She also added rollout shelves and a new range hood. Then we painted the center open wall a charcoal gray, to add depth and contrast, and got some great Boffi linear pendants over the island, which changed the whole tone of the kitchen, Ms. DiCarlo said. All new cabinets would have cost about $22,000, she estimated, but the cost to reface was just $2,500. The total cost of the abbreviated kitchen renovation, including new interior components and the Boffi pendants, was $10,800.

OPT FOR OPEN SHELVES If your cabinets are too far gone to reface, open shelving will reduce the cost of upper cabinetry, said Liz Tiesi, the owner of Threshold Interiors. That way you are only paying for the piece of wood to make the shelf and the bracket to hold it up not an entire cabinet box, which is a lot more in material and labor, she said. It also eliminates the need for hardware, which can add up, she noted.

Another way to reduce the cost of cabinetry is to use particleboard where no one will see it. A lot of people think they have to have all-plywood kitchen cabinetry, and they dont, said Mina Fies, a designer in Reston, Va., and the creator of the Renovation Roadmap, a website dedicated to helping homeowners work with contractors and stay on budget and schedule, going online later this month. While plywood should be used under the sink (in case of a leak), Ms. Fies recommends using particleboard to build out the upper and perimeter cabinet boxes. You can still use maple, cherry, hickory, etc., for the door and frame, which is what you actually see, Ms. Fies said, noting that she cut cabinet costs by $1,420 using this method in a 17-by-15-foot kitchen remodel.

DO THE DEMOLITION YOURSELF It can be pretty easy to do over a weekend with a friend or spouse, said Ms. Tiesi, who turned a former office space in TriBeCa into a four-bedroom apartment for her family and recently took apart a Brooklyn kitchen with the help of her husband and brother-in-law. Begin by turning off your circuit breakers, water and gas. Remove appliances and plumbing fixtures first, followed by cabinets, backsplash and counters, Ms. Tiesi advised.

It really doesnt take any precision; you just dont want to hurt yourself, she said. Be ready with black contractor bags to put loose debris in. The larger items I would take outside and have ready for garbage collection, if possible. To ease the workload, contact your local Habitat for Humanity ReStore or other nonprofit home improvement stores like BIG Reuse in Gowanus, Brooklyn, and Astoria, Queens, which will remove used appliances in good condition. You can write them off, and you dont have to worry about disposing of them, Ms. Tiesi said.

INSTALL RECYCLED APPLIANCES The same stores that are willing to haul away your used kitchen components also sell leftover building supplies, showroom floor models and items from new developments that buyers decided not to keep. Sign up for their email newsletters to get an idea of what they have in stock. In July, Green Demolitions, a store in Fairfield, N.J., that sells used luxury kitchens and other fixtures collected by the nonprofit donation program Renovation Angel, ran a make an offer sale on already discounted pre-owned luxury kitchens, including a traditional Russet kitchen from Rye, N.Y., with a fireclay farmhouse sink and Miele and Viking appliances, for $7,700. Contractors and do-it-yourselfers also sell surplus on Craigslist. Just be sure to test the appliances before you take them home, because few come with a warranty.

GO FOR BUTCHER BLOCK For a clean-looking countertop on the cheap, nothing beats butcher block. You can get one for as little as $99 at Ikea, which sells precut butcher-block counters in standard sizes. Butcher block brings warmth to an otherwise sterile kitchen and has a number of practical applications. Its kind of like having a built-in cutting board throughout your kitchen, said Kimberly Winthrop, an interior designer in Santa Monica, Calif., who paid $500 for 20 feet of butcher block to use in a kitchen makeover she did earlier this year for Laurel & Wolf, the online design service. Keep in mind that there is some maintenance involved in keeping butcher-block counters looking new: They need to be sanded and oiled regularly typically twice a year.

DONT CHANGE THE LAYOUT Moving walls, electrical and plumbing is where installation costs spike, said Dana Hudson, the divisional merchandising manager for kitchens at Home Depot. But while youll save by keeping those components in place, you shouldnt skimp on functionality, she added. If moving that corner sink will improve the flow of your kitchen, dont hesitate to adjust the layout. Or find an alternative that solves the problem.

