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An Update to the ExploreBGL.com Platform

Business owners, friends, and neighbors: we would like to thank you all for your support of the ExploreBGL platform and related programs over the past two years. 

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on our small business communities, Bloomfield Development Corporation, Bloomfield-Garfield Corporation, and Lawrenceville Corporation joined together to offer help collaboratively. With seed funding from R.K. Mellon Foundation, and additional support from the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh and the Northside Community Development Fund, the organizations immediately responded to challenges brought by the pandemic by helping businesses

As part of the program, I was hired to serve as Explore BGL’s first Small Business Support Coordinator. Explore BGL grew and far surpassed initially outlined goals and outcomes over the past year. Through Explore BGL, our organizations have supported more than 300 local businesses and have invested $171,500 into our local business districts as part of staff, programming, promotions, and direct purchases from local businesses.

We’ve loved supporting local businesses and building connections throughout our business districts. At this time, our platform is undergoing a change in staffing that will affect our capacity and our programming for the immediate future. We would like to thank all of you who have supported the program in any way in building an innovative and collaborative program unlike any other small business support program in the region. Our organizations will be working to assess the existing ExploreBGL programs and we welcome feedback and input. Please don’t hesitate to contact us with ideas and we appreciate your patience as we work to access necessary resources and identify ways that we can more effectively and efficiently support our small business community. We are keeping the platform live and updating the directory- thanks to generous support from the Northside Community Development Fund – so please continue using and exploring the online directory as a resource for all of your needs!  And keep shopping local in Bloomfield, Garfield, and Lawrenceville!