February 10, 2020

Updates from Adams Morgan

Click Here to see previous updates in our newsletter archive

For the latest from the DC government, refer to: https://coronavirus.dc.gov

Save the Date

AMPBID Annual Meeting: Tuesday, March 9, 2021

Adams Morgan Partnership Business Improvement District’s Annual Meeting will be held on Tuesday, March 9, 2021 at 5pm. The meeting will be held online via Zoom. Postcards were mailed to all commercial property and business owners in January.

IMPORTANT: To attend the annual meeting as a voting member (all commercial property and business owners within the AMPBID boundaries are automatically members) you must send us your email address via this form . Links to participate in the Zoom meeting and further details (including voting procedures) will be sent via email.

In addition to other business, we will hold elections for seven positions on the Board of Directors (5 property owners and 2 business owners whose terms expire in March) at the meeting.

Please fill out the above form by February 15, 2021 so we can send your ballot. If you have questions, please call Brian at 202.536.9515 or email at bbarrie@admodc.org.

The Return of Adams Morgan Date Nights!

After having to cut the event short last year due to the pandemic, Adams Morgan Date Nights has returned with a familiar, but somewhat different format. We'll still be giving away fabulous date packages and offering great suggestions for staying close to your special someone while staying socially distant from others, but there will be takeout and even virtual options as well.

In light of the difficulties our members have had to endure over the last year we won't be asking businesses for prize donations -- instead, the prizes will be gift cards (purchased by us) to the Adams Morgan business chosen by the prize winner.

As in year's past, we will endeavor to include as many businesses as possible in our "Great Grid of Dates" but please send any ideas of a date night that involves your business to bbarrie@admodc.org . The web page is being updated but until it is you can still see last year's information at AdMoDateNights.com if you need inspiration.

Meet our new Safety Ambassador

Garibaldy "Gari" Requena started today as the newest member of the Adams Morgan Partnership BID team. Gari is replacing Jorge Quesada, who held the position for the last two years before leaving us late last year for a new opportunity.

Gari will be patrolling the neighborhood, checking in on businesses, and helping visitors on Wednesdays through Sundays, from noon until 8:00 pm.

Gari is fluent in English and Spanish, has a background in security and customer service, and is originally from Brooklyn, New York. When you see him out in the neighborhood be sure to introduce yourself and help us welcome him to Adams Morgan.

ABRA Training on the Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration Amendment Act of 2021

ABRA is hosting a training on the newly introduced Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration Amendment Act of 2021. The legislation extends the Streatery program, creates new alcohol licenses, including a commercial lifestyle license and third-party delivery license, allows taverns in the Georgetown historic district, permits doggie bags of spirits at restaurants and hotels and more. Click here to register for the training hosted by ABRA on Monday, February 22nd from 2-3.

Beyond PPP: Government Grants and Contracting Opportunities

Thursday, February 11, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM EST

Small businesses are invited to participate in a webinar to learn how to apply for Government Grants and Contracting opportunities with experts from KPMG Spark and Grant Source.

General Topics:

How to find the best grant and contract opportunities for your business;
Business-friendly tools and services that can help you develop a winning proposal;
Tax and Bookkeeping for businesses pursuing government contracts, grants and PPP Loans.

Click here to register

PPP & Other SBA Funding Resources - Information Session with District BIDs

Thursday, February 11, 2:30 PM EST

The DC Department of Small and Local Business Development (DSLBD) in collaboration with the DC Business Improvement District (BID) Council invite all BID stakeholder businesses to an engaging information session that will explain the specifics of the recently funded Payment Protection Program (PPP) and other Small Business Administration funding options and resources.

Please register and share with fellow business owners.

moveDC 2021 Update Public Meeting

The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) is updating its long-range, multimodal transportation plan, moveDC, to determine the agency’s priorities over the next two decades. DDOT will host a virtual public meeting to review how the goals and policies identified in the first round of the survey released in October 2020 will be potentially implemented.

Thurs, Feb. 11, 2021 at 1:30 p.m.

Click here to join the meeting.

Survey: Outdoor Dining and Retail during the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency Survey

The Office of Planning (OP) invites the public to complete this survey, which is designed to assess the experience of patrons of outdoor dining and retail establishments in Washington DC during the COVID-19 public health emergency. The District is assessing the outdoor dining and retail pickup program to determine how to potentially continue the implementation of some version of the program once the public health emergency ends. The information you provide in the survey will inform that assessment.

This brief survey should take you 5-7 minutes to complete, and will be available until February 14, 2021.

SBA Opportunities & The Stimulus Program

Monday, February 15; 9:00am - 11:00am

Featured speaker Antonio Doss, District Director of the Washington Metropolitan Area District Office of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), will provide an overview of SBA's business development programs and services, including updates to the Paycheck Program Program (PPP) and other items related to the Economic Aid Act signed into law on December 27, 2020.

Click here for more information and to register.

National Cherry Blossom Festival: March 20 - April 11

The Cherry Blossom Festival is going to be mostly virtual this year, but there are opportunities for your business to participate and take advantage of the festival's marketing efforts and visitors to the city. The Adams Morgan Partnership will once again be decorating the neighborhood with Cherry Blossom decals in the weeks leading up to the festival.

