November 12-14, 2025
The Hotel at University of Maryland
In collaboration with four community-based organizations in the D.C. metro area, SBAN is offering mobile workshops in diverse communities where small business anti-displacement strategies are being employed.
Mobile workshops will take place Friday, Nov. 14, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Buses will pick up participants from The Hotel. Lunch is on your own in the neighborhood when the workshop ends, but hosts will recommend local restaurants. Participants can re-board the bus at 2 p.m. to come back to the hotel, or they can depart directly from the site. Each workshop costs $50 and is limited to 15 people. Sign up when you register! Workshops are first-come, first-served.
Washington, DC: Protecting and Strengthening DC Chinatown’s Small Businesses, Residents, and Culture in the Face of Ongoing Redevelopment
Host: 1882 Foundation
Tour DC’s Chinatown and engage in conversation with community members on how the neighborhood’s past and present can help us prepare and build a more resilient and meaningful future, including for culturally relevant small businesses. Located in the heart of Downtown, DC’s Chinatown’s has gained increased visibility as a result of recent and ongoing economic development efforts to revitalize the area at and around Capital One Arena and Gallery Place.
Maryland Suburbs, Washington, DC: Working in Coalition to Keep Small Businesses in Place Along the Purple Line Transit Corridor
Host: Purple Line Corridor Coalition
Tour the Purple Line light rail line, currently under construction, that will run through diverse Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C. Visit dense commercial corridors and burgeoning Main Streets that are working in coalition across the transit corridor to ensure small businesses benefit from new development.
Washington, DC: Black Broadway and Gentrification’s Impacts on Small Businesses in DC’s U Street/Shaw Community
Host: Sabiyha Prince, Cultural Anthropologist, Scholar, Community Organizer & Artist
Tour the U Street corridor in NW Washington, D.C. to hear from African American small business owners about gentrification’s impacts and from local advocates about their work promoting equity and opportunity for Black businesses in this historic area.
Wheaton, Maryland: Diverse Immigrant-Owned Businesses Struggling to Survive Redevelopment
Host: Latino Economic Development Center
Tour one of the most diverse communities in Montgomery County and hear from business, county, and community leaders about the challenges many immigrant-owned small businesses face amid ongoing redevelopment. Located on the Red Line Metro and the focus of county-led redevelopment efforts, Wheaton demonstrates how county and community leaders worked together to advocate for vital protections for small businesses, including the county’s Small Business Impact Fund.