Community Economic DevelopmentCraig Scharton, Director

Downtown and Community RevitalizationCity of Fresno

My Background

• Fresno City Council-Tower District• Downtown Property Owner• Main Street Director Pleasanton/Hanford,

President California Main Street• CEO, Central Valley Business Incubator/Water

and Energy Technology (WET) Incubator• Downtown & Community Revitalization• M.S. Community Economic Development

C.E.D Definition

• The study of:

– Areas that have been bypassed by the traditional economic markets

– Efforts to improve the conditions of economically marginalized people and places.

CED History

• The history of efforts to eradicate poverty is generally a history of failed attempts– Industrial Age/Ghettos– War on Poverty– Urban Renewal– Welfare

CED Principles

• People and Place• Community-led• Measurable• Economic Improvement

Current Best Practices

• Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative• Harlem Children's Zone• Market Creek Plaza

Common CED Tools

• Community Development Corporations (CDC)• Community Development Financial

Institutions (CDFI)• Microenterprise• Financial Literacy• Individual Development Account (IDA)• Homeownership• Land Banks

Community Reinvestment Act

• Investment• Branches• Services• Loans

TED vs. Economic Gardening

• Traditional Economic Development

• Helping the Local Guys

Main Street Program

• Design• Marketing• Economic Restructuring• Organization

• Benefits of associations and networks

What We Are Doing in Lowell

• Coordinate City Departments and Focus City Resources

• Coordinate Neighborhood• Coordinate Partnering Agencies– Nonprofits– Education• CSU, Fresno, FCC, FUSD, FPU

– HA, WIB– Federal Partnership

My House

Final Exercise

• Owner or Renter?

• My Neighbor Tony