Five new Black-owned businesses were welcomed into downtown on Friday, the latest group in an initiative by the Downtown Partnership of Baltimore to reinvigorate the city’s struggling central business district.

The announcement comes as some fear that such programs will cease to exist as the Trump administration seeks to stomp out diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.

Kaizen Beauty, Diva by Cindy, Tribe Social Cafe, Byrd’s Eye View and Making Art Matter will move into storefronts on West Lexington Street, West Baltimore Street and East Redwood Street. Kaizen Beauty and Byrd’s Eye View will move into the storefronts on North Charles Street once renovations are complete.

“Baltimore has always been known for its charm and creative spirit, and we are committed to contributing to that legacy by giving people a reason to come together and a reason to come back,” said Deja Richardson, owner of Making Art Matter, an abstract art experience business.

The businesses, which were announced as the next cohort of BOOST (Black Owned and Operated Storefront Tenancy), will each receive $100,000 in grant funding and business support and open their doors as early as September.

The decline of the city’s downtown accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic as storefront vacancies plagued sections of the district. The program helps Black-owned businesses move into more permanent, and sometimes bigger, locations while helping fill and revitalize vacant storefronts.

“We live in a city that’s 61% Black, yet that isn’t always represented and hasn’t always shown up in our commercial corridors,” said Germaine Prince, the commercial revitalization manager at the Downtown Partnership.

Last year, seven Black-owned businesses secured funding, support and a two-year tenancy in the soon-to-be-demolished Inner Harbor shopping center, in partnership with Harborplace owner MCB Real Estate. And BOOST participants Ellen Odoi and Yvette Pappoe of Décorelle, a luxury interior design firm, opened their first brick-and-mortar location, the dede. shop, in September.

In 2023, the second cohort of five Black-owned businesses moved into storefronts on the once-vibrant shopping blocks on Howard Street and Charles Street in downtown.

James Mitchell, also known as Byrd, said participating in the initiative “kept my hope alive.” Byrd’s Eye View is a media production studio, school and incubator located in a warehouse in East Baltimore. It will move into downtown in the fall.

Ashleigh Johnson, who started Kaizen Beauty in her home, is expanding her mobile nail business into a brick-and-mortar location this year.

“Looking ahead, I’m most excited about creating a space where beauty meets purpose, a space where clients feel seen and celebrated, where new professionals are trained and uplifted and where community and culture are at the center of it all,” Johnson said.

Shelonda Stokes, president of the Downtown Partnership, said BOOST will move forward with or without support from the federal government. She and others in Baltimore and Maryland are doubling down on supporting Black- and brown-owned businesses.

“Let’s be really clear — in the city of Baltimore, we value Black excellence and Black-owned businesses,” Baltimore City Council President Zeke Cohen said. “It does not matter one iota to me or to Mayor Brandon Scott what someone on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C., thinks about it, because we know that, no matter the chaos that comes from Washington, Baltimore is winning.”