Establishing a Community Development Corporation (CDC) was an objective of the ‘Everyone In’ Economic Inclusion Initiative and an undertaking of a core group of community partners: Long Beach City Councilmember Rex Richardson, the ‘Everyone In’ Implementation Committee, Long Beach Community Action Partnership, Wells Fargo, and the City of Long Beach. In June 2019, the Long Beach City Council unanimously approved the ‘Everyone In’ Implementation Plan, a comprehensive outline of five key recommendations that would help expand access to economic opportunity in the areas of Small Business and Diverse Entrepreneurship, Procurement, Workforce and Youth Development, Connectedness (Economic Resiliency), Housing and Homeownership. The recommendation to support the establishment of a CDC that facilitates economic development at the neighborhood-level was included in this package of economic inclusion recommendations. Following its approval, Wells Fargo awarded Long Beach Community Action Partnership, our fiscal sponsor, $115,000 in grant funding to support the CDC’s startup process.
In June 2019, the Long Beach City Council unanimously approved the ‘Everyone In’ Implementation Plan, a comprehensive outline of five key recommendations that would help expand access to economic opportunity in the areas of Small Business and Diverse Entrepreneurship, Procurement, Workforce and Youth Development, Connectedness (Economic Resiliency), and Housing and Homeownership. Supporting the establishment of a community development corporation was included in this Plan, as various community partners have joined together to begin this process. Both the City of Long Beach and Wells Fargo have supported this effort to form a citywide CDC that facilitates economic development at the neighborhood-level.