We had a client who insisted her kitchen was too dark and that the only way to fix it was to reconfigure the walls to allow more natural light in, said Ms. Fies of the Renovation Roadmap. The new layout, which involved moving plumbing to reposition a bathroom, would have added thousands of dollars to the budget. We showed her several different designs and talked through the pros and cons of each, Ms. Fies said. She decided on a design that did not open up the wall and chose to install recessed lights, pendant lights and under-cabinet lights instead. The cost savings? About $8,000.

Excerpt from:
Seven Ways to Save on Your Kitchen Renovation - New York Times

MERCER Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro has his sights set on drug dealers.

Shapiro laid out his three-year plan Thursday during a meeting with community leaders at the Mercer County courthouse.

We have got to lock up the dealers, Shapiro said. Were using, to the fullest extent of the law, every tool weve been given to charge these dealers who are peddling poison in our community with the most we can possibly charge them.

CORY BYKNISH | Herald

Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro met with Mercer County community leaders Thursday at the courthouse to discuss the states drug crisis.

Shapiro said his office has arrested three dealers a day every single day Ive been in office.

And he said he has doubled diversion arrests, which is when someone uses a legal prescription for illegal purposes.

But arrests are not enough, Shapiro said. Finding a solution to the opioid crisis requires more.

You have got to get at the root cause of it, Shapiro said. Which is why Im one of leaders in a massive, bipartisan, multi-state investigation into people dealing in the manufacturing industry, the pharmaceutical investigation.

But even with all his tough talk on enforcement, the attorney general also knows there is another group to consider those who are addicted to opioids.

Thats why he has called for state and federal action on providing greater access to treatment and pushed limiting access to the drugs in the first place.

Its why Ive tried to encourage Pennsylvanians to join us in this fight and dispose of their unused prescription drugs, Shapiro said. Because we know 80 percent of heroin addicts start with a prescription, and 70 percent of them get it from a friend or relative or out of a medicine cabinet.

Shapiro said there was also a robust discussion on the immunity law or Good Samaritan law during the community meeting.

Pennsylvanias immunity law lets people call for help in a drug overdose incident without facing arrest. The law, and the use of the overdose antidote drug Narcan, are part of the debate over the right way to tackle the opioid crisis.

Narcan is an effective tool for law enforcement and first responders. It is not the ultimate answer, Shapiro said. There has to be an element of personal responsibility here. For someone who is trying to take responsibility to get well and break their cycle of addiction, then I think we in law enforcement and government have a responsibility to invest in that individual.

And even though law enforcers and municipal authorities have expressed concern over how Narcan will be funded, Shapiro said that it does not necessarily require more money.

But it does require us to utilize our resources in a smarter way, Shapiro said.

CORY BYKNISH | Herald

Pa. Attorney General Josh Shapiro told community leaders at the round-table discussion that his office has arrested three opioid dealers a day everyday since he took office.

Those who attended the roundtable discussion included the Mercer County commissioners, county District Attorney Miles K. Karson, police officers, Behavioral Health Commission workers and legislators.

I thought it was very positive, county Coroner John A. Libonati said. It was a great opportunity to hear the steps that the AGs office is making and to clarify their position on moving forward, and how strongly theyre really attacking this issue. It was a great opportunity to let us know that they are on board and willing to help.

Karson expressed his frustration and urged policy makers there state Rep. Tedd Nesbit, R-Grove City, 8th District, and state Sen. Michele Brooks, R-Jamestown to tighten up the immunity law.

I cant emphasize that enough, Karson said. Some of these people are recycled (through the court system) two, three, four times.

Karson added that the length of prison sentences is also an issue.

When I see who I consider to be a major drug dealer get one, two years in state prison to me thats very, very minor, he said. Were not sending a good message to constituency in our community.

Shapiro asked for help specifically from county commissioners and police to share concerns with legislators and his office.

Weve got to work together on this, Shapiro said. To just maintain that open that line of communication. The flow of information is going to be critical so we can protect the people in Mercer and Crawford ... and all over Pennsylvania.

Shapiros office charged an Allegheny County man with drug delivery resulting in death. The man allegedly sold a heroin-fentanyl combination to a man who died of an overdose.

