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Taking Care of Business(es)2023 REPORT:BUSINESS EMERGENCY GRANT PROGRAMTHE MERCHANTS FUNDPhiladelphia, PA 19103 www.merchantsfund.org
BUSINESS EMERGENCY GRANT PROGRAM3THE MERCHANTS FUND 2023 REPORTWelcome MessageProgram Design & Launch Context SEPTA: Trolley track replacement (Brewerytown) Patrick Sherlock Appendix Financial Report 0405060716182025Index+Table of contents
Welcome Message4THE MERCHANTS FUND 2023 REPORTwww.merchantsfund.org www.merchantsfund.org. Jill C Fink
BUSINESS EMERGENCY GRANT PROGRAM5THE MERCHANTS FUND 2023 REPORT $850KGRANT FUNDS DISBURSED74TOTAL # OF GRANTS
Design + LaunchContext www.merchantsfund.org6THE MERCHANTS FUND 2023 REPORTProgramSEPTA Water Dept PennDOT PGWNew trolley rail on W. in 2024.June 2023 bridge 5th Street Bridge $105,2227$197,60019$25,0002$44,5005$10,5001# OF GRANTSat which point all
UnknownStreet WorkFireOtherPGW, PECO, etc.$268,10023$24,5002$36,0003$93,5789$45,0003Assessing Impact:7THE MERCHANTS FUND 2023 REPORTBUSINESS EMERGENCY GRANT PROGRAM$850K74TOTALI wanted to express my deepest gratude for your generous grant of $10,000 to our struggling small business. Your support came at a pivotal moment, and it means the world to us. With your nancial assistance, we were able to make it to our one-year anniversary and connue to serve our community. Your belief in our vision and dedicaon to helping businesses like ours thrive is truly inspiring. This grant is not just a nancial boost; it’s a vote of condence that fuels our determinaon to overcome challenges and succeed. We are commied to making the most of this opportunity and working diligently to achieve our goals.“GRANTEE
www.merchantsfund.orgTHE MERCHANTS FUND 2023 REPORTBackgroundChallenges Faced $105,222Grant funds disbursed*7Total # of Grants in 2024.
Street construcon that closed the W. Girard commercial corridor for four months last winter aected neighborhood businesses in myriad ways. Accessibility challenges limited deliveries of supplies, led take-out apps to drop local restaurants from their service, and customers to cancel appointments. The poor pedestrian experience caused a decline in walk-up business, hurng visibility, awareness, markeng, and percepons of safety. Unfortunately, the closure also fell across the primary holiday shopping season and interrupted the rst stage of recovery businesses were experiencing from the COVID-19 pandemic.Emergency relief administered by The Merchants Fund has been essenal - mely, exible, and comparable to the harm suered. Recipients have used funds to invest in equipment purchases and maintenance deferred by the disrupon, pay down debt incurred due to the loss of business, and create fresh markeng materials and campaigns to rebuild their customer base. The accessibility of the funding - available to new and veteran businesses - has helped each recipient apply the assistance in the way most appropriate to their needs. In addion to the money, for many business owners, the program represented an important signal that the city cares about their work, sacrice, and success. On mulple occasions, we have been told the grants shied their trajectory from contracng or ending a business, toward growth, renewal, and expansion.Patrick Sherlock“PARTNER ORGANIZATION
10THE MERCHANTS FUND 2023 REPORTwww.merchantsfund.orgBackground Challenges FacedNeed for Ongoing Support“The closure, which began in July 2022, has signicantly impacted the local businesses in the area as it has resulted in blocked trac. Despite inial expectaons, the bridge is sll closed and is not projected to reopen unl the end of this year [2023], causing substanal harm to all businesses aected by the restricted access. In the case of my business specically, the bridge closure and subsequent bus detour have had a signicant impact. Our clientele consists mainly of older individuals who rely on public transportaon, parcularly the bus that used to pass right in front of our shop. However, due to the detour, the bus now stops more than 7 blocks away, making it challenging for our clients to reach us. We frequently hear from our customers that the increased distance and walking required has made it excessively dicult for them to access our shop.” PennDOT: N. 5th Street Bridge $44,500Grant funds disbursed*5Total # of Grants
