Chuck's contributions to the Community Development field's birth and growth over the past nearly 50 years represent a legacy that will be remembered for a long time. It was Mel King who was the state representative that led the campaign to create the state’s community development infrastructure in the 1970s. It was Chuck Grigsby who was hired to transform that vision into reality by serving as the founding executive director of the Community Development Finance Corporation in the 1970s. 

Later, after community groups (including MACDC, MAHA and others) successfully won passage of legislation to require insurance companies to make community investments, the life insurance industry also turned to Chuck to make that dream a reality by hiring him to be the founding executive director of the Life Initiative in the 1990s. And once again when the Deval Patrick Administration merged CDFC with another state quasi-public entity to create the Massachusetts Growth Capital Corporation in 2010, they turned to Chuck to lead the merger and create a new, stronger, and more impactful agency.  He also served as the director of the Public Facilities Departments (now the Department of Neighborhood Development) for the City of Boston in the 1990s during the Thomas Menino Administration. 

To each of these roles, Chuck brought his extraordinary intelligence, leadership, creativity, and commitment. The results speak for themselves. Chuck was someone that I deeply admired from the start of our relationship in the 1990s when he helped us create the CDC Community Business Network, an innovative model for shared staffing and collaboration that was built in close partnership with the City of Boston. I clearly remember the meeting where Chuck laid out his vision. We all nodded in agreement. Later, I had the pleasure of working closely with Chuck as he built the Life Initiative into a critical player in the community development field - not an easy task given the insurance industry's lack of familiarity with our field. Finally, I had one more opportunity to see Chuck in action when he took the helm at MGCC where I serve on the Board of Directors. The success and impact of MGCC in responding to the pandemic over the past year (for which we recently gave them an award) can be traced directly to the culture and foundation that Chuck built during those early years. Over the course of our relationship, I learned a great deal from Chuck about finance, public service, politics, leadership and how to live life to the fullest (learn more about his many hobbies in this terrific Boston Globe article).

The Massachusetts Community Development movement is incredibly fortunate to have had many great leaders over the decades. Today, we walk on their shoulders and none were broader and stronger than those of Chuck Grigsby. May his memory be a blessing.

Revitalize CDC in Springfield improves housing conditions by performing assessments and interventions for adults and children with asthma to safely remain in their home. (Photo credit: Revitalize CDC)

Surveying the Landscape

Springfield ranks 12th among cities nationwide in the prevalence of asthma, a distinction that the City’s residents and institutions are working hard to overcome. Revitalize CDC partners with Baystate Medical Center, Health New England, and the Public Health Institute of Western MA on the Greater Springfield Healthy Homes Asthma Program. The CDC conducts a home assessment to identify and eliminate asthma triggers, such as poor ventilation, leaks, and pests. The program then provides supplies to help mitigate triggers, provides education, and administers an asthma control test (ACT) before and after services are provided, to determine if symptoms have been alleviated. By addressing the unsafe and unhealthy housing that can trigger asthma, Revitalize CDC is seeing improvements in resident health after just 6 months of the program.

Like the residents of Springfield, all people need and deserve access to safe, stable, and affordable housing. Yet, for too many families, their housing is anything but safe. Persistent housing quality problems have serious consequences for those who occupy the homes, and for the broader community; among these consequences are poor health outcomes, such as asthma. The silver lining in this bleak landscape is that, by improving housing quality, we can also provide an antidote to many of these health problems. MACDC’s Housing Quality & Health (HQH) Initiative is intended to shed light on this troubling link, assess what existing interventions exist, and get to work on filling in the gaps on these remedies.

Why Focus on Housing Quality Now and Why Apply a Health Lens to This Problem?

According to a 2016 report from the National Association of Home Builders, the median age of owner-occupied homes in Massachusetts was 54 years, second oldest in the nation. In other words, half of the owner-occupied homes in MA were built before 1962, more than 15 years before lead paint was outlawed. Furthermore, New England’s harsh winters can wreak havoc on neglected homes.

