- by Michael R. Hicks
Webmaster, narrowthegap.org

""100 Church Challenge". What If we got 100 Black Churches to donate $1,000 toward opening a new business? That would be $100,000 of start up money. We need Unity not a Walmart in West Louisville. Time to Do For Self and Stop begging others." - Minister Jerald Muhammad, Student Minister, NOI Louisville Mosque

Let's start asking a different set of questions, although it's related to 18th and Broadway. This will be a future discussion on the Brothers Helping Brothers Radio Show.

On the property, the Bridgewaters still hold a sizable strip of land enough to place about multiple businesses (perhaps as many as ten or more) in a "mini-mall" setting. Note in the picture below, the yellow arrows indicate the properties The Mardrian Group (TMG - their holding and development firm) still own. As opposed to attracting tired franchises and the like, that is an opportunity for multiple small Black businesspeople to "spread their wings." Why don't we make this a new starting point in our focus on West Louisville development?

At first glance, it looks like a GREAT opportunity, think of all of the car and foot traffic drawn to the area! It looks like it could be a good spot for at least two custom restaurants, as well as some enterprising prospects for new business (brothers and sisters, do your homework on the neighborhood, demographics and what people spend their money on...narrowthegap.org will be there to help and provide resources along the way).

On Saturday February 7, St. Stephen is bringing in Dr. Boyce Watkins for the "Silver Rights" Economic Development and Education forum/workshop. I believe we should use this event as an opportunity for planning and petitioning Frank and Teresa and to start pooling some of our "twos and fews" to fund and microloan some enterprises For Us By Us (but not *that* FUBU).