been created such as,

the Block Party and Taste the World, to best represent

the diversity and resilience of the community. Fenton

Village is really where art is life and life is art.

Key Takeaways

Fenton Village has a history of civic organizing and small business cohesion. The community

faces challenges with the upcoming Purple Line and there is a need to build trust between

community stakeholders and the business community

Government agencies have sometimes competing requirements and small businesses need more

information about their legal rights. Business owners feel they are sometimes cited for

contradictory violations. An agency, such as the fire department, will order a business owner to

institute a change in order to keep their occupancy license while another agency will ask them

to do the opposite or something completely different. Business owners want legislative and

regulatory reform so that they have greater rights in these circumstances

Building trust between small business owners and the community based organizations and

technical support providers is a critical component to resolving issues together, especially on

Bonifant Street where the Purple Line will run. If there is no grassroots support it’s difficult for

community organizations to gain support from small business owners. Rebuilding that trust will

help people to feel that their point of view matters and they are not second class citizens

Organizations, residents, business owners, and the local government need to plan for long term

community investment. It will take time to initiate and maintain relationships in the area

The Purple Line and housing redevelopment can have a negative impact on the community if

people are not organized

Better communication is needed, included for discussions of this type

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Wrap-Up – Silver Spring Civic Center

The wrap-up meeting was held at the Silver

Spring Civic Center on March 22nd, 2016.

Twenty one small business owners and

community stakeholders attended the gathering.

Staff from CASA and the Silver Spring

Regional Center reported back on the kick-off

meeting and the three focus area meetings.

New participants, many of them small

businesses or staff from support organizations,

attended the final wrap up session.

Key Takeaways

Participants asked for more opportunities to network and connect with other small businesses

and providers. Paul Grenier summarized – “I found helpful [what we have] heard from the

small businesses. For example, that they prefer to learn from other businesses in the same

sector. And they’re concerned with parking.”

Have a local and independent business owner networking event to connect with the community,

capture feedback, and walk the streets to get to know the businesses in the commercial areas of

Greater Silver Spring.

Local and independent small business owners should get involved in planning activities and

with established institutions such as the Greater Silver Spring Chamber of Commerce and other

providers.

Providers, business associations, and local government must be creative and collaborative to

resolve issues facing each neighborhood. Holding each other accountable and engaged is the

key. Resolving issues such as shared parking, absentee small property owners, and hiring

locally can help these local and independent business owners, merchants, and entrepreneurs

thrive in times of change.

There is urgency for small businesses given the prospect of the Purple Line. Motivating

businesses to act on their futures is imperative, but the challenges are great. Trust and

understanding what resource partners will or won’t be able do for businesses is essential.

Rebecca Silvestre, owner of Legal Shield, also emphasized the importance of continuing to

have these conversations. “Moving forward, having this conversation on a more regular basis

would help the business owners know there is support for their needs.”

Conclusion: Small business owners in the Silver Spring regional area face a number of shared challenges and

interests. The workshop series confirmed the most pressing challenge is the uncertainty of planned

transportation and infrastructure developments that threaten to limit customer access. Each commercial

hub has its own identity and set of challenges. Small businesses are hungry for better access to and

understanding of resources that can help them succeed. As research has shown, investing in the

viability of existing small businesses is well worth it in the long run.

Connections and relationships strengthened in this process can form the basis for continuing dialogue

among the businesses and the technical service providers in these commercial hubs. CASA and the

Silver Spring Regional Center thank all the participants and contributors that helped shape this

document.

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For More Information, go to:

The Website: www.choosemontgomerymd.com