Over the last several years, there has been increasing recognition of the ways in which social, economic, and physical factors affect individual and community health. In 2017 the Massachusetts Department of Public Health adopted six health priorities that address these factors, which are collectively referred to as “Social Determinants of Health.” Housing is one these identified health priorities. The COVID-19 pandemic has elucidated the link between housing and health. We witnessed the ways in which overcrowding and improper ventilation led to increased disease transmission. Devastating in so many ways, the COVID-19 pandemic highlights the inextricable convergence of health and housing and presents an opportunity to further envision the ways we can leverage a health lens to scale up efforts to improve housing quality and safety.

Indeed, opportunity can spring from crisis, and the Commonwealth’s response to the climate crisis presents such an opportunity. Passage of the Climate Roadmap legislation requires Massachusetts to achieve a 50% reduction in statewide greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, and net zero emissions by 2050. This will require major investments that go beyond typical energy efficiency measures, to include aggressive electrification and decarbonization efforts, and prioritizing climate resiliency. Healthier homes will be one important byproduct of this work.

The Link Between Housing Quality and Health

The prevalence of asthma in Springfield is just one example of the ways in which poor housing quality can cause and exacerbate serious health problems for its occupants and for the broader community. These health problems often reflect structural inequities.

For example:
• Substandard housing creates health hazards for its occupants, including increasing the likelihood of accidents and falls and the spread of infectious disease.
• Substandard housing can also increase susceptibility to the impacts of climate change, including extreme temperatures and weather events.
• Lead-based paint hurts the brain and other organs and has particularly harmful effects on children.

​The negative health outcomes associated with poor quality housing disproportionately impact the most vulnerable among us- children, seniors, people with disabilities and lower incomes, and many communities of color. For example, in Massachusetts, 13.8% of Black, Non-Hispanic adults in Massachusetts suffer from asthma as compared with 10.4% of white adults¹ and over half of children with confirmed elevated blood levels live in just 19 cities and towns in Massachusetts.² The particularly insidious impacts on children of exposure to lead paint are noted above. Elderly residents are most at risk for falls and are particularly impacted by exposure to extreme temperatures. People with disabilities, who often have fewer housing options available to them, may find it more difficult to move from housing that poses health risks.

Current Efforts to Address the Problems:

There are several current policies, programs, and practices in place to address the housing quality and safety challenges, which can be grouped into four categories:
• Efforts to prevent and reduce hazards and improve housing quality range from responsible property management to strong code enforcement and tenant protection policies, to programs that improve housing quality and abate lead-based paint. These include smoke-free housing policies and support for the development and operation of the well-regulated, high quality, affordable housing stock.
• Energy efficiency and climate initiatives can reduce energy costs and provide a safer living environment. These include utility ratepayer-funded energy retrofit programs, increased availability and affordability of renewable energy, and implementation of climate resiliency and mitigation strategies.
• Neighborhood stabilization strategies provide tools and incentives for both the private and public sectors, so that distressed and vacant buildings are brought back into productive use and maintained as quality residential and commercial properties.
• Local healthy homes programs, and partnerships with health institutions, are among the initiatives that act on the explicit connection between housing quality and health.

Filling the Gaps

While there are many initiatives that support housing quality and safety challenges in Massachusetts, there is no coordinated approach, and these efforts lack the scale we need to address the problems. In order to increase the capacity of state and local governments, CDCs, housing courts, and others to successfully improve the safety and quality of older homes across the state, we need to fill existing gaps and scale up our efforts. We suggest the following strategies:

• Increased availability of data on housing quality and safety challenges that is timely, publicly accessible, and reflects the disproportionate impacts of substandard housing on the health on Communities of Color, immigrants, residents of disinvested neighborhoods, and others. We also need data on the impact that current programs have on addressing these challenges, and where they fall short.
• Increased public and private investment addressing home-specific substandard quality, energy-inefficient and climate-vulnerable buildings, and neighborhood-level distress.
• Establishment of a Task Force, representing the various stakeholders, to better coordinate the strategies that address the broad spectrum of housing quality problems impacting families, and the homes and neighborhoods where they reside.