Restaurants: Cherry Picks - Register by Feb. 19

The National Cherry Blossom Festival, in conjunction with RAMW is proud to support the vibrant, diverse restaurant scene in the District for the 1.5 M attendees throughout the Festival. Restaurants are encouraged to enroll in the program to highlight items from their seasonal, springtime menus. Please note: the use of cherries as an ingredient is not necessary to participate in this promotion.

Click here to sign up for Cherry Picks

Retail Window Competition - Registration deadline TBD

The Retail Window Competition celebrates what makes local

retail great by highlighting the creativity of the stores and

encouraging Washingtonians to check out these over the top

displays.

Why should you participate?

Increased exposure
Increased foot traffic
Brings joy

Winning Categories

Small Independent Business
Medium/Large Chain Business

Click here to sign up for the Retail Window Competition

District of Columbia Real Property Tax Payments Can Now Be Made With Credit Cards Via MyTax.DC.gov

The Office of Tax and Revenue (OTR) added a benefit that allows District taxpayers to use credit cards for real property payments via its portal MyTax.DC.gov. Major cards such as Visa, American Express, MasterCard, and Discover are accepted.

Click here for more information.

OTR’s upcoming Income & Expense Reporting Period

The next Income & Expense Reporting Period (to report your calendar year 2020 income and expense data) is upon us. The week before last we mailed letters to those commercial property owners who are required to file an Income & Expense Report (“I&E”). For those owners who are required to file, the I&E must be submitted online no later than Thursday, April 15, 2021. Like last year, we will not be sending paper forms, and paper forms will not be accepted. All I&Es must be submitted electronically, through the online form on our website. Instructions were included in the letters mailed to those who are required to file. The online portal has already been opened and will remain open through May 15, though anyone filing after April 15 is subject to the penalty for not timely filing.

If you or your members have any questions, please contact the I&E Program Coordinator, ShaVaughn Gaskins using the email address fp308@dc.gov .

Update from RAMW

From Kathy Hollinger, president, RAMW

We have both local and national updates for you today including federal COVID relief and the national minimum wage and tip wage debate.

On minimum wage and tipped minimum wage, as you know, on the national stage President Biden is supporting a minimum wage increase to $15 by 2025 and the elimination of the tip credit by 2027. There is an effort to include these provisions in the COVID relief package Congress is currently working on passing, however at this point it is still looking unlikely the minimum wage increase/tip credit elimination will pass the Senate as it conflicts with key rules for reconciliation votes (reconciliation legislation only needs 51 votes to pass, which is the route the relief bill will likely take). The minimum wage increase/elimination of the tip credit was included in the House bill, which is not a surprise. If it is not included in the COVID relief package, it will likely slow down the timeline of when the minimum wage conversation will be revisited. Much is up in the air at this time however it is clear that there are both Democrat and Republican Senators opposed to the increase.

As we continue conversations on this topic, we want to gauge where you are regarding the proposed elimination of the tip credit. As the National Restaurant Association will be leading the advocacy efforts on the national level, there will be several opportunities for us to lead on a local level. We want to know where you are now on the tip credit, especially as we came off a very sophisticated, engaged and well coordinated grassroots campaign here in DC to combat Initiative 77, which as many of you are familiar with aimed to eliminate the tip credit system in DC.

We mentioned in our last email that there was a survey coming. Your participation in this survey will help us as we develop our local strategy plugging into national efforts moving forward. We are keenly aware of how tone-deaf the timing is of ANY effort that places an unreasonable burden on small businesses at a time when everyone is trying to readjust and reset. Click here to take the survey.

On the federal relief front, we are hearing that the Restaurants Act will likely be included in the COVID relief bill, however the relief legislation has not been shared publicly yet, so this is still slightly up in the air. The Restaurants Act would create a $120 billion Restaurant Revitalization Fund to provide structured relief to food service and drinking establishments that would help repair losses incurred during the pandemic. This is something we have been advocating for from the beginning. It is targeted at independent restaurants and restaurants that are part of a group of restaurants of 20 or less. The award calculation would be based off of annual revenue losses from 2019 and 2020 rather than quarterly.

We are still waiting to see final versions of the relief legislation, and will share details as soon as they are available, especially the potential inclusion of the minimum wage/tip wage elimination and information on the Restaurants Act.

