Queens EDC will use city grant to boost Corona businesses

Small businesses and street vendors on Roosevelt Ave. will be getting help from the Queens Economic Development Corporation. Photo by Doug Letterman via Flickr.

By Rachel Vick

The Queens Economic Development Corporation plans to use a three-year municipal grant to boost small businesses in COVID-best Corona, the organization said Monday.

QEDC received the grant from the city’s Small Business Services agency and has brought on nonprofit leader Sam Massol as an advisor to merchants along Roosevelt Avenue between Junction Boulevard and 114th Street. 

The QEDC has also funded the organizations Latin Women in Action and the Street Vendor Project to help vendors formalize their businesses. QEDC will coordinate training webinars, counseling and provide COVID-related resources to the local firms.

The grant is one of several provided by the Small Business Services through its Race, Equity, and Inclusion initiative.

“COVID-19 has had devastating effects on our Black, Asian, and Latinx communities and it is important we deliver the resources they need to recover,” said SBS Commissioner Jonnel Doris. “These initiatives will help revitalize our commercial corridors and bring them back stronger than ever.”