BUILDING COMMUNITY WEALTH TO TRANSFORM CLEVELAND AND CHANGE LIVES GREATER UNIVERSITY CIRCLE INITIATIVE CREATING CLEVELAND’S 21ST CENTURY COMMUNITY Create Jobs for the Underemployed Generate Wealth for Low-Income Residents Stabilize Neighborhoods

University Circle Traditional Boundary TRADITIONAL BOUNDARY

GREATER UNIVERSITY CIRCLE “New Geography of Collaboration” WADE PARK / HERITAGE LANE EASTERN HOUGH/ UPPER CHESTER EASTERN FAIRFAX BUCKEYE / SHAKER ST. LUKE’S POINT EAST CLEVELAND Cleveland Clinic VA Hospital EAST 79 th STREET CITY LINE SUPERIOR AVENUE BUCKEYE / WOODLAND LITTLE ITALY

Neighborhood Challenges Neighborhood Challenges and Indicators NEIGHBORHOOD CHALLENGES

VACANT LAND

POOR & UNSOUND BUILDING CONDITIONS

WATER SHUT OFFS / TAX DELIQUENCIES / FORECLOSURES

NEIGHBORHOODS AT RISK

OUR STRATEGY 1.Focus anchor institution purchasing locally 2.Create new community-based businesses 3.Make it GREEN 4.Ensure financing to move to scale

INITIAL OPPORTUNITIES Planning & Development Institutional Records Retention Home Care Succession planning towards employee ownership Light manufacturing Launching in Evergreen Cooperative Laundry 2.Ohio Cooperative Solar 3.Community Voice (newspaper) 4.Green City Growers

GOALS Demonstrate feasibility of developing start-up cooperative linked to purchasing needs of GUC anchors Greenest commercial, industrial-scale laundry in NE Ohio Hire 50 GUC residents - who will become Coop owners Living wage salary; benefits; asset accumulation through equity ownership PROGRESS Launch: July 2009; first employees now hired; build-out complete; equipment installed 60% of commitments/contracts towards break-even in place Management: Operations manager ran Akron General Laundry; CEO with 20 years of employee ownership experience in steel industry Secured $5.8 million of financing: $1.5 M HUD/ City, $1.8 M New Markets, $750,000 Cleveland Foundation; $1.5 M from 2 banks

Concept: –Cooperative for-profit enterprise –Based in neighborhoods around University Circle (inner-city Cleveland) –Owned/operated by local residents –Business installs/owns PV projects –Initially serving large institutional customers in nearby area (4MW in 5 years) Outcomes: –Training and employment opportunities for low-income citizens –Wealth creation for local residents –Creation of installation capabilities to meet state-wide solar requirements –First installations this summer Ohio Cooperative Solar

Year-round hydroponic vegetable greenhouse in heart of downtown Cleveland 14 acre facility; 5 acres under “glass” Provide produce to large anchors and other institutions; > 800,000 heads of lettuce a year per acre Energy efficient and renewable energy sources Employ 40+ neighborhood residents as coop owners Become a major player in regional food distribution network Green City Cooperative Growers COMMERCIALFOOD PRODUCTION GREENHOUSE

LAND TRUST PLANNING FOR SUCCESS Hold up to 20% of Land for Job Creation And Economic Development

EVERGREEN CRITERIA Business plan that projects profitability Hires majority of employees from GUC neighborhoods Located in or nearby GUC neighborhoods Matched to procurement needs of anchors Pays a “living wage” Green Builds toward 100% employee ownership Contributes % of profits to Cooperative Development Fund

Create new jobs for neighborhood residents Anchor productive capital within poor neighborhoods Promote asset accumulation for low- and moderate-income residents Build viable, locally-owned economic enterprises that can help stabilize the neighborhoods Ensure income diversity and permanent housing affordability GOALS

COOPERATIVE DEVELOPMENT FUND EVERGREEN FUND COOPERATIVE LAUNDRY COOPERATIVE SOLAR COOPERATIVE AGRICULTURE FUTURE COOP FUTURE COOP FUTURE COOP

KEYS TO SUCCESS Convener/catalyst with stature and resources Community Wealth Building Roundtable to create a shared vision among key stakeholders Buy-in from the anchors and City Hall Deep-dive interviews and survey of anchor needs Strategy tailored to local needs/opportunities Multi-faceted implementation team with necessary expertise (both local and national) Multi-year commitment Leverage grant/PRI funding to access additional sources (NMTC, EQ2, state simulus loans, HUD108)

Our Team The Cleveland Foundation and other funders (local and national) The Democracy Collaborative Ohio Employee Ownership Center Towards Employment Hudson Consulting Group National experts (solar, hydroponics, land trust, etc.) Entrepreneurs for each business City Hall (Dept. of Economic Development) Anchor institutions (“eds and meds”) Community-based organizations (CDCs, nonprofits)