The $200,000 grant to Ace Healthy Products was the largest grant to a for-profit business from $7.6 million the city allocated in American Rescue Plan funds to support minority-owned businesses.
The city also recently notified the owner of the Chicken Spot LLC that it is terminating its grant agreement and demanding some of the grant money back.
Chef Anthony Head, who owns Chicken Spot LLC, told the Dayton Daily News in May 2022 when he was awarded $178,100 from the city he would open a new restaurant on North Main Street within months. He has since opened and closed another restaurant in Kettering but has completed little visible work on the Dayton location.
The combined value of these grants — about $553,000 — account for a small share of the $138 million Dayton received in ARPA funds, which the city is using to fund a large number and wide variety of investments and projects.
“Nearly all projects are moving forward at this time,” said LaShea Lofton, Dayton’s deputy city manager. “If a project is no longer viable or is unable to perform, the city expects to reclaim or redistribute the funds to existing projects meeting or exceeding project goals.”
But the grant award selection process was competitive, and some groups who sought city funding but did not receive it were disappointed that their projects were not picked.
The city received about 92 applications from community groups and local businesses for projects asking for grant money to address community needs, and less than half of those requests were recommended for potential awards.
Chicken Spot
On Feb. 25, an attorney with Dinsmore & Shohl sent a letter to chef Anthony Head that says the city of Dayton is going to terminate its Dayton Recovery Plan agreement with the Chicken Spot LLC in 30 days.
Head, who has been called the “People’s Chef” and the “Gem City Chef,” proposed to use the grant funds to renovate the vacant Quincy’s restaurant at 865 N. Main St. into a new restaurant called Chicken Head’s.
The Dayton City Commission in early 2023 approved a grant agreement to provide Head and the Chicken Spot with $178,100, including nearly $128,000 upfront, city documents state.
The city said Head planned to use the funding for site preparation, interior work and facade and parking lot improvements.
City documents also state grant dollars would be used to acquire 883 N. Main St. and buy and demolish a residential property at 875 N. Main St. Head proposed to tear down the adjacent structure to create space for a drive-thru.
Montgomery County Auditor’s Office records show Head bought the Quincy’s property for $330,000 in late 2021 and paid $60,000 for the adjacent home in early 2023.
Dinsmore & Shohl, the city of Dayton’s legal counsel, said in its Feb. 25 letter that Head had not responded to prior correspondence requesting documentation for how Chicken Spot had spent $48,000 of its grant dollars.
The letter says the city is terminating the agreement and demands repayment by March 25 of funds that have not been accounted for.
“Please note that the city could pursue the entirely of the $127,980 distributed to recipient but is willing to accept a lesser amount in good faith,” says the letter signed by attorney Russell Knowles. “If the funding is not returned by 5 p.m. on March 28, the city may pursue any remedies available at law or equity.”
Under this and other Dayton Recovery Plan grant agreements, the city says it has the right to repossess, claim or retrieve real estate, equipment, inventory or assets associated with city funds if the agreements are terminated.
‘Too damn slow’
Head recently told the Dayton Daily News he is still working hard to open Chicken Head’s and the project is making progress. He said he hopes the restaurant could be up and running soon, possibly within three to six months.
Head said he still expects the investment in Chicken Head’s will be around $1.2 million, though the full build-out of the business will happen in phases instead of all at once. He said for example the drive-thru will not be completed right away.
Head used to operate a business called the Chicken Spot out of a building on West Siebenthaler Avenue in northwest Dayton, but that closed in February 2021 after a legal fight with Head’s former business partner.
The following year he opened a Chicken Head’s “ghost kitchen” in a space on East Dorothy Lane in Kettering, which closed in February. Head said he closed the ghost kitchen to focus renovating the Quincy’s building.
Head said the Chicken Head’s project hasn’t made more progress in large part because the permitting process and plan approvals have been very slow and he has not received technical assistance he hoped the city would provide.
“It’s been too damn slow,” he said.
He said the city’s grant funding was a small fraction of the overall project cost, but the city’s support and approvals are important for obtaining the rest of the financing he needs and has been working to secure.
Head said he’s put a lot of his own money and retirement savings into this project.
