(December 29, 2023 11:22 AM ET) Last night at its monthly meeting, The Martin Luther King Corridor Improvement Authority presented grants of $50,000 each to five businesses located in the Corridor. The grants were made from the Entrepreneurial and Real Estate Fund, launched this fall to provide financial assistance to small business owners in Jackson.
Businesses receiving the first grants are:
Pryor’s BBQ House – $50,000
Owner – Larry Pryor
M Power Fitness – $50,000
Owner – Mario Selby
Mikey’s Barbershop – $50,000
Owner – Michael Parker
Hampton’s Place – $50,000
Owner – Basil Hampton
Jack’s Take-Out – $50,000
Owner – Rafael Golden
Business owners could apply for up to $50,000 to purchase inventory, rent space, update a building, pay staff, or fund other business necessities. The Authority received more than forty applications during this first round of funding according to Authority Chairman Anthony Parker. Parker said there will be more rounds of grants in the future and encouraged applicants not chosen in this round to reapply.
In October, the MLK CIA recruited community members and business leaders to become part of the Entrepreneurial and Real Estate Fund Subcommittee tasked with designing and implementing a fund to support Southside business owners. The MLK CIA selected Mindy Bradish-Orta, Thaddeus Williams, Victoria Moore, Robert Wilkie, Fred Parker, Jr., Tonja Worthey, Jennifer Moon, Dennis Treadway, and Cathy Moore to serve on this subcommittee. Working with the Jackson Community Foundation and CEO Monica Moser, the subcommittee reviewed all applications and selected the first five recipients.
The Jackson City Council created the MLK Corridor Improvement Authority in 2020 to focus redevelopment efforts along MLK Drive and Prospect Street. The MLK Corridor Improvement Authority is a ten-member board that directs planning and investments for this initiative.
Members of the community serving on the MLK Corridor Improvement Authority are Mayor Daniel Mahoney, City Councilperson Arlene Robinson and citizens Diane Washington, James Johnson, Mindy Bradish-Orta, Philicia Richmond, Thaddeus Williams, George Brown, Anthony Parker, and John Willis.
Current boundaries of the MLK Corridor include S. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive from Downtown Jackson to the City Limits at W. South Street and Prospect Street in its entirety from Fourth Street to Cooper Street, as well as commercial properties along the MLK Equality Trail.
MLK CIA Monthly Meeting and Grant Award Ceremony, Martin Luther King, Jr. Center, 12-28-2023. Photos by Bart Hawley, JTV.
MLK CIA Monthly Meeting and Grant Award Ceremony, Martin Luther King, Jr. Center, 12-28-2023. Photos by Bart Hawley, JTV.
