Displaying items by tag: Food and Beverages

While many businesses are allowed to reopen in Georgia, some black small business owners are struggling with the decision, especially since black Americans appear to be at higher risk when it comes to Covid-19.

The novel coronavirus pandemic has severely impacted small businesses around the country with many seeking federal relief to keep their workforce and operations afloat. Despite government stimulus incentives and loans through the broken PPP program, black business owners are uncertain that federal relief will be enough for them to save their business.

The owners of Ben’s Chili Bowl’s flagship restaurant in northwest D.C. say that despite a glaring reduction in revenue brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, they remain committed to keeping their lone standing eatery afloat.

Sage Ali, who along with his elderly mother Virginia and other family members had expanded their business to seven restaurants at one point, told ABC News that while their small diner on U Street had survived the riots of 1968, they’ve never endured a financial fallout to the extent that the virus has left them to deal with.

Although the family applied for a Paycheck Protection Program loan under the newly crafted federal government-operated stimulus package, they said they’ve been stuck in limbo as lawmakers who passed the $484 billion relief package clashed over how best to spend the funds on other rescue programs.

“I’ll be honest with you, it’s a little bit emotional. To tell Mom we didn’t get that loan, it was hard, seeing her face,” Ali told the news network. “Mom is 86 — a very young, very sharp 86. Mom understands very well the financial situation right now, and she knew how critical that funding was. So, for me to get off the phone and walk into that other room and say, ‘Guys, it didn’t go in,’ that was a very tough moment for me.”

Ali said that after applying for a PPP loan at Citi First of DC, it seemed like bank officials kept coming back for more information.

“We were following the guidelines — go to one bank at a time — but we got left out,” Ali’s wife Vida said, ABC reported. “I was shocked when the money was out.”

Yet the family has committed itself to keeping the U Street location up and running.

“The second it opens up again, we should be going right in,” Sage said of the PPP program.

“You want to be confident. You want to be hopeful,” Ali told ABC. “U Street could never close. We’re telling Mom, we can’t close that location after everything you did to survive. Even if it’s down to five people. Whatever it takes.”

Source https://www.washingtoninformer.com/owners-of-bens-chili-bowl-determined-to-keep-restaurant-afloat/

After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division, the operator of an Atlanta-area restaurant enterprise will pay $411,010 in back wages to 157 employees at locations in Doraville and Duluth, Georgia, for violating minimum wage and overtime requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Jay-Z has clearly been busy. Not only did he join the billionaire’s club, but the venture capital (VC) fund he co-founded recently led the round for allergy-friendly food startup, Partake Foods.

Partake Foods is a black-owned company that makes health-conscious food products. They recently closed a $1 million dollar round of seed funding.

Meet Lesley Riley, CEO of Mama Biscuit®, the family-friendly, all-natural, gluten-free gourmet baking company. What started as a loving tribute to her grandma’s 127-year old family recipe for mouth-watering southern biscuits to comfortable cobblers has now become a popular must-have with over 60 scrumptious products and 32 items in rotation.

Three young D.C. entrepreneurs aim to serve some heart-warming hope and hospitality as they open their first venture, The Village Cafe, inside Union Market. Kevon King, Mahammad Mangum and Ryan Williams who met as kids, and bonded at Woodrow Wilson High School, maintained a friendship, and recently agreed to make a change in their career trajectories.

Chef Creole will soon share its unique fusion of Haitian-Bahamian culinary tradition with the plethora of tourists and visitors who come through Miami International Airport on a daily basis.

Owner Wilkinson Sejour, affectionately known as Chef Creole, is well known around Little Haiti, but he has managed to attract the attention of county commissioners, a famous chef, big-time developers and scores of loyal customers. Banks, however, have managed to overlook Sejour’s popularity. Still, he has been able to open up six Chef Creole locations, the latest at the airport next week.

The parent company of several Roscoe’s House of Chicken and Waffles restaurants emerged from bankruptcy this week when a Los Angeles judge confirmed a modified confirmation plan to repay creditors, it was announced today.  No further substantive court hearings are anticipated in the case.

In business now for 12 years, the husband-and-wife founders of the Just Add Honey Tea Co. are serving up more than tea at their café in Atlanta, Georgia. They sell extensions of their brand to wholesale accounts and for an elite group of tea drinkers, they offer afternoon tastings and tea experiences for special events such as a High-Tea” bridal shower.