WASHINGTON, NJ (Warren County) – Dozens of Washington Borough business owners and their families gathered at Hawk Point Golf Club last night for the Business Improvement District’s award ceremony and recognition dinner.
The award for business person of the year went to Owner of Empanada Mamasita, Magda Brown. “Downtown has become a family place,” explained Brown. “We work together to try to come up with ideas to become a united front. And we have. There are so many businesses in Washington that are amazing and working so hard.”
Brown’s restaurant has become known for more than her outstanding empanadas and Latin comfort food. Empanada Mamasita has become a hot spot for families to gather, eat, and she even encourages students to stop by after school to do their homework and use her wifi. Brown also works with other businesses to create fun and family friendly events downtown. “Madga really is the glue that holds all the businesses together,” said BID Executive Director, Melanie Thiel.
Also honored at the ceremony was Mike’s Auto Body. The family owned and operated repair shops have been in business for over 81 years, with locations in both Washington and Hackettstown. “It’s so good to become a staple of the community. You know, you work hard to build up a rapport with people around you and become a landmark,” said Mike Cavitch. As far as his secret to success, Cavitch replied, “We work hard to treat everybody fairly and do the right thing.”
Lots of new faces were also present at the event, including owner of Your CBD Store, Christi Radcliffe. Radcliffe says although her store as only been open for a few weeks, she already feels she is part of the Washington Borough family. “We are a large upscale manufacturer of CBD products. We have 600 stores nationwide, but we always want to have a personal touch. So putting a small store in a place like Washington was right up our alley,” added Radcliffe.
Thiel also shared some big business news. She said there are four more businesses coming to Washington by the end of February, and that’s not all. “Plus, we have the brewery coming in November. We are already planning our summer events, the farmers market, the festival in the borough, so there’s a lot going on.”
Washington Borough will also be holding a special 20’s themed Block Party on Friday, March 20th. “We’re hoping to have DJ’s, a movie night, activities for the kids to be outside, and a lot of costumes! And we’re going to do a costume contest for the customer’s that come in.”
For more information on what’s going on in Washington, visit the Washington BID’s website or Businesses of Washington Borough on Facebook.
