Jessica Lappin, Downtown Alliance president, left, presented Jo
Black, of Boundless Plains Espresso, with a Digital Innovation Grant.
Online grants click
with small business
BY GABE HERMAN
With much of retail business
continuing to shift to the Internet,
two Lower Manhattan
businesses were recently awarded
grants to improve their online presence
and help them compete.
The Downtown Alliance gave the
$10,000 Digital Innovation Grants to
B & Co, a sandwich shop, at 22 Park
Place, and Boundless Plains Espresso,
at 19 Rector St.
“Small businesses fuel Lower Manhattan
physically and emotionally,”
said Jessica Lappin, the Downtown Alliance’
president. “But many are challenged
by the digital shift in consumer
behavior. We’ve created a digital grant
program to support local shops like B
& Co and Boundless Plains Espresso
and help them compete online.”
Boundless Plains was opened by local
Jo Black, originally from Australia.
Her shop serves espresso drinks, along
with other items, like organic salads
and avocado toast. She plans to use the
grant for an online ordering and delivery
platform, and also to create a social
COURTESY DOWNTOWN ALLIANCE
media strategy to spread word about
the business, plus train staff for online
engagement with new customers.
“We pride ourselves on building a
community among staff and guests,”
Black said. “The Downtown Digital
Innovation Grant will allow us to use
online connections to help bring people
together face to face in the store, and allow
my business — and community —
to grow with improvements I wouldn’t
otherwise have been able to afford.”
B & Co, formerly Bits and Bites, was
founded in 1997. The deli plans to make
its Web site more mobile friendly.
“When we started, our business
came from walk-ins and calls,” founder
Robert Gander said. “With so many
people ordering lunch with a tap of
their phone, this grant will allow us to
build a mobile-friendly Web site and
meet our customers where they are.”
The Downtown Digital Innovation
Grant program was launched last year,
with Martin Busch Jewelers, at 85 John
St., using the grant to improve its Web
site and grow its presence on social media.
The store has had a nearly 50 percent
increase in visits to its Web site.
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