This is a legal tactic Shapiros office is increasingly using in the fight against the heroin and opioid epidemic, he said.

The arrest is the first time the charge was used by the attorney generals office in Allegheny County. A conviction is punishable by up to 40 years in prison and a $25,000 fine.

If you sell drugs and someone dies as a result, youre facing a first-degree felony, and youre going to jail, Shapiro said. This tough charge is one key piece in our all-out fight to take down drug dealers and battle the heroin and opioid epidemic raging across this commonwealth.

Continue reading here:
Shapiro targets dealers in opioid fight - Sharonherald

In a rare move, Ottawa has referred a number of TV licence renewals back to the federal broadcast regulator, asking it to reconsider how the licences affect investments in Canadian TV production.

The decision comes in response to appeals from creative groups and others who raised concerns that the regulators decisions would decrease some of the broadcasters spending requirements for original Canadian programs.

In May, as part of the most recent renewals of TV licences, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) reduced the required spending on programs of national interest, or PNI. Corus Entertainment Inc. and BCE Inc.s Bell Media had their PNI requirements set at 5 per cent of annual revenue, down from 8 per cent and 9 per cent, respectively. The requirements for Rogers Communications Inc.s division Rogers Media remained unchanged, also at 5 per cent. Creative groups have estimated the decision could reduce spending on Canadian productions by roughly $141-million over the five-year licence terms.

In addition to objecting to changes in investment requirements, some groups also raised concerns about whether the licences contained sufficient requirements for the production of original scripted programming in French, rather than English-language productions aired in translation.

Groups representing producers, actors, directors and writers filed appeals to the federal cabinet in late June, asking the government to either set aside the decisions, or to refer them back to the CRTC for further consideration. On Monday, Heritage Minister Mlanie Joly did just that.

In an interview, Ms. Joly said the government received 89 petitions on the issue, the highest number relating to any CRTC decision.

Its a strong message: Ultimately, we want the CRTC to strike the right balance between the investment in Canadian content and also the ability for broadcasters to compete, Ms. Joly said in an interview Monday. Our vision as a government is, you cant have strong broadcasters if you dont have a strong production sector.

Such cabinet appeals are rarely successful: the CRTC has issued thousands of decisions since the Broadcasting Act was last amended in 1991, but this is only the eighth time the government has sent back a decision to the regulator, Ms. Joly said.

The decision is one indication of Ms. Jolys priorities as she is in the midst of reviewing Canadas cultural policy, including to what extent the government should support the news-media industry and the production of Canadian content. She is due to present her vision for those policies late next month. It also comes at a time of transition in the leadership of the CRTC: Jean-Pierre Blaiss term as chairman ended in mid-June, and a new chairman, former Telus Corp. executive Ian Scott, will take over in September.

Programs of national interest include dramas, comedies, documentaries, animated shows and some award shows. Ms. Joly said she wants to put particular emphasis on scripted content, which requires more people to produce and has the potential to be exported. She added that it would be important to clarify how much original content had to be produced in French, rather than English productions being translated.

The CRTC granted a lot of flexibility to broadcasters to decide where they would invest in terms of types of genres. We think that flexibility is important, but also clearly investing in scripted content is so key to make sure there is a successful creative sector in the country, Ms. Joly said. We cant have great content that is bought by potentially other broadcasters in the world, or Internet platforms if our own broadcasting system doesnt invest the right amount in the independent production sector.

In total, the government sent back eight decisions for review, comprising the licence renewals for the large French-language and English-language ownership groups, affecting the licences of Bell Media, Corus, Groupe V Mdia Inc., Quebecor Media Inc., and Rogers Media.

The current federal government has shown some willingness to question the CRTCs decisions. In early June acting on his own accord, not a petition to cabinet minister of Innovation Navdeep Bains sent back a key CRTC telecom ruling after expressing concern over the high cost of wireless and Internet services. Mr. Bains directed the commission to reconsider the WiFi-first model in which small wireless providers need access to the dominant carriers networks.

As requested by the Governor in Council, the CRTC will reconsider its decision and announce the next steps at a later date, the CRTC said in a statement. The regulator declined to comment further.

