Small Business

Through Hope Community’s Visit El Barrio initiative, we connect East Harlem residents to local small business owners offering locally produced goods and services.

Grant Opportunities and Resources

Visit El Barrio

In 2010, Hope Community was awarded a grant on behalf of the New York City Department of Small Business Services (SBS) and Councilmember Melissa Mark-Viverito (District 8) through SBS’s Avenue NYC program to launch a merchant organizing and placemaking campaign.

Through this campaign, Hope Community launched “El Barrio. Shops. Eats. Arts. Nightlife” with the goal of increasing metro and regional tourism to East Harlem community.  Driving traffic and highlighting the East Harlem community supports both local businesses and arts/cultural economy.

Through a multifaceted marketing campaign and tourism incentive program “El Barrio: Shops. Eats. Arts. Nightlife” hopes to attract residents and workers of New York City and the New York tri-state area to experience the rich and vibrant East Harlem community.

In 2011, Hope Community released four videos highlighting the achievements of several East Harlem restaurants, shops, and arts/cultural destinations via social media platforms. To further support East Harlem small businesses, Hope Community conducted a merchant’s survey completed by 84 local East Harlem small businesses.  This served to lay the foundation for the formation of a community-wide merchants association – “El Barrio Merchants Alliance.”

In 2012, Hope Community formally launched the marketing campaign for “El Barrio. Shops. Eats. Arts. Nightlife.” through the website www.visitelbarrio.com, which serves as the host site for the campaign and El Barrio Merchants Alliance.  Hope Community distributed a “Guide to El Barrio” and hosted the 2nd Annual “El Barrio Week” in June 2012.

“El Barrio: Shops. Eats. Arts. Nightlife.”
View the four promotional videos
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