By: Fiona Flowers
Capital News Service
TEMPLE HILLS–Three years ago, Jennifer Ramos and her husband, Alex Aguilar, began selling handmade tamales from a stand off the side of the road in Temple Hills, an area in Prince George’s County. The tamales were such a hit that business boomed and early last year, the couple transitioned to a food truck. Now, in just a few months, they’re preparing to open La Patrona, a Mexican carry-out restaurant and market.
“We started dreaming up a more expanded menu of authentic Mexican eats,” said Ramos, adding that the couple wants to emulate the iconic “street foods that you find in Mexico City… we want to be like a market for it, in one place, in one lot.”
The quick rise from a road-side table to restaurant was made possible partly by a microgrant from a program called Business Boost, operated by the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD). Business Boost provides awards between $20,000 and $50,000 to support small businesses in designated “sustainable communities,” which are older communities where the state wants to promote growth in ways that are environmentally, economically and socially responsible.
Launched in 2024, the program was designed to address a financing gap for small businesses that had outgrown home-based operations but lacked the means to expand. According to the DCHD, traditional lending does not accommodate smaller capital needs including lease deposits, equipment purchases or minor build-outs. This leaves viable businesses unable to expand, a problem that DCHD was trying to address.
“Small businesses are the engine that drives our economy,” said Allison Foster, director of public affairs at DHCD. “Without this early support, otherwise viable businesses can stall before they have the opportunity to generate revenue or create jobs.”
Foster said Business Boost has funded 63 businesses since its inception.
However, the future of the program remains uncertain. It was not included in the Maryland state budget for the 2027 fiscal year, signed by Governor Wes Moore on April 8. “It may be revived in coming years based upon assessment of needs,” Foster said. “The Department is in the process of repositioning its limited capital budget resources toward other initiatives through its Division of Business Development.”
Anirban Basu, an economist and founder of the Baltimore-based Sage Policy Group, noted that many localities across the U.S. are using state-funded programs to bolster entrepreneurship and increase the tax base. But the approach typically leaves mixed results. “It’s a risky proposition since many of these companies will fail,” Basu said. “However, when success occurs, it is a beautiful thing to behold.”
In Charles County, sisters Emily and Shannon Burke are preparing to move their holistic wellness spa from a 1,600-square-foot space in a strip mall into a 3,200-square-foot space in a historic building on Main Street in La Plata.
The pair launched Sublime Soul in 2021, but is rebranding as Blue Rose Wellness. “The name change was necessary,” said Emily Burke. “We wanted something that sounded more established and clinical to match the level of technology we were bringing in. Sublime Soul felt like a boutique; Blue Rose Wellness feels like a center.”
The sisters had received an initial grant through the Charles County Business Growth Advantage program. This fueled their desire for commercial expansion, but they needed more funding for equipment. Burke submitted an application for the Business Boost program in 2024 at the recommendation of representatives from the Charles County Economic Development Department.
“They actually had to recommend us,” said Burke. “Once we were awarded it from the state, the economic department at the county had to say ‘Yeah, this is a business that operates in our county, and we recommend you give it to them.’ And they were awesome about that.”
Eligible applicants had to be in good financial and legal standing, collect an annual revenue between $50,000 and $1 million, employ between two and 50 full-time employees and demonstrate an ability to match their own financial contribution to the amount they receive.
Business Boost selected the sisters to receive the maximum grant amount. With funding from Business Boost and Charles County, along with the sisters’ matching contribution, they were able to purchase roughly $200,000 in equipment, including a 1,600-pound sensory deprivation float tank and a medical-grade red light therapy bed.
“The grant is directly responsible for us being able to pull the trigger on that equipment,” Burke said. “It is definitely what I would say jump-started us.” The sisters expect the transition into their new space to drive revenue and increase foot traffic once their doors open later in May.
The funding will enable the business to increase its staff, one of the goals of the Business Boost program. Before the expansion, the sisters operated with one employee who worked two days a week. Their new team includes four employees; store manager, an executive assistant, a media specialist and a sales associate.
For La Patrona, the grant addressed the high cost of entering the restaurant business. In addition to real estate and construction costs, restaurants in Maryland must install commercial grease traps, which prevent oil and grease from entering the sewer system.
Ramos said the cost of a grease trap alone was $30,000, a sum her business could not have covered while also managing lease obligations and construction costs. “The grant was game changing,” she said. “Instead of just thinking about a second food truck, it gave us the ability to dream bigger and start a real restaurant.”
The Business Boost initiative relies on both direct outreach and digital marketing. Ramos said she did not find the program on her own. Instead, a program representative visited her food truck, recognized the business’s growth potential and encouraged her to apply.
Ramos submitted her application in the spring of 2024. She said it took roughly six months to hear back that she had been selected and was wired the funding in bulk in spring 2025.
The restaurant is expected to open in this month. La Patrona has already hired two outside employees, and the new storefront will serve as a centralized market with an expanded menu of Mexican street foods.
Meanwhile, the food truck continues to operate in the lot of the future restaurant. “We didn’t even think about brick and mortar before,” said Ramos. “Now that we see what’s possible and we know we can do it, we’re definitely thinking about expanding, maybe into DC.”