to reopen.1At Esperanza, we are deeply grateful for the invaluable nancial assistance provided through the emergency grant program to businesses in the North Philadelphia community, parcularly those along the N 5th St commercial corridor. The ongoing construcon that led to the closure of 5th and Hunng Park has signicantly impacted these businesses, stretching far beyond the inially esmated meline, and has prompted us to seek assistance from the Merchants Fund; we are immensely grateful for the swi and eecve support received. The emergency grant proved to be a lifeline for our local businesses, oering the necessary boost during these challenging mes.One business owner shared that the grant money played a crucial role in catching up on overdue gas bills that had been accumulang, providing much-needed relief. Another entrepreneur ulized the funds to invest in new and more appealing signage for her business, recognizing the importance of enhancing visibility due to the limited trac caused by the construcon.We want to express our hearelt thanks to The Merchants Fund team for their connuous collaboraon and unwavering support of our local businesses in this BIPOC community. Your commitment to assisng during these circumstances has made a signicant dierence. Once again, thank you for your dedicaon to our community.“PARTNER ORGANIZATION1
www.merchantsfund.org12THE MERCHANTS FUND 2023 REPORTBackgroundChallenges Faced Interstate 95 Bridge Collapse$197,600Grant funds disbursed*19Total # of Grants “Because of the grant I was able to keep my full sta and keep the business funconing fully. We ended up far below our previous year’s sales so I was able to stay open without too much fear.” Stephanie Lawrence AWESOME LITTLE CUPCAKES
13THE MERCHANTS FUND 2023 REPORTBUSINESS EMERGENCY GRANT PROGRAMBackground Challenges Faced $268,100Grant funds disbursed*23Total # of GrantsCreated by Icons Cartfrom the Noun Project“On September 27th our retail store was broken into and looted. Looters threw a brick through our window and stole all of the merchandise that we had on our sales oor. This included inventory we had on back stock and our register cash drawer. They cleaned us out. The Merchants Fund reached out right away and helped us with a grant to replenish our inventory and get us back up and running ASAP. I’m grateful for The Merchants Fund. They have been there for me in mes of need.” “This grant had a big impact on our business. Currently, we are in a situaon where our business has almost used all possible opons to survive. This fund will have a lot of support to sustain on business and serve a community we are commied to serve. Our family are very grateful for the support we have now. Business is slow. We are trying to survive so I won’t be out of job to support them.”
www.merchantsfund.org14THE MERCHANTS FUND 2023 REPORTFundedDeniedIneligible10203040$750K+$500K$250K$100K$050K 75KNUMBER OF APPLICANTS 30% of funded businesses22 TOTALreported less than $100,000 in annual 62% of funded businesses46 TOTALreported less than $500,000 in annual
BUSINESS EMERGENCY GRANT PROGRAM15THE MERCHANTS FUND 2023 REPORTGrantee Demographics70%MALE30%FEMALE27%ASIAN30%BLACK11%HISPANIC32%WHITE34%IMMIGRANTOWNEDOther20%60%33%5%50%36%80%40%67%95%50%64%MALE FEMALECOMMUNITIES*Percentages will not add up to 100% because race & ethnicity are interseconal. 65% of funded businesses48 TOTALrate is 20% orhigher.
Coaching + 16THE MERCHANTS FUND 2023 REPORTwww.merchantsfund.org Deli reopened in May 2023.
On Sunday, November 20, a large U-Haul truck barreled into our small corner store at full speed. The truck was traveling at such speed and crashed into the store with such force that it destroyed nearly everything inside and outside. Lee’s Deli has been part of the West Philadelphia community for the past 30 years. Lee’s Deli represented our whole life’s work over 3 decades, 12 hours a day, 6 days per week, and in one accident it was all destroyed.The past 2.5 years of the COVID pandemic presented a dicult set of challenges, and the accident on November 20 felt like the nal blow. However, Jill Fink, Simon Wellman, and The Merchants Fund was there for us for the past 30 years, the past 2.5 years, and Jill was the rst to call us on November 20. Jill, Simon, and TMF were “rst-responders” in our moment of dire need. For example, …we would not have thought to start a GoFundMe page. With Jill’s encouragement, guidance, and support, we started a GoFundMe that accomplished over 3x our stated goal of $20K. We received $60K of donaons across 700 individual donors in the Greater Philadelphia area and beyond. Jill was the rst to call us, the rst to personally donate to help us get our page going, and TMF was our largest donor via the Emergency Grant. Jill was also the rst to share our story and because of Jill and TMF we even received support from Kevin Riordan of the Philadelphia Inquirer …and countless others who stepped in to