Community-Based Economic Development

Continuing down the path towards Sustainable September, we now focus on the currently pertinent subject of achieving a healthier and more sustainable local economy. Much like our approach to healthcare, Community-Minded Enterprises, through various collaborations and partnerships, seeks to strengthen the area’s economy via the cultivation of the inherent potential in our community. Embracing standards based upon equity, cooperation and ecological well-being, CME’s Community-Based Economic Development Initiative is working to nurture local economic sustainability by embracing and supporting the diversity of entrepreneurs and small business owners throughout the Spokane area. With initiatives and programs promoting job creation for the underrepresented, small business development, or the newly minted Green Jobs Inclusion Initiative, CME’s community-based grassroots approach serves to lift up every member of the community. Regarding our city’s current economic landscape, the statistics alone make for a chilling read. As of 2007, there was an average of two job seekers for every job posted. Today, the numbers read a staggering eight job applicants per job posted. If you include the unemployed who have given up on a job search, the unemployment figure reads close to 5 to 7 percent higher than the already mountainous 10 percent. Beyond a doubt, the situation is dire; but out of difficult times, new opportunities are born. In his book, The Dismal Science: How Thinking Like an Economist Undermines Community, Harvard economist Stephen A. Marglin speaks of the modern individual, whose isolated existence is gauged by how much they can afford to consume. While not dismissing the many benefits that have been attained by our current economic system, Marglin writes that the efficient, single-pointed purpose of the market economy has in many ways muted the reciprocity and feelings of connectedness that had at one time been found in community. In the search for solutions to our current economic upheaval, we must look no further than to our neighbors. By rediscovering the economic potential of our citizens and their natural associations, we will better be able to achieve a truly sustainable community – one that revolves around the interconnectedness of society, economy and the environment. A community-based economic model looks not only at short-term monetary outcomes – rather, it follows integrative standards which address social, economic, cultural, and ecological dimensions of community well-being. The community-based, grassroots approach utilized by CBED supports local businesses and encourages entrepreneurs to meet community needs. Because CBED works to engage key stakeholders in the business and minority communities, the resulting outcome is a far more resilient, diverse and robust contribution to the local economy. The 2005 Department of Economic Development Purchasing Patterns Survey, states that, “Small independent businesses play a key role in strengthening neighborhoods by bringing new shopping and employment opportunities into a city’s neighborhood business districts. In addition, these locally owned businesses typically return three to four times as much to a local economy as nationally based businesses.” Through the revaluing and cultivation of our diverse population, the community-based economic model works to regain and revitalize social capital. Along with the economic benefit of bringing a wider variety of skills and talents to the table, CBED encourages the active participation of marginalized citizens into the public life of the community. Projects such as AHANA and the Green Jobs Inclusion Initiative provide business and employment opportunities for underrepresented people in the Spokane area. Providing what Project Coordinator Ray White described as “true, community-based, economic development,” the Green Jobs Inclusion Initiative helps employers find qualified applicants for high-demand, green jobs. The program creates opportunities for those who are typically disadvantaged and underrepresented in the community. With the unemployment rate for individuals with disabilities hovering between 60-80%, this recruitment-based program is an opportunity to utilize a valuable and untapped resource, along with a chance to promote the burgeoning green economy. The Inland Northwest’s leading minority and small business development organization, AHANA, has been facilitating small business development in the Spokane area since 1999. Ben Cabildo created AHANA to assist minorities with the start up of businesses and to help existing businesses grow by providing comprehensive, individualized business development and counseling services. While small businesses make up a significant percentage of our economy, there is little support to be found for their creation and maintenance. Having assisted thousands of entrepreneurs with technical support and educational training, Cabildo explained the centrality of his work: “For minorities to have a sense of belonging, to engage and to contribute to the economic development of the community, there must be agencies and organizations which understand and address their needs.” Cabildo provides targeted business counseling to entrepreneurs and teaches business development classes for those seeking to start small businesses. Exploration sessions are held to assess the feasibility of both the entrepreneur’s capacity and skills, as well as the viability of their business idea. The classes also include marketing strategies, financing, as well as rainmaking sessions, which address contracting with government and private companies. Poet and novelist Wendell Berry sums up the primacy of nurturing a healthy, sustainable local economy: “we must support what supports local life, which means community, family, household life.” Through initiatives and programs which focus on fostering the inclusion and participation of all sectors of society, CME is working to nurture a truly sustainable, community-based economy. By seeking to meet and support the unique needs and talents of Spokane’s diverse citizenry, we are striving to create a vibrant, more resilient community. Through initiatives which provide for such services as small business support and job creation, we hope to foster a healthier economy – one which restores the economy to its original status as an arrangement to fulfill the hopes and dreams of the people.