“I’ve cashed out my 401(k), my teacher’s salary, my retirement and everything, and spent a half million dollars of my personal money,” he said, adding that the city’s support is more important than the grant money it provided.
The Dayton Daily News previously reported that, with the city’s ARPA grant, Head received more than $1 million in grants and loans through state and federal COVID relief programs.
Small business funding
Chicken Spot was one of about 10 companies and groups that were awarded roughly $3.1 million from the city through the Dayton Recovery Plan under a category of grants called small business assistance.
Small business assistance was one component of the city’s plan to “support Black and brown businesses.”
City documents show the city also retracted funding to two other projects that were awarded small business assistance grants.
The city planned to give $200,000 to Ace Healthy Products (aka the John Watson Vaccine Plan) to support a mobile vaccine clinic that promotes vaccines among the minority community.
Anthony Watson, a registered nurse, was in charge of the project, which was supposed to help improve the health of underserved community members.
Although the John Watson Vaccine Plan was awarded funding, no final contract was prepared or executed to disburse the funding, said Lofton, Dayton’s deputy city manager.
Lofton said the city rescinded the award. The Dayton Daily News attempted to contact Watson but did not receive a response.
Lofton also said the city retracted a $82,400 grant that was awarded to JM Enterprise in May 2023.
The grant was supposed to help Third Perk Coffeehouse and Winebar at 146 E. Third St. expand its operations and offerings and assist JM Enterprise with the creation and opening of a new business called Soul Food Carryout at 3907 W. Third St., city documents state.
Credit: Tom Gilliam
Credit: Tom Gilliam
Owner Juanita-Michelle Darden originally opened Third Perk Coffeehouse at 46 Fifth St. in 2015 but she relocated the shop to 146 E. Third St. about five years later.
City documents say grant funds would help build a commercial kitchen and cover expenses like landscaping, new interior and exterior seating and accessories for both locations.
However, the Third Street coffee shop closed in late 2023.
In a December 2023 letter, Dinsmore & Shohl told Darden and JM Enterprise that the city was going to terminate its Dayton Recovery Plan agreement in early 2024.
The letter says due to Third Perk’s closure the city “does not see a viable path to continue with this project.” JM Enterprise was not issued any grant dollars.
Although the coffee shop shut down, Soul Food Carryout opened this year in the former space of Quincy’s and Randy’s Chicken and Waffles on West Third Street.
Darden did not return a request for comment.
Bike Miami Valley
Bike Miami Valley was awarded a $100,000 grant from the city under a bucket of funding called “aiding community and small business recovery.”
The city approved about $7 million in funding for projects in this focus area. As of late January, the city had awarded $6.4 million in funding through 16 contracts, according to information shared during a finance committee briefing last month.
The grant funding was supposed to help Bike Miami Valley expand the LINK: Dayton Bike Share program in West Dayton, Abbie Patel-Jones, Dayton’s director of management and budget, said in early February.
The expansion project was supposed to include adding three new bike hubs in that area, she said.
However, Bike Miami Valley last summer announced it was shutting down its bike share program after nine years in operation, citing financial challenges.
City staff sent a letter to Bike Miami Valley in June of last year that says the city is officially terminating its Dayton Recovery Plan agreement.
“We are terribly sorry to hear about the difficulties your organization has had to face over the last year,” says the letter from Erin Ritter, Dayton’s human services manager. “Based on prior conversations between recipient and the city, it was decided that it would be in the best interest of both parties to terminate the agreement.”
Travis Knight, treasurer of Bike Miami Valley, told this news outlet that the nonprofit organization last year realized that it was not going to be able to fulfill the terms of the agreement and communicated that to the city.
“We did not receive that letter unexpectedly,” he said. “Someone on the city of Dayton side of things was being kept up to date on our ability to make progress on the grant. We had not received funds and had to return them or anything like that. We were partnering with the city of Dayton to do this.”
Recovery plan
The Dayton Recovery Plan is the city’s spending roadmap for its $138 million in federal COVID relief aid. City officials last month said the city as of late January had awarded 53 contracts worth more than $77 million.
“In totality, eight projects have been completed so far,” said Patel-Jones, management and budget director.
City officials say they met the federal deadline to obligate all of the funds they received by the end of 2024. The deadline to spend the funds is the end of 2026.
About the Author
