Lani Seikaly, President, Kent Attainable Housing, has announced the selection of Darius Johnson as its first Executive Director. “The Board of Directors felt Johnson’s prior leadership experiences, innovative problem solving skills, demonstrated ability to form partnerships, and passion for making homeownership an equitable opportunity and a strategy to break the cycle of intergenerational poverty all made him the perfect executive director for Kent Attainable Housing.” 

A Kent County High School graduate, Johnson received the Washington College Vincent Hynson Scholarship in 2011 and graduated from there in 2015 with a degree in Business Management. For the past three years he has worked for the Eastern Shore Land Conservancy as Communications Manager and previously as their Community Revitalization Project Manager. Prior to that, he was with the Maryland Center for Construction Education & Innovation. He has had extensive public speaking, fund-raising, and event planning experience.  He currently serves on the Stories of the Chesapeake Heritage Area Board of Directors and the Washington College Alumni Board.

“This is an exciting opportunity and I am energized to serve the community that I call home. I have admired the mission of KAH since its beginnings, and I am committed to helping this organization grow while uplifting Kent County’s hardworking families,” said Johnson.

 Sam Shoge, Executive Director of Kent County Chamber of Commerce, applauded Johnson’s appointment. “Darius has consistently been an advocate for those that are underrepresented so it is clear his heart and head are in the right place to lead Kent Attainable Housing into the future. His passion for the community and his steadfast commitment to the mission of Kent Attainable Housing is the type of transformational leadership Kent County needs.”

As a part of his work with the Eastern Shore Land Conservancy, he has had experience in building partnerships with other non-profit and stakeholder groups. “Darius is passionate about this community and works tirelessly to support it. As a collaborator, he is generous with his time and is a gifted spokesperson for work he believes in,” said Darran Tilghman, Director of Community Engagement for ShoreRivers.  Johnson is a 2021 National Fellow of the Environmental Leadership Program.

Kent Attainable Housing seeks to create home ownership opportunities for local, low-income families in need of safe, decent and affordable housing by building or renovating homes. KAH builds the capacity of applicants to successfully own a home through required workshops in financial literacy, homeownership, and budget management.  Community volunteers and partners help make the homes affordable and help mentor applicants through the process. The first home, on College Avenue in Chestertown, has been completed, and the future homeowners have been selected for the second home, soon to be underway in the Butlertown community of Worton.

For information about Kent Attainable Housing, go to https://kentattainablehousing.org or email kentattainablehousing@gmail.com. 

F3 Tech, a leading commercialization program for early-stage companies, is looking for innovations in the agriculture, aquaculture and energy storage sectors to participate in its 4^th Accelerator Program. Startups and early-stage companies within alternative feed, energy storage, crop health, advanced chemical discovery and agricultural biotech solutions are the focus for this year’s Accelerator and encouraged to apply.

“These are growing and dynamic sectors and we are excited to work with these companies to bring their innovations to market on behalf of our partners in industry,” said Chris Hlubb, Program Director of F3 Tech Accelerator Program, now in its fourth year. “We have developed our most advanced application process yet using Qualtrics software to engineer the process for our key topics of interest. We hope it drives further applicants and awareness of the program.”

The F3 Tech Accelerator Program requires no equity from participants, a unique value proposition for many early-stage companies. Up to $450,000 in funding and professional services will be available to companies in this year’s program. They will receive:

–       Funding to expedite commercialization

–       Executive support and coaching to prepare each company for potential investment

–       Executive guidance for potential acquisition and/or commercial launch

–       Connections to related industry clients, investors and customers

The F3 Tech Accelerator Program has worked hard to attract companies led by under-represented groups. Since its inception, one-third of the participating companies have had female leaders and one-third have had immigrant or first-generation leaders. In 2020, 60% were led by members of minority groups and 80% had executive team members from minority groups. Participants in last year’s program can be found here.

The deadline to apply for the F3 Tech Accelerator Program is June 30, 2021. Finalists will be announced in August and the program will start on September 7, 2021.

To apply for the F3 Tech Accelerator Program, please visit: https://f3tech.org/program/accelerator/

Main Street Historic Chestertown has announced the re-granting of $157,600 in Maryland Strong Economic Recovery Initiative (SERI) funding to 29 downtown businesses in grant amounts ranging from $1,000 to $9,500.