These strategies must be adopted by a wide range of players in order to be successful. In subsequent blogs, we will dig deeper into the housing quality problems that negatively impact resident and community health, current programs intended to address the problems, and strategies to fill the existing gaps and meaningfully address both housing quality and health.

As noted above, this, and other blogs in this series, are intended to start a conversation. We’ve convened a working group to help us navigate this work. We’d also welcome your thoughts and reactions and would encourage you to share them with us. Elana Brochin can be reached at elanab@macdc.org; Don Bianchi at donb@macdc.org.

[1] https://www.mass.gov/service-details/statistics-about-asthma#:~:text=The%20prevalence%20of%20asthma%20is%20high%20in%20Massachusetts&text=The%20prevalence%20of%20current%20asthma,ethnicity%20subgroups%20in%2020152.

[2] High-risk communities are defined as those with a 5-year incidence rate of children who have a confirmed concentration of ≥ 10 micrograms of lead per deciliter cases that is above the state 5-year incidence rate after adjusting for low to moderate income and old housing stock (built pre-1978)

Annually, the Mel King Institute takes part in the YWCA’s nation-wide Stand Against Racism Campaign. This campaign takes place each year during the month of April, allowing individuals and organizations to register their own unique events and be part of the movement. This year on April 29, 2021, the Mel King Institute held its largest virtual Stand Against Racism event with a total of 90 participants.

The event featured a conversation amongst Black Executive Directors in the Community Development field. Our panelists featured Emilio Dorcely, CEO of Urban Edge in Boston; Keith Fairey, President and CEO of Way Finders in Springfield; and Gail Latimore, Executive Director of Codman Square NDC in Dorchester. The dialogue was centered around what racial equity looks like for communities of color, highlighting their approaches, challenges, and opportunities. The panelists were asked to discuss what drives and keeps them committed to equity and community development work, their organizational approaches to racial equity, the challenges faced as a leader of color when engaging in racial justice at the organizational level, how they take care of themselves, and lastly, what opportunities they see for themselves and their organizations as they move forward.

In particular, the panelists shared powerful stories and insights that underscored the necessity of great leadership, strong infrastructure, racial equity work and dynamic spaces to discuss these topics.

Highlights from the panelists and moderators include:

• Opportunities and challenges faced between and within boards, organizations, and leaders of color.
• Acknowledgment of the racial equity journey and continuous learning.
• The importance of remembering that we must expect non-closure when engaged in this work.
• A leading question posed to the attendees was, “How do we do a better job, as an organization, internally, on racial equity issues?”
• The concept of reparations was underscored, and the impact of a large and diverse staff was highlighted.
• The challenge of individuals, communities, and leaders of color wanting to be happy but not necessarily having the tools to do so was noted.
• Recognition was given to the dynamics, impact, and experiences of tokenism, internalized racism, and trauma as they exist in the lives of leaders and communities of color.
• Regarding racial equity, the following comment was shared, “Moments turn to momentum and momentum turns into movements.”

The event lasted an hour and a half, and featured a context setting overview of the four levels of racism, a networking component, featured panelists, a question-and-answer portion, and lastly, participants created a word cloud capturing one word to describe what we should keep in mind while continuing to engage in racial equity and community development work. There was dynamic energy from the facilitators, panelists, and attendees.

Overall, this year’s Stand Against Racism was successful in offering a space for Black leaders in the CDC field to have honest and engaging dialogue and share their insightful experiences with racial equity work. The Mel King Institute is hoping to continue these conversations with BIPOC leaders.

