SBAN Awards Grants to Study Community Ownership
SBAN has awarded grants to six organizations to conduct case studies of their community ownership efforts in Los Angeles, Miami-Ft. Lauderdale, Minneapolis, New York City, Philadelphia, and San Francisco. Over the next year, these organizations will work with SBAN to document how they are supporting small businesses in gentrifying neighborhoods through community control of commercial assets, land, and enterprises.
Photo: Clients of The Miami Foundation’s Collective Real Estate Ownership (CREO) fund.
Grant Awardees:
- Little Tokyo Community Impact Fund, Los Angeles, California
- Mangrove Community Wealth, Brooklyn, New York
- The Miami Foundation, Miami-Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
- Mission Economic Development Agency, San Francisco-Oakland, California
- Partnership in Property Commercial Land Trust, Minneapolis, Minnesota
- Women’s Opportunities Resource Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Case studies will examine a community impact fund to purchase affordable commercial space, a food incubator with below-market-rate vending space and profit-sharing rent models, a loan fund to help small businesses collectively purchase property, programs to preserve commercial space for legacy and immigrant businesses, a commercial land trust, and a community development financial institution (CDFI) loan fund to aid microbusinesses in purchasing their storefronts. Read more about awardee case studies.
Awardees receive $15,000 and the opportunity to learn from other case study teams, receive consultant support from SBAN experts, and share lessons with stakeholders in and beyond their metro area. They will also present at the 2024 SBAN Summit on Community Ownership and other SBAN events. SBAN will publish the case studies in 2025.
Mission Economic Development Agency and Partnership in Property Commercial Land Trust were awarded additional grants to host site visits for SBAN members, staff, and leaders in the coming year. These participatory workshops offer a first-hand look at how organizations are working with small businesses and residents on community ownership efforts.
