Despite widespread economic hardship in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic, many of Mt. Airy’s local businesses have continued to stay afloat. This is in no small part due to the Mt. Airy Community Development Corporation, which has continued providing essential business services in a time of uncertainty for small business owners.

For more than 40 years, the Mt. Airy CDC has provided housing counseling, community programs, community events and businesses services and has undertaken real estate and infrastructure development projects. Out of the business services department has grown the Go Mt. Airy Business Association, which focuses its efforts on sustaining and promoting local businesses through Instagram takeovers and Mt. Airy spotlights.

The restrictions on large gatherings forced the business association to pause public events, according to Bradley Maule, the Mt. Airy CDC Communications Manager.

 Now this is year two of not having any public events and so that’s hurt a little in terms of what we can provide,” he said.

This lack of community event planning allowed the CDC and the businesses services team to concentrate their efforts on each business’s individual needs.

 “It’s really like our pivot,” Maule said. “ Our business services team’s pivot was to provide extra promotion, but also resources.”

Launched in November 2020 and developed with the Chestnut Hill Local, the Go Mt. Airy Card which, for a fee, gives members exclusive perks from a monthly rotation of ten businesses as well as an annual subscription to the Mt. Airy Local.

“Ten businesses are featured on the card for two months in a row, so that anyone that has the card in the app, when they are within 300 feet, it’s a pop-up to notify them about the business and whatever their offer is,” said Aggie Edwards, the Business Association Manager for the CDC.

The CDC also worked to promote businesses that were able to stay open through the Open in Mt. Airy page on its website. The page lists operational businesses as well as their hours, their contact information and how they were providing their services.

More than $80,000 in grants was provided to these businesses through the Go Mt. Airy Covid-19 Business Relief fund. The Fund had four rounds of funding that began in March of 2020. The funds were used for everything from paying wages and rent to purchasing necessary supplies.

“What I focused on was making contact and trying to see what the business owners were needing and making sure we were keeping them up to date with anything that was happening with the city,” Edwards said.

Businesses applied to receive funding through a form on the CDC’s website and were evaluated by the business administration, which was able to provide almost all applicants with a grant.

The Mt. Airy will participate in the Northwest Philadelphia Hiring Open House, a designated day where businesses who want to participate can keep a couple hours open for prospective employees to come and interview and learn more about the positions that are available, according to Maule.

For more information on the open house, see the event on Facebook.