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They’re
JAM-min’
in Hamden
Neighborhood development group spawns retail ventures
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Business New Haven
10/19/1998
By: BNH
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The non-profit Highville Mustard Seed Development Corp. is moving into the for-profit sector with its Highville Mustard Seed Corp. and two retail projects which should kick off by early 1999.
According to HMSDC Executive Director Lyndon Pitter, plans are in the works for a Jamaican cafe and an electronics store.
The corporation will be under the auspices of the non-profit group. Pitter says that “The proceeds from the for-profit ventures will support the development corporation's initiatives.”
The HMSDC's first initiative, the Highville Charter School, opened in September with 155 students and is “doing extremely well so far,” Pitter says.
Of the retail ventures, Pitter says a market analysis conducted earlier this year showed area residents wanted these types of businesses in the area.
The eatery will be called Cafe JAM and feature Blue Mountain Peak Coffee, “the best coffee in the world which comes from Jamaica,” according to Pitter.
It will also feature entertainment and house an art gallery, craft and gift shop and bookstore, Pitter says.
“The gallery will feature art from the students at the charter school and the gift shop will handle works of local artists and craftsmen, too,” says Pitter.
The Mustard Seed Computer & Wireless Service outlet will sell computers, pagers and cellular phones.
Pitter says the projects already have financial commitments from banks and represent just two of the ventures the group hopes to spawn as part of its overall plan to revitalize the Highwood/Newhallville sections of Hamden and New Haven.
JAM, short for Jamaican-American Movement of Greater New Haven, was to celebrate its founding at the Holiday Inn on Whalley Avenue on October 17.
“We're also celebrating the life of Marcus Mosih Garvey, a Jamaican who came to America in 1906 and started the United Negro Association, one of the first African-American movements in the U.S. that promoted black enterprises,” Pitter says.
According to Pitter, there are significant Jamaican-American populations in New Haven, North Haven, West Haven and Hamden.
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