Univision – Obama Meets with Business Owners to Improve the Economy (Spanish)

Behind closed doors, President Barack Obama met with small business owners to pressure Congress to approve a new round of economic stimulus.

Obama proposes to spend an additional $25 billion for tax credits for companies who hire new staff or raise salaries.

“This is about giving small business owners an incentive so they can hire,” said economist Isaac Cohen. “Small business owners are the most significant employer in this country, not big companies.”

To watch the full video clip also featuring LEDC in Spanish, click here.

 

Maryland Gazette – Wheaton Development Coalition Seeks Support of Urban District Committee

Below is news coverage related to the ongoing work of the Coalition for the Fair Redevelopment of Wheaton, of which LEDC is a member.

In its first appearance before the Wheaton Urban District Advisory Committee, the Coalition for the Fair Redevelopment of Wheaton asked the committee on Nov. 13 to help voice — and support — requests for the county’s commitment to help small businesses during the planned redevelopment project for Lot 13.

The coalition — composed of small business owners, residents and nonprofits — has been seeking since September 2011 a written pledge from the county to the businesses that will face “a difficult time” maintaining business in the next two to three years as a result of the project, said Ash Kosiewicz, the coalition’s lead organizer.

The coalition asked the advisory committee to send a letter to County Executive Isiah Leggett stating the coalition’s requests for that pledge and a “construction mitigation plan,” as well as showing the committee’s support.

To read the full article, click here.

 

Wheaton Patch – Wheaton Small Business Survey Shows Parking Concerns

Below is news coverage from this morning related to the ongoing work of the Coalition for the Fair Redevelopment of Wheaton, of which LEDC is a member.

A survey of small busineses in the Wheaton Urban District found that the top three “immediate business concerns” are parking, rent and safety.

The Wheaton Redevelopment Program, which is part of the county’s Department of General Services, conducted the survey in April and May. There was a 36 percent response rate; of the 298 surveys given to businesses, 108 were returned.

Peter McGinnity of the Wheaton Redevelopment Program said the survey will help to inform the county’s Department of Economic Development, as it tries to flesh out Bill 6-12. The bill, which was passed earlier this year by the county council, calls for assistance to small businesses negatively affected by county development projects.

To read the full article referencing the Coalition’s response to the survey results, click here.

To read a short writeup of the Coalition’s presentation on the survey results Tuesday before the Wheaton Urban District Advisory Committee, click here.

 

NBCNews.com – New Steps Announced to Fix Costly Credit Errors

Tawanna Sellers is a food service employee at a Washington, DC high school. But she’d like to be out here, among the ranks of food truck owners.

The reason Tawanna isn’t is because she got a bad credit report and can’t get a loan for her business. “There was a lot of stuff on there – some of it didn’t belong to me,” Sellers said. “And some were a lot of mistakes.”

She’s not alone – a recent study found that 79 percent of all credit reports have some type of error.

To watch the full video highlighting LEDC and how consumers can now file complaints with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau if they are unable to resolve a credit dispute with a credit reporting agency, click here.

 

Washington Post – Maryland Festival Goers Introduced to Salvadoran Food, Culture

Ping Eng and her daughter Sarah walked slowly through the crowd, each holding a tiny plate with a corn tortilla filled with cheese, beans and pork.

“I am excited about this,” Eng said as she took a bite of a pupusa. She later wondered aloud how cooks were able to get the meat filling inside the pupusa. “It must be difficult to make.”

For Eng, a Gaithersburg resident who was born in China, Sunday’s annual World of Montgomery Festival in Wheaton was a chance to try the Salvadoran signature dish for the first time. Her daughter was especially curious about trying the food from the country of origin for many of her high school classmates.

To find out who won Sunday’s Pupusa Cookoff at the World of Montgomery Festival, click here to read the full article.

 

Washington Post Express – From Renters to Owners

Silvia Salazar didn’t expect tenant organizing to change her life. She just wanted to rid her decaying apartment complex of bedbugs, black mold and rats. The 36-year-old ended up empowering her neighbors to advocate for themselves and, ultimately, become proud owners of their own building.

For years, Salazar’s calls and letters to the management company of her 1930s-era Logan Circle building went unanswered. In October 2005, she decided to take action. She met with a handful of renters in the laundry room to discuss their home’s flaws. Over the next six years, the group formed a tenant association and waged a legal battle to purchase their seven-story, 84-unit building, now the Norwood Cooperative (1417 N St. NW).

“In a building that has had as many maintenance issues as us, where we speak many languages, the fact that we could organize and get around to doing it shows that it’s possible in any building in D.C,” Salazar said.

To read the full article, click here.

 

WAMU 88.5 FM – Kojo In Your Community: People And Public Spaces In Columbia Heights

Two miles north of the White House, Columbia Heights boasts a diverse population, a growing business core and a blossoming restaurant scene. But it’s also a neighborhood in transition. As housing prices rise, young professionals are moving in, while some long-time residents and businesses can’t afford to stay. Kojo in Your Community explores the debates over public space, personal safety and mapping the future in changing neighborhoods like this one.

LEDC Director of Affordable Housing Preservation Farah Fosse was one of three panelists in Part One of the community conversation exploring issues related to public space, diversity, and housing affordability in Columbia Heights.

“With more taxes, we should be able to address [housing, shelters and homeless services] better,” Fosse said. “As people are coming into DC, become a registered voter here, become a resident of DC, which not everyone does, and support progressive policies that support making sure that everyone has a home.”

To listen to the complete audio recording of the Kojo in Your Community edition for Columbia Heights, click here.

 

Associated Press – Rent Hike Forces Some DC Residents Out (Video)

In the nation’s capital, new housing and bigger stores are going up — all meant to fight crime and boost the economy.

But some Washington residents say the redevelopments are making the city too expensive.

“It just makes me almost want to cry  — to think about what they’re trying to do to us, and do to me in particular, and throughout the city,” says DC resident Ruth Tyler.

To watch the entire video, click here.

 

National Journal – Housing Market Improvement Tied to Hispanic Surge

For the past two weeks, Nicaragua immigrant Melissa Vivas has arrived home to her newly purchased two-story Washington home feeling like she has achieved part of her American Dream. The $210,000 four-bedroom with a patio, hardwood floors, and beige walls is the type of home she dreamed of providing for her two young U.S.-born children.

“I feel like, wow, I did it,” said the 31-year-old administrative assistant at a local charter school.

And if she wants to paint the walls a brighter hue, she said, she can do it without needing someone’s approval first. Her kids also get their own room, something they didn’t have when she was living temporarily with her mother. “I wanted a place for them to grow up, to have their own space, and to run freely,” Vivas said.

To read the full article profiling the success story of LEDC Homeownership client Melissa Vivas and the importance of Latino homeownership, click here.

 

Kiplinger’s Personal Finance – Financial Lessons from Immigrants: Work Your Way Up

As a 14-year-old in El Salvador during its brutal civil war, José Wilfredo Flores faced a choice: Join the guerrillas or join the army.

“The guerrillas would come to our house,” says Flores. “We had to hide. You couldn’t say no because then they would think you were on the army’s side and shoot you. A few hours later, the army guys would come and say, ‘We want food. We want to take you.’ If you said no, they’d think you were with the guerrillas.”

In 1984, Flores’s mother made her own painful choice. She paid $1,400 to a smuggler, or coyote, to help guide her son to Washington, D.C., where his uncle and his 18-year-old brother lived.

To read the full article referencing LEDC’s work with immigrants who want to start small businesses, click here.