Those who appealed to the government in this case included the Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA), the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA), the Directors Guild of Canada, the Writers Guild of Canada, the Quebec provincial government, LAssociation qubcoise de la production mdiatique (AQPM), LAlliance qubcoise des techniciens de Iimage et du son (AQTIS), LAssociation des ralisateurs et ralisatrices du Qubec (ARRQ), La Socit des auteurs de radio, tlvision et cinma (SARTEC), and LUnion des artistes (UDA).

It is a very definitive signal to the entire broadcasting community including the internet service providers that creators are important to the system, said Maureen Parker, executive director of the Writers Guild of Canada. Canadian screenwriters, directors, actors, producers, were important to the growth and the health of our industry. Obviously were facing many new challenges. Our broadcasters are going to have to be creative and competitive. Undermining their talent pool, thats not the answer.

In a statement, the CMPA, ACTRA and the DGC also applauded the decision, and noted that further policy changes are necessary.

The CRTC is in dire need of a new mandate that protects Canadian culture and the jobs of cultural workers; understands the challenges of our film and television sector; and ensures Canadian stories can continue to be shared on screens in Canada and around the world, ACTRAs national executive director Steven Waddell said in the statement.

It is important to have a strong cultural sector in the country, Ms. Joly said. We have to be bold. And Ill be presenting my vision at the end of September.

With a report from Christine Dobby

Follow Susan Krashinsky Robertson on Twitter: @susinsky

Go here to read the rest:
In rare move, Ottawa asks CRTC to reconsider rulings on investment ... - The Globe and Mail

HoursMonday - Friday Lunch | 11:30 a.m. - 2 p.m.Dinner | 5 p.m. - 9 p.m.Happy Hour | Weekdays | 4 p.m. - 7 p.m.Directions

WeekendsSaturday | 5:30 p.m. to 10 p.m.Sunday | Private Dining Events & Holidays as announcedMake a Reservation Online| Call (703) 270-1500

Northern Virginia Magazine 'Best Of" 2017!( Voted Best Fine Dining Restaurant )

A calender list of all scheduled events at 2941 Restaurant

DATE NIGHT | Thursday and Friday 'Date Night' Special | Five-Course Menu $65Enjoy our signature five-course tasting menu Thursday and Friday nights for only $65 dollars per person | $45 dollar wine pairing*Not valid during Restaurant Week, Holidays, or with any other special offer*

The wedding event of your dreams is waiting for you at 2941Restaurant. Every dish is a work of art at this marvelousinside the beltway oasis.Beautiful bridal showers, rehearsaldinners, ceremonies, and receptions are available for parties of two to 200.

Gorgeous Private Events and Celebrations at 2941 Restaurant |If you are seeking a special venue in which to host a business gathering or family occasion, look no further than 2941 Restaurant. We offer several, spectacular rooms appropriate for either private parties or corporate events.

Thank You - 2941 Private Dining Awarded Wedding Wire Couple's Choice Award Fifth Year in a Row!

2941 Sister Restaurant Pizzeria Orso400 South Maple Avenue,Falls Church, VA 22046

Read the rest here:
2941 Restaurant - 2941 Restaurant

We at Desert Liquidators are often asked how we always have so much inventory. The simple answer is that companies all over the country are constantly going through liquidation. We are on hand to take the liquidated merchandise off their hands. In business, liquidation can mean one of two things:

Your friendly Phoenix liquidators scour the country to find and bring home to Arizona the best products at the best prices from these liquidation events. The home and commercial equipment we offer is unmatched in style, price and performance.

You will not find dent-and-ding merchandise. You will not find outdated and ugly products. You will find exceptional values that come to us from companies that need to clear their floors, balance their books or cut their losses.

Nobody wishes a business to go bankrupt. Creditors lose; the buying public loses; the business owner loses. When bankruptcy is inevitable, the business owner must dispose of stock and store equipment. This could be a restaurant, retailer, hotel or office supply house.

Desert Liquidators steps in at the right time to get these liquidated items at steep discounts, returning some value to the owner and passing huge savings on to you.

One way to think of liquidation in Phoenix is to think of it as the ultimate recycling. By buying up excess inventory or helping to empty a store going out of business, we prevent these valuable products from going to waste.

