Lower Manhattan Cafes Awarded $10K To Improve Digital Presence

FINANCIAL DISTRICT, NY — Two Lower Manhattan businesses were awarded $10,000 to ramp up their online presence through a grant program led by the Alliance for Downtown New York Business Improvement District.

Two cafes, B & Co NYC and Boundless Plains, were awarded through the BID's second annual Downtown Digital Innovation Grant, the BID announced Thursday.

B & Co, a cafe and deli near City Hall at 22 Park Pl. since 1997, plans to use the $10K to upgrade its website to be mobile-friendly.

"When we started serving Lower Manhattan, our business came from walk-ins and calls," B & Co founder Robert Garber said. "It's hard for a small business like ours to adapt to new technologies. With so many people ordering lunch with a tap of their phone, this grant will allow us to build a mobile-friendly website and meet our customers where they are."

The other winner, Boundless Plains Espresso, at 19 Rector St., plans to develop an online ordering and delivery platform, create a social media strategy and train staffers to engage with new customers online.

"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," said Jo Black, who opened the cafe to bring Australia's coffee scene to Lower Manhattan inspired by her roots in Australia.

The grant program is aimed at helping small businesses align with the "digital shift" seen in consumer behavior, said BID president Jessica Lappin.

Last year, grant-awardee Martin Busch Jewelers, a 50-year old neighborhood mainstay, used the money to improve its website, Facebook and Instagram to allow for easier online shopping. The family- and women-owned business saw a 50 percent spike in web traffic, the Alliance said.

"To help relieve the burden this creates and help them prosper, we've created a digital grant program to support local shops like B & Co and Boundless Plains Espresso compete online," Lappin said.