show us their love and support.Without TMF and the Emergency Grant, … we would not have been able to aord emergency water and electrical clean-up eorts, we would not have been able to support our team members as they transioned into other jobs while the store is closed, and given Lee’s Deli represents our sole source of income the Emergency Grant provided us a sense of stability as we worked to regain foong in our lives. However, the impact of TMF and the Emergency Grant is beyond these measurable examples that I outlined because what it does not measure is the impact it had on us as people at a mental and emoonal level as we coped with this traumac accident.Our store was decimated. Our livelihood was destroyed. Our sole source of income disappeared. And I was trying to ght o depression.Jill and TMF saved us and saved me. It’s dicult to arculate our deep appreciaon in a statement like this, but the best we can do is tell this story because no one in the world would know how much Jill and TMF mean to us. Jill and TMF provided a newfound sense of drive and movaon to reopen and rejoin our West Philadelphia community that we have had the pleasure to be part of since 1993. We have been closed for the past 3 months as of the me we’re wring this and the road ahead sll remains a very, very challenging one, but with Jill’s and TMF’s help and support we believe we are closer to the end than the beginning with light at the end of the tunnel, and we are excited for the future. “17THE MERCHANTS FUND 2023 REPORTBUSINESS EMERGENCY GRANT PROGRAM
www.merchantsfund.orgTHE MERCHANTS FUND 2023 REPORT Finally,
BUSINESS EMERGENCY GRANT PROGRAM19THE MERCHANTS FUND 2023 REPORT21Businesses Referred or 19Businesses Referred or Partner CDC, BID, ETC10Number of Partner
Conclusion: Learnings, However, Findings & Impacts on Businesses: water main, new bridge, or upgraded trolley a data point that TMF will be able to report on Current data demonstrates:www.merchantsfund.org20THE MERCHANTS FUND 2023 REPORT
21THE MERCHANTS FUND 2023 REPORTBUSINESS EMERGENCY GRANT PROGRAM03040501 INCREASED EXPENSES LOSS OF INCOMEand 02 INCREASE IN DEBT to sustain the business CRIME
www.merchantsfund.org22THE MERCHANTS FUND 2023 REPORT , including The Helping small businesses survive big construcon: Strategies from the Green Line LRT project2 2
BUSINESS EMERGENCY GRANT PROGRAM23THE MERCHANTS FUND 2023 REPORTDURING CONSTRUCTION: MITIGATION WORK CONTINUED Expect Unforeseen Issues Promote Businesses Through Ads, Branding + Appearance
www.merchantsfund.org24THE MERCHANTS FUND 2023 REPORTRECOMMENDATIONS INCLUDE: FOR EXAMPLE:
BUSINESS EMERGENCY GRANT PROGRAM25THE MERCHANTS FUND 2023 REPORTAppendixFinancial ReportIncomeTotal Income$1,000,000ExpensesTotal ExpensesNet$0Contract ## grants$ amount23207584034TOTAL74+
AMOUNT AWARDED26THE MERCHANTS FUND 2023 REPORTwww.merchantsfund.org
Name of Business2637brew, Inc4 Kings TiresAl’s Corner Deli & CateringBristol Auto Center INCCurrans Irish InnDeborah’s KitchenEl Campeon Barber Shop Expect LaceEZ Smoke PlusFlower nails LLC Harper’s Ice CreamLee’s DeliLincoln Fried ChickenLou & Son Food Market & DeliMarcos Fish & Crab House, Inc.MD Auto IncMui ChungPat’s Music CenterSalon Brilliance llcScooterlandSteelers wirelessThe Barn The Gold Standard CafeThe Gold Standard CafeTierra Colombiana IncStreet Address2637 W Girard Ave 2002 Barlow Street7600 State Road 2711 W. Girard Ave. 6900 State Road4505 N 5th St. 4403 Main Street1900 Green St6347 Germantown Ave4415 N 5th St2907 Holme Ave730 E. Chelten Avenue2601 S Broad Street7143 Edmund Street2555 Warnock Street1029 S 9th Street400 W Allegheny 1133 S Broad Street110 E Allegheny Ave7040 State Rd6656 Germantown Avenue 2623 W Girard Avenue3549 Ryan Ave2951 N 22nd St 2101 S. 19th Street2930 N 22ND St4321 N 5th St7401 State Rd142 S 52ND Street 4901 Catharine Street4535 N 5th St3507 Midvale Ave5259 Rodman StreetZip Code191301913519136191361913519116191211914019136191351910419130191351913519143191301914919135191351914019140191351913019127191241913019139191441913419136191401911919130191361914419114191351912519104191431913010147191351913319147191351913419135191191911419130191361913219145191321912419140 1913619130191321913919139191431914319143191401912919139191311914319132Grant Amount27THE MERCHANTS FUND 2023 REPORTBUSINESS EMERGENCY GRANT PROGRAM
www.merchantsfund.orgTHE MERCHANTS FUND 2023 REPORT
THE MERCHANTS FUND TEAMJill FinkZyad HamamouSimon Wellman Board of ManagersBruce HotalingSteven King, Sr.Samantha Porter, SecretaryStephen Serrao
www.merchantsfund.org30THE MERCHANTS FUND 2023 REPORTAbout The Merchants FundSupportmerchantsfund.org/donate