The DowntownDC Business Improvement District (BID) welcomed 14 new Safety/Hospitality and Maintenance employees (SAMs) to its dedicated corps of red-and-black uniformed ambassadors.
Out of the more than 200 applicants, 12 completed the comprehensive training process to earn a spot at the DowntownDC BID. Applicants received training related to customer service, trash and debris removal, crime awareness and prevention, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), automated external defibrillators (AEDs), and more in sessions conducted by BID staff members as well as partners from the DC Department of Public Works, Metropolitan Police Department, DC Superior Court, Department of Employment Services and others.
This new class of Maintenance SAMs will begin engaging in the BID’s annual spring beautification push, which will include installing more than 100 hanging flower baskets throughout DowntownDC and renewing landscaping efforts along Pennsylvania Avenue (where the BID will landscape 202 planters) at Freedom Plaza (13th and Pennsylvania Ave) and in Herald Square.
DowntownDC spring cleaning will kick off with SAMs pressure-washing sidewalks, lightpole painting and surface cleaning. SAMs will also be focusing on the BID’s graffiti removal program, which has successfully reduced the number of graffiti incidents in DowntownDC. Today, the BID removes reported graffiti within 48 hours due to a conscientious zone cleaning team including one dedicated maintenance SAM who checks and removes graffiti daily.
SAMs are also donning a fresh apparel look this spring. Maintenance SAMs are now outfitted in red and black color-block moisture wicking polo shirts, red and black soft-shell jackets and more. Safety/Hospitality SAMs are outfitted with red button-down shirts with a new information logo with silk ties.
The newly-hired SAM class sported their new threads in the National Cherry Blossom Festival Parade®. They led the DowntownDC delegation which included street sweeper machines and a giant Dr. Seuss SAM I AM helium balloon. DowntownDC SAMs were also featured in the BID’s So Much More commercial during the televised broadcast of the Parade, which aired nationally on ABC 7 and locally on NewsChannel 8.
The BID continues to work closely with city partners and job development programs to offer this opportunity to local members of underserved populations.
Today, the BID employs 81 SAMs who serve as the caretakers of DowntownDC and the face of the DowntownDC BID. Approximately 67 percent of the BID’s current ambassadors are District residents.
Safety/Hospitality SAMs offer workers, visitors and residents personal assistance with directions, recommendations, safety needs and act as the eyes and ears of DowntownDC. Maintenance SAMs remove trash and recycling, graffiti, stickers, gum, log sidewalk issues and other defects and beautify the streets with fresh paint on light poles and benches. Safety/Hospitality and Maintenance ambassadors are trained to use comprehensive cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and automated external defibrillators (AEDs). All of these services are offered 362 days a year for every DowntownDC guest.