The relationship between a local business and its patrons is one in which both parties support each other in expanding resources and breathing life into the community.
Perhaps no one can speak more to that special connection than the individuals and businesses that are finalists in The Washington Informer’s inaugural Best of the DMV contest. Alvin Creswell, one of the people to be in number, acknowledged the residents who poured into his business.
“The support we’ve gotten from Deanwood and Ward 7 has been absolutely amazing,” said Creswell, co-owner and investor of The Strand DC, a one-year-old establishment and finalist for Best Black-Owned Restaurant. “They’ve embraced us. They’ve told us they’ve given us positive feedback to grow again.”
Creswell, an accountant, also gave his flowers to The Informer.
“Without you guys, no one would know that we’re there,” Creswell said. “It’s events, articles, interviews like this that allow us to grow and be known throughout the community as well as D.C. as a whole.”
Throughout much of July and August, hundreds of nominations poured in for those thought to be the Best of the DMV, as it relates to business, philanthropy, education, and a slew of other categories.
By the fall, the top nominees appeared on the official ballot. On Dec. 21, The Best of the DMV winners will be revealed during a celebration and fundraiser at Busboys & Poets Anacostia.
That venue, located in the heart of Historic Anacostia, is under the purview of the Anacostia Business Improvement District (BID), one of 12 business improvement districts in D.C., and the only one of its kind east of the Anacostia River.
Long before becoming a finalist for Best Business Improvement District, Anacostia BID has been doing its part to keep that stretch of Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue SE “clean, safe, and vibrant,” said Ashley Templeton, the organization’s marketing and arts and culture program manager.
“We’re doing the work around you that you don’t even know,” Templeton continued. “Plus, Historic Anacostia is now the Arts and Culture District. We are representing the soul of the city, the heart of the city. And for us, community is everything.”
The Greater Washington DC Black Chamber of Commerce (GWBCC), a Best in the DMV finalist for Best Chamber of Commerce or Business Association, has been forging similar connections locally and abroad— what Simone Ellison calls a matter of survival.
“GWBCC is a regional hub for advocacy, policy support, making sure that our regional businesses in D.C., Maryland, and Virginia have access to capital and procurement opportunities, as well as within the international diaspora,” said Ellison, GWBCC’s director of engagement and strategic partnerships. “We also work with the Deputy Mayor’s Office [for Economic Development] for international business opportunities anywhere from around the globe, and especially highlighting the continent.”
Ellison said The Informer is a partner in that endeavor.
“As Black business owners, specifically during this time as we’re pivoting…it means more than the world to us for having our businesses supported, specifically those businesses such as those that are members of the chamber, through the nomination process,” Ellison said. “We’re making sure to promote via our different platforms, social media, email platforms. It’s very important, as this media publication…that’s been around for generations, is able to support Black business owners and business owners in the region.”
Rico Scott, the Southeast native and Best in the DMV finalist known as DJ Dirty Rico, told The Informer he uses his platform to bring people together, in good times and not so good times.
“My part of taking care of the community is through the music, making sure that we keep people tuned in to the radio station 24-7,” said Scott, a Best in the DMV finalist for Best DJ. “Also doing things in the community… when dealing with domestic violence, violence in the street, getting fundraisers done, and also being a part of the community and helping the less fortunate.”
In reflecting on his ascent as a Best of the DMV finalist, Scott, a Majic 102.3 mainstay representing The NoiseMaker Nation and BaldHead Ent, paid homage to his hometown.
“For me to get the support of the community means everything,” he told The Informer. “That’s where it starts, at home. I’ve never been one to actually be out of the state. I love being where I’m from. I love being where I’m at. To actually get the support of the entire DMV is ultra big for me.”