On March 31^st, Governor Baker, Lt. Governor Polito, and House Speaker Mariano joined Quincy Mayor Koch in Quincy to celebrate the awarding of funding to seven affordable supportive housing projects. Joined by other state officials, legislators, and affordable housing advocates, the Governor announced the award of more than $13 million in capital funding and project-based vouchers to support the production and preservation of 67 units of supportive housing for vulnerable populations, as well as 100 shelter beds.

The MA Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD), working with the Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation (CEDAC), will make available approximately $2.6 Million from the National Housing Trust Fund, in addition to $10.7 million in state bond funds through the Housing Innovations Fund and Housing Stabilization Fund.

Among the seven projects awarded funding are five sponsored by CDCs. They include:

• Two Boston projects sponsored by Allston Brighton CDC were awarded funding: 6 Quint Avenue will be redeveloped into 14 supportive housing units, targeted toward extremely low-income (ELI) individuals in the advanced stages of addiction recovery.  Ashford Street will involve the rehabilitation and preservation of an existing 12-unit single-room occupancy (SRO) building, including improved accessibility.
• A Place to Live- 30 Winfield Street in Worcester, sponsored by South Middlesex Opportunity Council (SMOC), will involve construction of a new 3-story building for chronically homeless single adults- including 18 studio apartments and full-time onsite case management.
• Valley CDC will create 28 enhanced SRO units, along with office space for onsite property management and for a Resident Services coordinator, at Amherst Supportive Studio. Constructed on the site where an existing single-family home will be demolished, the building will achieve Passive House certification.
• North Shore CDC will convert 18 unrestricted units into affordable units for homeless individuals at New Point Acquisitions in Salem. Located in 3 buildings in the Point Neighborhood close to Salem’s center, the CDC will implement supportive services, in addition to the capital improvements.

As House Speaker Ronald J. Mariano noted at the event, “the grants awarded today will support organizations that serve our most vulnerable residents and provide them with a path to safe, stable and dignified housing.  The Massachusetts House is proud to support the work of the awardees and provide opportunities for them to expand their services.”

• The MACDC Notebook: May 2021 Issue

In the early morning hours of January 6^th, in the last sitting of the 192^nd General Court – merely hours before a new legislature would be sworn in, legislators approved the conference report to advance a comprehensive economic development, housing assistance and pandemic relief bill to the Governor’s desk. MACDC was very pleased that the legislature was able to enact this bill that will support small businesses, promote affordable and equitable housing opportunities, and, especially to our neighbors most disproportionately impacted by COVID-19, provide additional tenant protections across the Commonwealth.

Last June, MACDC was invited to testify before the Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies to offer our best recommendations for meeting some of the longstanding issues and emergent challenges brought to light in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Both branches recognized the serious challenges facing our small business community, people of color, immigrants, women, and low- or moderate-income workers and consumers, and focused considerable efforts and resources to avoid deepening the fissures of racial and economic inequality in our state. We appreciate the resolute commitment of so many legislative champions and community partners to achieve this result.

(Separately, the legislature also finally approved Boston’s Home Rule Petition to allow for linkage and inclusionary zoning in Boston – a long sought victory for our Boston members.)

Several MACDC priorities were adopted as part of the Economic Development Bill and, at this time, await the Governor’s signature. Here is a summary of the conference agreement.

The bill includes many important programs and legislative changes impacting housing, small business development and economic development.  You can get in depth details by reading the bill ( Bill H.5250 (malegislature.gov)), and here are select highlights, which we believe will be of interest to our members: 

• Housing Choices legislation which allows municipalities to adopt pro-smart growth zoning changes by a simple majority.
• Zoning for multifamily housing will be required in all MBTA Communities. 
• Appeals Reforms (abutter appeals)
• $20 Million Expansion of State LIHTC
• Tenant Board Members at local housing authorities 
• Eviction Record Sealing
• Tenant Opportunity Purchase Legislation.