Criteria for grant awards and amounts included the effect of COVID restrictions on an applicant’s business, the number of employees and hours of operation, and its overall impact on how residents and visitors experience downtown.

The Recovery Grants Panel that worked with Main Street Executive Director Kay MacIntosh to process applications included Main Street Board of Directors members Carolyn Spencer Brown, Anne Forrest and Mike Smith, and three business mentors from the area chapter of SCORE – Tim Abeska, Zane Carter and Jeff Grotsky.

Main Street Chestertown’s SERI grant from the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development also includes $25,000 for the organization to use to market downtown as a destination.

The State allocated a total of $7 million in relief awards to support small business recovery efforts in the 41 Main Street communities across Maryland. All of the state’s 33 designated Main Street Maryland communities and Baltimore City’s eight designated Main Street neighborhoods applied for and received awards to support their operating and capital grants to businesses in their districts. A full list of awardees is available here.

In Chestertown, every applicant was awarded a grant. Those recipients include Bad Al’s, Bee Crafty, The Kitchen at the Imperial, Evergrain Bread Company, Mimi’s Closet, Village House, Massoni Gallery, Robert Ortiz Studios, Empty Hangers, Sarah Paige Salon, Casa Carmen, Spa Angels, Tiny Tots, Zelda’s, Linda Roy Walls Photographs and Memories, Houston’s Dockside Emporium, Allied Shore Solutions, The Finishing Touch, Coco’s Pet Boutique, Music Life, Physically Fitch, 98 Cannon Riverside Grille, Big Mixx’s Beautiful Beginnings, Walnut & Wool, The Retriever, K&L Auto Services, Figg’s Ordinary, Les Poissons Gallery, and Riverside Unique.

Main Street Historic Chestertown is a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit whose mission is to foster an inviting, diverse and prosperous downtown. Its goals include increasing the number and variety of successful downtown businesses, supporting a diverse range of activities that attract both residents and visitors to downtown, enhancing downtown’s streetscapes, and encouraging an increase in the number of downtown residents. Learn more at  mainstreetchestertown.org. For more information about the State’s Main Street Maryland program, visit mainstreetmaryland.org.

For most of Geoff Turner’s adult life, he’s had a tough time explaining to friends and neighbors what his second-generation family business does. The CEO of Choptank Transport has found himself going into lengthy explanations at cocktail parties or other events to highlight what his company’s work is, only to find the listener still thinking at the end of it that he runs a trucking business.

Given Geoff’s easy-going nature, he resigns himself quickly to the fact that most people don’t have a clue what Choptank Transport does. Still, as one starts to take notice of this Mid-Shore’s company profile, it is rather astonishing that more can’t appreciate the extraordinary success story tucked away in a 30,000 square foot office complex just a few blocks from downtown Preston, Maryland.

In short, Choptank Transport plays a critical role in America’s huge freight industry. Turner and over three hundred employees work with individual truckers throughout the country to ensure that food and products get from “a to b” on time and at the best cost for its clients. It is a highly complex, logical operation for the layman, which is highly competitive in a world where 95% of trucking businesses own less than five tractor-trailers.

In Preston alone, the company has over 312 service professionals working the phones and Choptank’s proprietary database and software to design “lanes” for customers to get their products to market. Add to the fact that all of these employees earn professional salaries, many in the six figures, and it doesn’t take long to see the huge economic impact Choptank has on the region.

Now Choptank is doubling down on the Mid-Shore with a new office complex planned for Easton this year which will house another 200 employees, and it doesn’t take long to see that Choptank is a substantial player in the economic development of the five-county area.

The Spy spoke with Geoff a few weeks ago about the company its plans for the future.

This video is approximately five minutes in length. For more information about Choptank Transport please go here.

Chestertown entrepreneur Ingrid Hansen of Figg’s Ordinary, LLC has received a $15,000 grant from the second round of the national HartBeat of Main Street grant program created by Main Street America and The Hartford.  Grants of $5,000 to $15,000 were awarded to 31 brick-and-mortar small businesses in older, historic downtown commercial districts across the country to help them respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.