The embedded energy in a stainless steel restaurant sink has value that can be repurposed for a new eatery, a kitchen remodeling or a school. The beds, bar stools and bathtubs we rescue and resell can have new life.

Because we at Desert Liquidators can acquire these gleaming new, discontinued and overstock items for a fraction of what a wholesaler would pay, we can pass the savings onto you, our wallet-wise customers.

You save big because we think big. We buy from liquidation sales all over the country and bring the new inventory back to Phoenix for you. No waiting, no huge shipping bills and, best of all, no high-end retail sticker shock.

New inventory arrives all the time, so contact Desert Liquidators today or stop by our store soon.

Read the original post:
Desert Liquidators Furniture, Restaurant Equipment ...

Projects under review

Wendys reconstruction on existing site, 720 W. 6th Ave.

Jimmy Johns, 4310 W. 6th Avenue

Projects under construction/permitted

Raising Canes site redevelopment, 317 N. Perkins Road

Wendys, 2401 N. Perkins Road

Aspen Dental, 2307 N. Perkins Road

Springhill Suites Hotel, 315 S. Cstar Blvd.

Stillwater Public Schools new greenhouse, classroom and ag barn, 148 N. Drury Street

Stillwater Medical Center south campus, 900-1200 W. 12th Ave.

Cornerstone Dental Clinic, 1324 S. Sangre Road

The Garage Burgers and Beer second floor remodel, 520 W. Elm Street

On-going projects remodels/expansions

Five Guys Burgers and Fries, 611 N. Perkins Road Suite B

Stillwater Medical Center canopy and parking lot, 1323 W. 6th Ave.

FedEx interior remodel, 307 N. Perkins Road

McDonalds remodel, 902 W. 6th Ave.

Aldi grocery store expansion, 1188 N. Perkins Road

Stillwater Milling Center new two-story retail building, 502 E. 6th Ave.

Stillwater Medical Center cancer center addition, 1201 W. 6th Ave.

Teen Challenge building remodel, 3014 S. Main Street

Maple 500 Apartments remodel, 502 W. Maple Ave.

New housing

Sigma Phi Epsilon House, 1121 W. 4th Ave.

Mixed use residential/office/retail development at 4th Avenue and Ramsey Street

The Ranch at Epworth Living retirement community, 5601 N. Washington Street

The Wesley Foundation mixed use assembly and sleeping quarters, 823 W. University Ave.

Tradan Heights Estates Section 2 single family homes, 4399 S. Prescot

Avid Square multifamily with apartments and town homes, 410 S. Hester Street

Source: City of Stillwater Development Services reports

Twitter: @mcharlesNP

Continue reading here:
Stillwater business construction roundup - Stillwater News Press

Salon Owner Plans To Open American Restaurant In Vacant Shaw Storefront Bisnow Manages has never run a restaurant before, but she wanted to do something to bring life to the vacant storefront next door. She has a partner, James McKinney, who is focusing on the construction and design of the restaurant. She has also brought on a ...

Here is the original post:
Salon Owner Plans To Open American Restaurant In Vacant Shaw Storefront - Bisnow

Baymeadows Corner is a few steps closer to taking shape at the site of a closed Miami Subs at 8355 Baymeadows Road.

Developers Paul and Louis Sleiman applied for a permit to significantly renovate the structure and expand it to 7,600 square feet.

Paul Sleiman said Friday most of the Miami Subs building would be demolished but some elements would remain, such as the structural columns and foundation.

The property is designed as three units comprising two retail stores of 2,500 and 3,000 square feet and a 2,100-square-foot restaurant and drive-thru. The restaurant seating is capped at 50.

The units are designed as tenant shells. Build-out would take place separately.

The Malle Co. Inc. is the contractor for the $600,000 renovation and addition. JAA Architecture is the architect.

On Friday, Triforce Development, led by the Sleiman brothers and Bueme Engineering applied for the administrative deviation from the citys zoning code for landscaping reductions. They await a final order.

The application says the proposed deviation is part of the efforts to rebuild the Baymeadows area and that the site has been vacant and deteriorated for many years.

Triforce, through Olde Mandarin LLC, would buy the property from 8355 Baymeadows Inc. of Orange Park.

