May1,2015

Stephanie Rawlings-Blake
Mayor,
Baltimore City
250 City Hall - Baltimore Maryland 21202
(410) 396-3835 - Fax: (410) 576-9425
Better Schools. Safer Streets. Stronger Neighborhoods

BusinessAssistanceInformation
DearBusiness and CommunityLeaders:
Beginning Saturday, April 25,2015,peacefulproteststurnedviolent in BaltimoreCity,withprotesters
looting and destroying property. In addition, several fires were intentionally set, causing millions of
dollarsin lostproperty. AStateofEmergency wasissuedby the Mayor and Governoron Monday,April
27,2015andcontinuesto beineffect. Approximately,200citybusinesseshavebeen damaged to date.
Economic recovery is of vital importance. Small business owners must reopen to support their
livelihoods; residents need to shop for necessities in their neighborhoods; and companies need their
employeesbackto work. Belowisinformation to assistbusinesses and ensure Baltimores economy not
onlyrecovers,butgrowsstrongerthan everbefore.
BusinessAssistance Efforts:
1. Website: The City of Baltimore Development Corporation (BDC) has launched
www.baltimorebusinessrecovery.org asthemain portalforbusinesses thathadphysicaldamage
to connect withcity,state and federal resources. Businessesshould completethecontactform
on the website.Additionalinformation willbe addedto thewebsiteto help businessesrecover
asitbecomesavailable.
2. Business Recovery Team: BDC has established a Business Recovery Team to assist impacted
businesses. BDC will provide a staff member as a singlepointofcontact for each business to
help answerquestionsand connectitdirectlytoresourcesuntilitisfully reopen. Businesseswill
beconnected withaBDCrepresentativebysigningup at www.baltimorebusinessrecovery.org.
3. Business Inventory: BDC,in coordination with city agencies,isdeveloping acomprehensive list
ofcity businesses withdamage so thattheCity can determinewhat isrequired forbusinessesin
orderto reopen. Thisinventory willbe usedtomatch resourceswithneeds.BDCstaff hasbeen
to all major commercial areas affected to begin the inventory and will continue to be on the
ground assessing damage and meeting with business owners. BDC is coordinating with the
Maryland Emergency ManagementAgency (MEMA)and theU.S.SmallBusinessAdministration
(SBA)orpotentialfederalassistance.

Business AssistanceInformation

May1,2015

4. Employment: The Mayors Office of Employment Development (MOED) has been in discussions
withtheU.S.Department ofLabor (DOL) and theMaryland Department of Labor,Licensing and
Regulation (DLLR)to seeksupportofprogram funding aimed at youthemploymentand assisting
dislocatedworkersofdamagedbusinesses.MOED willcollaboratewithbothDOL and DLLRto
develop a plan that addresses the need for increased employment opportunities and skills
training for City residents, especially those in impacted communities. MOED is also working
closely with BDC and DLLR to immediately provide reemployment services to residents who
havelosttheirjobduetobusinessesthathaveclosedorlaidoffworkers.Ifyou are unemployed
ordisplaced dueto recent currenteventspleasecontact MOED at4103963009 from 8:30am
to 4:30pm orviaemailat moed@oedworks.com.
5. Expediting City Permits: TheMayorhasaskedCity permitting agenciesto expeditepermitsfor
repairwork and inspectionsforreopening businesses. TheMayorisalso providing ahardship
waiver (basedon certain eligibilitycriteria) forbusinessestoassistwithpermitfeesandcosts.
6. Insurance Assistance: BDC has been in touch with Al Redmer, Commissioner of the Maryland
InsuranceAdministration (MIA),to help answerany questionsrelatedto insuranceclaimsthat
smallbusinessesmayhave.MIA maybereacheddirectlyat 4104682000.
7. Language Access:The Mayors Office of Immigrant and Multicultural Affairs (MIMA) isassisting
businesseswithlanguageaccessto ensureall information isaccessibleto nonEnglishspeaking
business owners. MIMA will continue to work closely with BDC and community partners on
outreachto impacted immigrant businessesto ensure the successful reopening ofbusinesses,
many of which are local and familyowned. Business owners requiring language access
assistance may contact MIMA at 4103968056 or via the MIMA website
http://mayor.baltimorecity.gov/contactmima.
8. CorporateSupport:
Many businesses have offered to donate their services and expertise to affected
businesses. BDCistracking thoseoffersand willhelp connect businessesaccordingly to
those in need ofservices. Ifyourbusiness would like to assist, please contact BDCat
www.baltimorebusinessrecovery.org.
The need for additional youth employment opportunities has never been greater.
Please considersigning up yourbusiness forthe Mayors Hire One Youth campaign to
supportsummerjobs forcity youth by hiring ayoung person. Ifyou havesigned up this
yearalready or in the past, please considerincreasing yourcommitment.You mayalso
donate funds to support theMayors YouthWorks Summer Employment Program,which
provides employmentplacement foryouthatgovernmentofficesandpartnerlocations.

Page 2 of 3

Business AssistanceInformation

May1,2015

9. Messaging: Visit Baltimore, the Citys official tourism bureau and destination marketing
organization, isworking closely withbusiness leadersin the restaurant,hospitality and tourism
sectors, as well as our state economic development partners, to ensure Baltimore remains a
premier destination for the millions of tourists, convention attendees and local Maryland
residents that come to Baltimore City each year. In addition to an immediate and longterm
messaging strategy,VisitBaltimoreis also working withlocal organizations,including Downtown
Partnership of Baltimore, the Greater Baltimore Committee and Economic Alliance of Greater
Baltimore, to ask residents, workers and visitors to support local businesses affected by the
recentevents.
10. Partnering Agencies/Organizations: TheMayors Office hasbeen in contactwiththefollowing
economicdevelopmentagenciesand organizations who haveofferedassistance. TheCity will
continuetoworkwithourpartnersuntilbusiness recoveryisfully complete:
BaltimoreCityDepartmentofHealth
BaltimoreDevelopmentCorporation (BDC)
BaltimoreHousing
DowntownPartnershipofBaltimore
EconomicAllianceofGreaterBaltimore
GreaterBaltimoreCommittee (GBC)
Mayors Office of Employment Development (MOED)
Mayors Office of Minority and WomenOwedBusinessDevelopment
Mayors Office of Multicultural & Immigrant Affairs (MIMA)
Maryland DepartmentofBusiness&EconomicDevelopment (DBED)
Maryland DepartmentofLabor,Licensing,andRegulation (DLLR)
MarylandEmergencyManagementAgency(MEMA)
MarylandInsuranceAdministration (MIA)
U.S.DepartmentofLabor (USDOL)
U.S.SmallBusinessAdministration (SBA)
VisitBaltimore
WaterfrontPartnershipof Baltimore
TheCity recognizesthechallengesthatbusinesses continueto faceoverthelastseveraldays and the
disruption it has caused. As a City, we will rebuild and reopen. Baltimore is resilient. The City
appreciatesthe supportandpatienceofthebusiness communityaswecontinueto moveforward.

Page 3 of 3