 “As small businesses continue to face enormous challenges in the wake of COVID-19, they need our support now more than ever,” said Main Street America’s President and CEO Patrice Frey. “We are proud to partner with The Hartford to help small business owners address these challenges and support the resilience of the commercial districts that make our communities thrive.”

Grant projects range from physical improvements needed to meet reopening guidelines, such as to-go windows, plexiglass dividers and air purifiers, to executing digital marketing or expansion plans. Hansen  plans to use the grant to help pay for equipment and staff to expand Figg’s product line into wholesale operations. She is one of eight Chestertown entrepreneurs working with Small Business Development Center senior consultant Garrett Glover in an intensive one-on-one consulting program called BIRE, for Business Improvement, Retention and Expansion. Glover has been helping Hansen hone the Figg’s Ordinary business plan. Main Street Chestertown was able to fund the BIRE program through a USDA Rural Business Development grant.

“These HartBeat of Main Street grants are extremely competitive, and we were thrilled to hear Figg’s Ordinary was a top award winner,” said Main Street Chestertown executive director Kay MacIntosh. “Ingrid is a hard-working entrepreneur who is passionate about her product and committed to the community.”

In total, more than $1.2 million in grants have been awarded to 98 businesses by the HartBeat program. “Small business owners are a special breed,” said Stephanie Bush, head of Small Commercial and Personal Lines at The Hartford. “The way they have found new and meaningful ways to serve their communities is inspirational.”

Of the 31 grants awarded, 26 benefited diverse-owned businesses, defined by the Small Business Administration as minority, woman, veteran, disabled, and/or LGBTQ-owned. Grants benefitted a range of industry types – from bakeries and beauty salons to dance schools and breweries. Grant proposals were judged on feasibility; the extent to which the grant will address an acute business need or help a business implement innovative solutions to COVID-19-related challenges; opportunities for other businesses to learn from their work; community engagement; and strength of letters of recommendation and supporting documents.

The full list of grantees is below:

• ArtsXchange: East Point, Georgia
• B&B Billiards: Brigham City, Utah
• Backstep Brewing Company: Crawfordsville, Indiana
• Bricolage Art Collective: Paducah, Kentucky
• Cakewalk Chicago: Chicago, Illinois
• Community Players, Inc.: Beatrice, Nebraska
• Cork Wine Bar & Market: Washington, DC
• Curitiba Art Cafe: Fredericksburg, Virginia
• Deja Vu Boutique: Mt Airy, Maryland
• Evermore Coffee Roasters: Burlington, New Jersey
• Figg’s Ordinary, LLC: Chestertown, Maryland
• Flamenco Works, Inc.: Albuquerque, New Mexico
• Gentz Barbershop LLC: River Falls, Wisconsin
• Grand Illusion Hard Cider, LLC: Carlisle, Pennsylvania
• Horton’s Books & Gifts, LLC: Carrollton, Georgia
• Hunan House: San Francisco, California
• Johnson Jewelers: Puyallup, Washington
• Lincoln Into Art: Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
• Melba Theater: Batesville, Arkansas
• MiLadies 182: Florence, South Carolina
• Muncie Community Market: Muncie, Indiana
• Oh Olive Libertyville, Inc.: Libertyville, Illinois
• Perfect 10 Unisex Salon, LLC: Boston, Massachusetts
• Pies by Inge, Inc.: Monticello, Illinois
• Rich City Studios: Richmond, California
• Spinning J Bakery: Chicago, Illinois
• Starlings Coffee & Provisions: Charleston, West Virginia
• Terra Running Company: Cleveland, Tennessee
• The Dance Institute of Washington, Inc.: Washington, DC
• Total Fitness Control LLC: Decatur, Georgia
• Walking Man Brewing LLC: Stevenson, Washington

ABOUT MAIN STREET AMERICA

Main Street America is a program of the National Main Street Center, which has been helping revitalize historic commercial districts for 40 years. The more than 1,600 programs in its network, including Main Street Historic Chestertown, share a commitment to place and to building stronger communities through preservation-based economic development. The organization is a nonprofit subsidiary of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. For more information, visit mainstreet.organd mainstreetchestertown.org.