DURHAM, N.C. (WTVD) — Small business owners along Durham’s historic Fayetteville Street corridor are welcoming the return of a city program designed to help them grow, improve their properties and preserve a key part of the city’s Black business community.

The City of Durham has relaunched its Bounce Back program, a 12-month initiative offering small businesses technical assistance, branding support, workshops and grants of up to $10,000 for physical improvements.

For Andre Johnson, owner of AJ’s Barbershop, any help is appreciated.

For nearly 20 years, NCCU students and neighborhood residents have visited the Fayetteville Street shop for haircuts. Johnson said maintaining the building, which has stood for more than 50 years, can be costly.

“When you’re getting help, you just appreciate what you can get,” Johnson said.

Johnson said preserving the corridor is important because of its role in Durham’s Black business community.

“This is the last Black-owned, property-owned, business-owned area in the city of Durham,” Johnson said. “It would be good to save it.”

Angelica Greene, owner of Angel World of Flowers, has seen the impact of the program firsthand. She previously received funding through Bounce Back and used it to upgrade the cooler that stores her floral inventory.

Greene said additional funding could help her address other maintenance needs.

“We could definitely use ceiling tiles. We had a leak in the ceiling, and you can see the discoloration,” Greene said. “Also, light fixtures. If we could get LED fixtures that use less power.”

Still, Greene said she would like to see more investment in the Fayetteville Street corridor.

“Just across the bridge, you see high-rise buildings and so much money being poured into downtown Durham,” Greene said. “If we could spread the money, spread the love, spread the aesthetics.”

A few blocks away, Chicken Hut has been serving fried chicken and soul food to customers for nearly seven decades.

Co-owner Tre Tapp said rising operating costs continue to challenge small businesses.

“For small businesses, it can be tough times for us with high gas costs and food costs,” Tapp said.

Even so, he said relatively small investments can have a meaningful impact.

“Any upgrades, any improvements to the business, to the land or anything can be appealing to new and old customers,” Tapp said.

City leaders say the Bounce Back program is intended to support entrepreneurship, strengthen existing businesses and help preserve the historic Fayetteville Street corridor.

For business owners like Johnson, the program represents an opportunity to invest in businesses that have long served the community and help ensure they remain part of Durham’s future.

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