It’s been a hard year for small businesses in Orlando that have had to weather the impact of months-long construction projects in areas like the Milk District, east of downtown, and the Ivanhoe Village district.
The Hammered Lamb, a LGBTQ-friendly restaurant and bar in Ivanhoe, recently shuttered after a tough year of business. Last year, the Lamb was hit with a false accusation of failing a state health inspection, published by the Orlando Sentinel after collecting inaccurate information from the state.
They also reportedly suffered losses from a sewer project along Orange Ave that reduced available parking for visitors and made a stretch of local businesses — including the Lamb — more difficult for people to frequent.
“We’ve done so much here the last 12 years, but I feel like I failed,” Hammered Lamb owner Jason Lambert told Orlando Weekly at the Lamb’s last hurrah earlier this month. In addition to the Lamb, Lambert also saw the closing of Jack & Honey’s, a comparatively up-and-coming restaurant in Thornton Park, last year.
“But then, the city failed us too,” Lambert continued. “For a whole entire year the street [outside Lamb] was shut down, and I reached out to so many elected officials and I got crickets. I feel like the city should have done a better job of managing it and putting it together.”
For at least two local Democrats in state office, the announced closure of Hammered Lamb and news of construction-related disruptions affecting other businesses over the last 18 months has been a wake-up call.
State Rep. Anna Eskamani and Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith, both Democrats representing parts of Orlando, filed legislation (HB 215/SB 324) for consideration by the Florida Legislature that would create a state grant program for small businesses negatively affected by local or state government construction projects, if approved.
Eskamani’s bill, HB 215, was filed just one day before Hammered Lamb’s final hurrah on Jan. 25.
Under the proposal, businesses eligible for assistance would include small businesses of up to 50 employees “whose primary access points are obstructed by state or local government construction activities directly adjacent to or in front of the business”.
Lambert, who is named as a supporter of the proposal in a news release, did not respond to a request for comment for this story.
The proposed program, to be overseen by the Florida Department of Commerce, would offer forms of financial assistance that include financial grants of up to $25,000 per construction phase for demonstrable loss, defined as “a verifiable reduction in revenue, property damage, or increased operational costs directly attributed to state or local government construction activities.”
Another form of assistance the program would offer: low-interest loans of up to $100,000 for the operational costs of eligible applicants during construction disruptions. Interest rates would not exceed 3 percent per year, under the proposal. The program would be funded through an existing Florida Job Growth Grant Fund.
“While infrastructure improvements are essential for Florida’s growth, the unintended consequences on small businesses cannot be ignored,” Rep. Eskamani, who recently announced a 2027 run for Orlando mayor, shared in a statement.
“The Business Disruption Assistance Act ensures that our local businesses, the backbone of Florida’s economy, are supported during these challenging periods. By providing direct relief and fostering better communication, we can strike a balance between progress and prosperity,” she said.
The proposal was filed for consideration by state lawmakers during the regular 60-day state legislative session that begins March 4. Although Eskamani and Guillermo-Smith — both progressives — face a tough crowd in a GOP-controlled state Legislature, the legislation itself is business-friendly, which should ostensibly appeal to their similarly business-friendly colleagues.
A spokesperson for the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association, a statewide lobbying group representing more than 10,000 business owners in Florida’s hospitality and tourism industry, told Orlando Weekly in an email that while they hadn’t yet fully reviewed the legislative proposal, they recognize that providing support for small businesses affected by construction is “certainly a worthy issue to consider.”
Mary McGinn, co-owner of The Nook — an artsy tavern serving craft beer and wine in Orlando’s Milk District — for her part, is grateful for the proposal. “I think it’s super exciting, and I’m hopeful that they could pass it,” McGinn told Orlando Weekly in a phone call.
The Nook, and neighboring small businesses along Robinson Street, have similarly suffered construction-related woes as a result of road projects over the last year.
“We need utilities and roads and things like that, but it absolutely can be extremely harmful to small businesses if there’s no aid allocated to offset what those upgrades like, how they’ll impact us,” McGinn shared.
The Nook, run by co-owners McGinn and Matt Duke, first soft-launched in 2018, and has seen an increase in revenue year after year since, McGinn said.
At least, that’s until a federal road construction project along Robinson Street started last April, with little notice provided to impacted businesses along the construction route — and thereby customers — prior to.
“We found out a couple of days before the project started, and they just slipped a piece of paper under our door,” McGinn explained. “If we had more notice, we could have communicated to our customers that, hey, even though there’s a big sign that says ‘No through traffic,’ you can still come and patronize our businesses.”
McGinn readily admitted that parking along Robinson has always been a bit tight. This construction project, and temporary road closures, made it worse. “It definitely affected people’s ability to get to us and people’s ability to park,” she said.
Under Eskamani and Guillermo-Smith’s proposal, the state Department of Commerce would be required to set up a hotline for the proposed Construction Disruption Assistance program, to offer information about available financial assistance for small businesses impacted by construction.
The department would also be required to come up with a public awareness and marketing campaign, in collaboration with chambers of commerce and other business groups, to help ensure that business owners are aware the program exists.
McGinn admitted that something like a hotline would have been helpful for them, even just to get more information about the construction project along Robinson itself.
As it was, she said it felt like they experienced a confusing back-and-forth between the Florida Department of Transportation and the Orlando Utilities Commission as they sought to gather more information about what was going on, or what kind of assistance was even available. “We had a hard time figuring out who to even talk to,” McGinn said.
“It hurt us for a good six months, probably,” she admitted. “But, you know, we’re just gonna keep on trekking.”
Allex Englett, executive director of the Ivanhoe Village Main Street District, told Orlando Weekly in a statement that their nonprofit — dedicated to supporting their commercial district — similarly supports any effort to support small businesses affected by construction disruptions.
“Small businesses are the heart of our community, and we gratefully welcome solutions that help them navigate construction challenges and offer the opportunity for businesses to continue to thrive.”
In order to pass, the bill would need to be approved by legislative committees, as well as a majority of legislators in both the Florida House and Senate. If the bill is passed by both chambers, and signed into law by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, the law would take effect July 1, 2025.
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This article appears in Jan 29 – Feb 4, 2025.