Last Tuesday, we had the opportunity to visit and hear from Boston small businesses with Mike Kennealy, the Commonwealth’s Secretary of Housing and Economic Development. Through a coordinated effort, LEAF, LISC, MHIC, and Boston Main Streets hosted a walking tour of Mattapan, Dorchester, and Roxbury’s resident businesses.
We started off at America’s Food Basket, a bustling grocery store stocked with products from around Latin America. Across the street we then stopped by River Street Family Dental, a dentistry that has been serving the Mattapan neighborhood for decades and has some of the best prices around! We ended that leg with a roundtable discussion at Frugal Furniture Outlet on Blue Hill Avenue, where entrepreneurs shared their experiences and insights from faring through the COVID -19 pandemic, and their feedback on existing small business programs and suggestions for how they can be improved.
Afterwards, we toured Roxbury’s Nubian Square, stopping by our client Black Market Nubian, a community space that doubles as a market on weekends and showcases the vibrant talent of Roxbury’s artistic community through live music, food, art, and handicrafts for sale. At Nubian Market, we heard stories about the effects of the pandemic and the innovative partnerships Roxbury businesses have been forming to connect Nubian square residents to the tech opportunities in the Seaport. We end our day touring through Dorchester, visiting Anthony Caldwell from 50Kitchen, one of our first TA clients who is serving up Asian-soul food fusion in Field’s Corner.
To all of the small business owners; thank you for hosting us- you rock!