When Candy Mashmoor first came to America from Brazil, she was cleaning houses and struggling to make ends meet.
Now, the entrepreneur will bring her thriving textile business — and 50 new jobs — to a factory that has sat vacant for years on Cleveland’s East Side.
"Now this is a way for us to pay back to the beauty, to everything about this country provided to myself and my family," Mashmoor said.
The renovated space at 1030 East 62nd St. in Cleveland's St. Clair Superior neighborhood will house additional warehouse and showroom space for YaYa & Co. Mashmoor founded the company in 2019 and currently operates out of Asiatown. She has worked with retailers including Costco, Walmart and Home Depot.
The more-than-century-old, 68,000-square-foot industrial complex includes three linked buildings that once served as the American Gas Association Appliance Testing Laboratory. Council Member Anthony Hairston, whose Ward 10 includes the building site, said he has been "searching for somebody for quite some time" to take over the long-vacant building.
"What you see is what you get: a very high energy, very committed and very dedicated person to not only her business but also the community," Hairston told his city council colleagues on Monday. "She's looking to turn this very, very old and abandoned property into something magnificent for the community to enjoy."
In addition to housing YaYa & Co., redevelopment plans include a light manufacturing space for tenant Humongous Fan.
Most notably, Mashmoor said, the main building will be transformed into a co-working and classroom space focused on minority women entrepreneurs like herself.
"This is truly a project of love," Mashmoor said.
Women coming into the space can utilize a drop-in daycare, while also taking classes to learn about home design, photography and other creative skills.
Mashmoor said she will also work with local high schools to provide paid internships and teach students how to develop businesses and social media campaigns.
On Monday, council approved a $600,000 loan, roughly half of which will be forgiven if Mashmoor meets her goal to create 50 jobs by the end of a five-year period as part of the city's Vacant Property Initiative. Council also greenlit a 30-year, non-school tax increment financing agreement for the project, which will funnel increases in property taxes from improvements back into the project.
"It's encouraging to see someone willing to step up to the plate and take over a site such as this and make meaningful investment and create job opportunities for residents and hopefully have a greater impact than on an entire community," said Councilmember Mike Polensek.
