InTucker Magazine

Business Boom – October 2020

Tucker is undoubtedly one of the fastest-rising business destinations in the Metro Atlanta area.  Each month, the Business Boom will seek to show different examples of how Tucker’s business scene is flourishing.

Over the last two months, the city of Tucker has continued its Mask Movement campaign with distribution of free masks to the public, as well as ensuring a range of businesses have boxes of masks for employees and customers. We were pleasantly surprised to have over 4,000 masks requested by citizens online and by phone and then have them arrive in their mailbox. At the same time, the City’s Business Outreach Coordinator Angela Brooks was visiting a range of establishments across the City and delivering over 15,000 masks.

“The silver lining is that I have been able to connect with and hear from our local businesses in this difficult time, as well as share city news,” Brooks said. “In particular, the restaurants and salons really appreciated the City posters on mask wearing. The conversations also gave me the opportunity to share the new location of City Hall at Lakeside Center and explain how the City is continuing to provide services, just primarily digitally.”

What we did hear from our busines community is stories of declined revenue, the additional cost of adding safety measures, trying to stay afloat with reduced operations, wanting to try to keep their staff employed and use of federal assistance programs to fill the gap. We also heard about the gratitude for a loyal customer base in Tucker. Luis Finley, an owner of Local 7 on Main Street shared that the City’s Mask Movement program was a success for them.

“The City poster was very helpful, and it was good to have additional masks on hand to share with patrons that needed them. We’re serious about protecting our employees and our customers,” Finley said.

Nhanh Nguyen of New Nails nail salon off Montreal Road really appreciated the City poster and masks.

“Health is so important,” Nguyen shared. “We appreciate the City supporting mask usage so that we can all be well.”

Devon Palermo, manager of Shorty’s Pizza off Lawrenceville Highway relayed, “It was always helpful to have masks available to share and the posters drove the point home that the Mask Movement just makes sense.”

Tim Allen, owner of Brockett Square Barbershop off Lawrenceville Highway was also a fan of the mask program.

“Tucker responded promptly to this crisis and without my asking,” Allen said. “I’m grateful to work in a city that appreciates their small businesses and values my customers’ safety.”

An exciting recent development for the City is that it has received $4.1 million in CARES Act funding from DeKalb County that it will be distributing to local social programs, and half of which will go to small business grants. Please visit the City’s website for more information on this critical program and contact Angela Brooks at abrooks@tuckerga.gov with any questions.