In DC, Mayor Bowser announced an additional $11 million to go to the District of Columbia Department of Employment Services (DOES) to help fund additional staff as well as an update on system modifications to better support users. These upgrades include a real time chat option, text alerts, robo calls, and increasing staff. We are sharing these updates as many of you have been involved in the UI process with your employees, and it is helpful to have an up to date understanding of what is available. The additional funding also modifies and extends unemployment benefits under the CARES Act, such as:

Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) – DOES has implemented new system-wide updates for FPUC, which will provide up to 11 weeks of an additional $300 per week to supplement benefits to claimants who are eligible, through traditional UI, PEUC, EB, or PUA. The extra $300 is available from week ending January 2, 2021 through the week ending March 13, 2021.
Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) – DOES is currently working on system modifications to extend PUA for 11 additional weeks (additional weeks are only effective through the week ending March 13, 2021). PUA covers individuals who are not eligible for traditional UI benefits.
Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) –DOES is currently working on system modifications to extend PEUC for 11 additional weeks (additional weeks are only effective through the week ending March 13, 2021).
Mixed Earners Unemployment Compensation (MEUC) – This is new. DOES is currently working to develop an online MEUC application with document upload and approval process functionality. MEUC will provide a $100 weekly supplement to eligible individuals with annual self-employment income of at least $5,000 through March 13, 2021. To be eligible for MEUC, individuals must have received at least $5,000 of self-employment income in the most recent taxable year ending prior to the individual’s application for regular UI.

Important!

Attention all delivery drivers and motorists in Adams Morgan: please do not leave your car running and unlocked. Taking the key fob with you does not prevent the car from being stolen. Stolen auto theft has increased throughout DC and we want to be sure you (and your vehicle) are kept safe!

Employment Law Seminar

On February 17, 2021, attend the DC Chamber of Commerce’s Employer Advocacy Program on What Employers Can Expect in the Biden Era. This quarterly employment law seminar will take place from 9:30 AM until 11:00 AM. And will focus on new laws that have been enacted in 2021 and trending labor mandates to be on the look out for through the year. Kraig Long from Miles & Stockbridge will cover a range of topics to help employers understand these modifications and employment law expansions and how it will impact workers and businesses.

This event is free and open to all local businesses. It will take place virtually via videoconference. All participants are asked to register in advance by February 16, 2021.

Updates to COVID-19 Testing

DC Health and the Downtown and Golden Triangle BIDs are partnering to offer additional free COVID-19 testing to DC’s community of essential workers through a new pop-up testing site downtown. Tests will be PCR-based and provide a 3-5 day turnaround on results. Those eligible to get tested include: hotel staff, restaurant workers, building engineers, environmental service staff, janitorial staff, security staff, and any individual unable to perform their daily work from home. These essential workers can get tested on Mondays from 2:00 p.m. until 6:00 p.m., Tuesdays from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m., and Thursdays from 2:00 p.m. until 6:00 p.m. at a pop-up testing site on I Street NW near the intersection of Black Lives Matter Plaza. The pop-up will kick off this Friday from 2:00 p.m. until 6:00 p.m., and this site is in addition to the other free public testing sites.

For more information, visit coronavirus.dc.gov/testing .

DC Citywide Business Calendar

February 2021 Events

Including:

FEATURED EVENTS + TRAININGS
Funding, PPP + EIDL Loans
Marketing/Selling to Government | Starting a Business |
DC Govt. Business Forums | Patent/Trademarks |
Legal Series | B2B Networking

Click to Review All Events

APPLY TODAY for the GWHCC Small Business MICRO GRANT

The GWHCC Small Business Micro Grant Program aims to aid small businesses affected by COVID-19 by providing immediate relief in the form of a micro-grant award between $500-$1,000.

The goal is to provide funds to assist in keeping the doors open through and beyond COVID-19. A small micro-grant may go a long way when a business is in need.

The funds for this program are limited and the following information must be provided:

Must be in business as of August 1, 2019
Must be able to share the last 90 days of financials demonstrating a 15-20% or more loss in revenue due to COVID-19;
Must have all relevant certifications up-to-date
Does Not have more than 10 full time employees
Does Not make more than $1 million in gross revenue
Documentation of expenses and forecast of funds will be required for grant to be awarded
At least two consultations with a GWHCC team member to review financials and business plan must take place.
A site visit must take place 6 months after the award has been granted

This microgrant may be used to fund creative or simple ideas to help a small business respond to the impact COVID-19. Grant proposals should support projects, equipment/supplies, or other needs that have an immediate impact on employees, production, or serving customers, clients, and vendors.

Applicants must be active GWHCC members with no membership dues pending.

Grants are one time only and awarded providing the applicant meets eligibility and award criteria. Eligible applications will be considered via a lottery system after the application period closes or until funds are exhausted.

We invite you to take part of this pioneer opportunity by applying today for the GWHCC Small Business Micro Grant Program.

GWHCC Business Bootcamp

Feb 17: Intro to Business and Personal Credit with Roderick Johnson from the SBA, Sean Chrysostom from Capital One, and Vicki Davis from Life Assets

Feb 22: Website Management with Ricardo Villalba from Washington Digital Media and Social Media for Business with Carlos Martin del Campo from SunnyNite

Feb 24: Capstone/Pitch Your Biz

All workshops start at 5:00 pm EST

Click here to register

Submit your events and specials!

List your Adams Morgan events and business specials on our webpage for free! Click here to go to the event submission form, fill it out completely, and click on "submit event." Event submissions are reviewed to ensure the events either take place within the Adams Morgan business district or are being put on by an Adams Morgan business, and once approved should appear on the website within 48 hours.

SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

Sponsor one of our community events! Partner with our community while reaching some of the city's most desirable demographics. For details, contact Kristen Barden at 202-997-0783.