A mobility-fee calculation certificate and a concurrency reservation certificate issued June 16 by the city show the site is between Taco Bell and Jiffy Lube.

Paul Sleiman said in July the plan is to redevelop the entire site, including the building, parking areas and monument sign. He said he expects to start construction in the fourth quarter.

The 3,600-square-foot Miami Subs building was developed in 1985. Miami Subs operated six area stores but closed them. The Baymeadows store closed in 2003.

The developer of the proposed Home2 Suites by Hilton at Deerwood Park Boulevard and Gate Parkway seeks a permit to build the five-story hotel at a cost of $7.5 million.

A group led by hotelier Kanti Patel wants to build the 64,438-square-foot project on 1.75 acres at 10715 Deerwood Park Blvd.

Omega Construction Services is shown as the contractor. Zona Architecture is the architect.

Plans show a pool and patio outdoors and the inside includes a breakfast area, meeting rooms and exercise room.

Patel said construction should start in November on the 104-room Home2 Suites by Hilton and he estimates the investment at $14 million to $15 million. The company said it should open in January 2019.

Home2 Suites by Hilton is a limited-service, extended-stay hotel.

The 3.54-acre site has space for a second five-story hotel, with 102 rooms. Patel said there was no decision on that development.

The rest is here:
Developers working to transform old Miami Subs in Baymeadows - Jacksonville Daily Record

Malik Hashim has a new San Bernardino restaurant under construction. When he wants to visit it, he goes to Los Angeles.

Hashim is a franchisee of Checkers & Rallys, a quick service chain with more than 800 restaurants serving burgers, chicken wings and seasoned fries.

In November, the Tampa company announced a strategy to give franchisees the option of prefabricated modular buildings as well as traditional builds.

Hashim took the modular option.

It saves a lot of time and money from having an architect, he said in a phone interview.

To be more specific, it shaves five to 12 weeks off the development timeline and saves as much as $100,000 on construction, according to a news release from Checkers & Rallys.

Hashim will take delivery of his Rallys restaurant at 1605 W. Baseline St. Workers will then hook up electricity and plumbing.

Target for opening is March 2018.

Checkers and Rallys has a third option for franchisees to save on construction, a model that recycles shipping containers as building supports. But thats not the model thats coming to San Bernardino, according to spokesmen.

The company has grown by more than 176 restaurants since 2012, according to the company, but it is not a familiar brand in the Inland Empire. There is a Checkers inside the Walmart Supercenter on Moreno Beach Drive in Moreno Valley.

There are also four restaurants in Orange and Los Angeles counties.

Checkers and Rallys have the same menus, which include loaded milkshakes and stacked, packed sundaes.

Go here to read the rest:
Franchisee finds a way get Rally's fast food to San Bernardino even faster - Press-Enterprise

TODAY'S TOP STORIESHear a 911 recording of clerk's call for help | 2:35

A supervisor in the Macomb County clerk's court section called 911 on Friday who was having "an issue" trying to send confidential documents to the human resources department. Detroit Free Press staff

1 of 9

Many law enforcement agencies in Michigan have seen a spike in wheel and tire theft, both in residential areas and at businesses. Ann Zaniewski, Detroit Free Press

2 of 9

In today's political environment, a sale of Fiat Chrysler, the Italian-American automaker, to a Chinese company seems far-fetched. But analysts say it could happen. Here's why: Brent Snavely, Detroit Free Press

3 of 9

Aaron Foley talks about the new book he edited, The Detroit Neighborhood Guidebook. Romain Blanquart/Detroit Free Press

4 of 9

Ronna Romney McDaniel, chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, came to Detroit Monday to try and reach out and and attract African-American voters to the GOP. Wochit

5 of 9

5 easy steps to grilling a steak from start to finish Wochit

6 of 9

One gobbled an entire cottage. Another swallowed a child for three hours before rescuers dug him out. This may sound like the work of a nightmarish creature from the "Star Wars" or "Tremors" films, but it's mostly wind and sand near the shores of Lake Michigan. Robert Allen/Detroit Free Press

7 of 9

This graceful contemporary house is wide open inside, so sunlight pours in and every room looks into the private landscaped grounds. Detroit Free Press