The legislation also authorizes a wide array of capital programs aimed at housing, economic development, and small businesses. These additional programs of interest include:   

As the Commonwealth and the Country came to terms with the true impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic in mid-March 2020, I closed the MACDC offices, and sent our staff home with their laptop computers. MACDC’s staff knew that our focus had to remain on two things: 1) helping our members adjust to the reality of a pandemic; and 2) advocating for the communities we serve and represent. We immediately knew that housing stability would be a central focus of our efforts. We also knew that this crisis would have a devastating impact on small businesses, especially the more vulnerable ones with whom CDCs and CDFIs typically work (micro businesses, businesses owned by people of color, rural businesses, those in Gateway Cities, and other businesses that operate on thin margins and with inadequate equity). These businesses started the pandemic with less wealth, smaller margins, less access to capital and many operated in the very communities hardest hit by COVID-19.  We realized right away that this crisis could make our shameful racial wealth gap even larger.  As we move into the new year, I wanted to share some of my experiences and thoughts about how MACDC and its members worked with old and new partners across the public, private and nonprofit sectors to mobilize a response to the crisis in our small business community.

MACDC grows its long-standing Small Business Peer Group

Our efforts began on March 18, when we convened our Small Business Peer Group, comprised of CDCs, CDFIs, and other community groups who work with entrepreneurs every day.  This group has been meeting regularly (and sometimes irregularly) for more than 25 years, but never with this level of urgency. The relationships among practitioners that had been built over the previous years proved critical as we shared information and ideas, learned about resources and strategies, and provided each other with moral support. Amidst our confusion and fear, one thing was clear - no one wanted to face this challenge alone. We agreed to meet weekly while the crisis continued, with as many as 90 people joining some of our Zoom calls (compared to about 10-15 at the average meeting pre-COVID). Our network grew as we continued to invite more people to join us (municipal officials, regional planning agencies, small business development centers, and anyone else who shared our goals). By the time 2020 came to an end, we held 32 meetings with a total of 1,430 people in attendance, representing 180 individuals from 78 different organizations.

These meetings provided a regular forum for practitioners to not only learn from each other, but to hear from key policy makers and program administrators about the tools and resources available to small businesses. Larry Andrews and others from the Massachusetts Growth Capital Corporation were there every week. We routinely had guests like Economic Development Secretary Michael Kennealy, DHCD Undersecretary Jennifer Maddox, SBA Massachusetts Director Bob Nelson, and representatives from municipal governments, Small Business Strong, and other critical partners.

New partners start working together in new ways

The conversations on Wednesdays helped spark several organic collaborations as new ideas and new relationships opened new possibilities. Early on, a number of organizations were interested in surveying small businesses to identify their needs, so with the leadership of the Lawrence Partnership we developed a shared survey instrument that dozens of organizations distributed generating a much larger and more diverse survey response and important data about what was happening in the field.  Later, as we saw many businesses of color struggle to access PPP loans, the Foundation for Business Equity, LISC, and others reached out to key banking partners to develop what came to be known as the Equitable PPP Collaborative. LISC stepped up to administer this program that connected businesses of color to technical assistance providers and to banks ready to accept PPP applications from non-customers.  This extraordinary collaboration helped over 350 businesses access PPP loans. The Coalition also used its direct experience with the PPP program to fashion a detailed set of recommendations to the SBA and the Massachusetts Congressional delegation about how the program could be made more equitable and fair.  The recommendations were embraced by over 60 organizations on May 11.

In May, as the Commonwealth of Massachusetts prepared to reopen, two long-time community development professionals and friends of MACDC, Marty Jones and Adam Gibbons, volunteered to help collect, collate, and organize information and resources that would assist practitioners who were helping businesses figure out how to comply with the new rules and still make money (or at least lose less money). They built a special website for the network and provided regular updates and links to resources. MACDC’s Board of Directors was also invited to meet with the Governor’s Reopening Task Force and provide recommendations for how to reopen the economy safely and equitably.  Our strong partnership with the Baker Administration, which had started in February 2014 when candidate Charlie Baker met with our board, gave us the opportunity to influence policy at the highest level. Our Board would also meet with Governor Baker in June to discuss both housing and economic development issues associated with the pandemic.

