Boston Council Committee Advances $700,000 Grant to Help Small Businesses Buy Their Buildings

BOSTON — April 1, 2024 — Boston City Council committee hears pitch for $700,000 grant-funded program to help small businesses buy commercial property. The Committee on Small Business and Professional Licensure, chaired by Councilor Brian Worrell, held a virtual hearing on Docket No. 0136, a message-in-order from Mayor Michelle Wu to accept and expend a $700,000 Barr Foundation grant — $350,000 per year over two years — for the new Commercial Acquisition Assistance Program, or CAP. Chief of Economic Opportunity and Inclusion Segun Idowu and Deputy Chief Donald Wright described CAP as a forgivable loan program offering eligible small business owners up to $250,000 at zero percent interest on 15-year terms, targeted at businesses in gentrification-risk neighborhoods. Idowu emphasized the grant funds program design and staffing, not the loans themselves: "once people find out that the city has a fund that will help you buy your building, we do expect that to travel way more quickly than any other marketing campaign." Roslindale Coalition coordinator Lori Radwin, the only public commenter, urged that personal service businesses — barbershops, salons, manicurists — be explicitly included after being excluded from prior city grant programs. The full Council is expected to vote on the accept-and-expend order in April 2024.