8 of 9

The Detroit Free Press/Chemical Bank Marathon will happen in downtown Detroit on Oct. 14-15. Wochit

9 of 9

Hear a 911 recording of clerk's call for help

What you need to know about wheel, tire theft in Michigan

Why a sale of Fiat Chrysler to a Chinese automaker could happen

Detroit Neighborhood Guidebook: Get to know Detroit's neighborhoods

GOP tries to win over African-American voters in Detroit

How to grill a steak

Sand dunes along Lake Michigan are scary but protected by law

Ann Arbor estate is private and quiet

What you need to know about the Detroit Free Press Marathon

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan announced the latest recipients of cash grants from the Motor City Match program on Monday Aug., 14, 2017(Photo: JC Reindl)

Thirteen Detroit-based small businesses, including a beer brewer, a construction contractorand aSouthern cooking restaurant, were awarded $500,000 in total grants Monday in the latest round of the city's Motor City Match program.

The quarterly event marked the two-year anniversary for the popular program, which distributes local foundation money as well as block grant funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to new and existing Detroit businesses in need of "gap funding" help.

To date, Motor City Matchhas distributed nearly $4 million to 87 businesses, of which 78% are minority-owned. The program focuseson small businesses that can play a role inrevitalizingneighborhoods and that may have struggled in obtaining enough traditional,commercial lending.

More: Motor City Match winner will mingle perfumes, cocktail culture

"We are getting to where we want to be in creating business opportunities in the neighborhoods," said Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, who with the Detroit Economic Growth Corp. started the Match program in 2015. "We are creating a pathway for people who have the talent, who have the drive, but otherwise might not have had the financing."

Big Mama's Southern Kitchen was among this latest round of grantrecipients. The restaurant was given $40,000 to helprepair damage toits building at 19644 Grand Riverfrom a December 2015 fire of unknown origin that had forced itto close.

Restaurant co-ownersPatricia Clay and Natalie Day said the repair and renovation work is already under way and they hope to reopenin October. The restaurant is named for Clay's late grandmother, Lucy Carr, who was known as "Big Mama" andtaught her the Southern recipes that their customers will taste.

More: Program to give small Detroit neighborhood businesses help with improvements

"It's been a strugglebut we're doing it," Clay said of the restaurant's reconstruction."We always planned to reopen,it was just getting funded. We needed to get funded."

Construction general contractor The O'Neal Contracting Group received a $35,000 grant to help replace the roof of its headquarters at17160 Wyoming St.

Owner Greg O'Neal said his nine-employee company has been experiencing strong growth since 2014 thanksto the surge in apartment construction in and around downtown Detroit. The firm was recently awarded work at the $53 million Third and Grand residential and commercial project in New Center.

Monday's event was held inside a former 1940s post office that was converted into a workshop and future retail shop for Mutual Adoration, a past recipient of a $35,000 Motor City Match grant. The businessuses reclaimed wood to create furniture, gifts and other household items and plans toopen itsnew retail shop inside the building this fall.

The following businesses were awarded grants:

Batch Brewing Company, 2841 E. Grand Blvd., $65,000 Simply Breakfast Restaurant, 7526 W. McNichols St., $50,000 Vernor MC, 5705 W. Vernor Hwy., $45,000 Bar Botnica, 14522 E. Jefferson Ave., $40,000 Big Mamas Southern Kitchen, 19644 Grand River Ave., $40,000 Detroit Mushroom Factory, 13832 Joseph Campau St., $40,000 Rosedale Beer & Bistro, 18910 Grand River Ave., $40,000 The Congregation, 9321 Rosa Parks Blvd., $40,000 O'Neal Contracting Group, 17160 Wyoming St., $35,000 The Vernor Caf, 4110 W. Vernor Hwy., $35,000 Lacquered, 18685 Livernois Ave., $25,000 PizzaPlex, 4458 W. Vernor Hwy., $25,000 Tot Town Child Development Center, 8932 Greenfield Road, $20,000

Information onapplying for a Motor City Match grant is at motorcitymatch.com

Read or Share this story: http://on.freep.com/2wYJyow

Read more here:
Detroit businesses snag $500K in latest Motor City Match - Detroit Free Press