A bigger vision begins to emerge

By the summer, as the pandemic and economic crisis wore on, and racial justice protests highlighted the deep racial inequities in our society, our work took on new urgency. Glynn Lloyd of the Foundation for Business Equity initiated a conversation among several groups, including MACDC, Amplify Latinx, the Black Economic Council and LISC about how we could build on the success of the Equitable PPP initiative to build an enduring coalition. We started meeting regularly and created a vision for the Coalition for an Equitable Economy and formed an initial steering committee with leaders from over 15 community-based groups. By design, people of color compose a majority of the steering committee, and the Coalition adopted a mission statement focused on closing racial inequities in the small business sector. The Coalition is now poised to advance our policy and program objectives over the long term.  Indeed, the Coalition has already moved beyond immediate relief efforts. This fall, when BECMA led an effort to push the Baker Administration on the Commonwealth’s supplier diversity efforts, I helped mobilize a letter signed by 27 groups in support of BECMA’s agenda. Some of us then joined BECMA in their meetings with the Governor and his advisors, showing strength and unity within our coalition.  A few weeks later, BECMA secured significant policy wins when the Governor announced new initiatives to improve supplier diversity. I would not have been in those meetings but for the relationships and trust built over the prior few months.

Also, during the summer, there was a growing desire to conduct another small business survey to understand how the crisis was evolving, in particular its impact on businesses owned by people of color.  This time several of the organizations around the table agreed to pitch in their own financial resources to hire MassINC to conduct a more formal and professional business survey.  The results provided important insights into what was going on with small businesses, in particular micro-entrepreneurs and businesses of color and gave new weight to our advocacy efforts.

The Coalition has also begun to work with the Boston Foundation to map out strategies to build a strong small business eco-system that can help reduce racial disparities across the state. We envision an eco-system where underserved businesses are aware of and able to access the support they need to succeed. We are also working with Mass Inc to conduct a research project that examines best practices in public policy that can help advance our vision for a more equitable small business system. A third working group is looking at how we can create the financing products that small businesses need to grow and sustain their businesses. All these projects will continue in 2021.

Our coalition mobilizes for small business relief and recovery dollars

Throughout these months, MACDC coordinated an ambitious and persistent advocacy campaign to get relief dollars to small businesses and funding to support the community-based groups that were helping these business owners.  On March 23, 2020, MACDC issued policy recommendations for responding to the COVID-19 crisis that included a call for an initial $150 million investment to support small businesses.  These recommendations were later embraced by a coalition of nearly 80 organizations. We presented these recommendations to Secretary Kennealy; to legislators (including at MACDC’s Annual Lobby Day on April 28) and these ideas eventually became central to Governor Charlie Baker’s small business relief plan in the Fall.  We repeatedly engaged the media and I probably talked to Boston Globe reporters on a weekly and sometimes daily basis to keep these concerns in the press.  Rosario Ubiera-Minaya, Segun Idowu and I jointly published an op-ed about these recommendations in Commonwealth Magazine.

For weeks and months, our coalition pressed the case for more state and local dollars for small business relief.  We first saw success at the local level as cities began using CDBG funding to support small business grants.  Peter Dunn from the City of Worcester made a presentation at one of our Wednesday meetings to share with others how Worcester had navigated the complicated CDBG rules to make grants available to businesses quickly.  In July, both the House and Senate passed economic development bills that provided $75 million and $80 million respectfully for small business relief.  Finally, in October 2020, I was able to join Governor Baker at a State House press conference (my one and only trip to the State House during the pandemic), as the Governor announced a new $50.8 million grant initiative aimed at priority businesses such as people of color, veterans, women, LGBTQ and Gateway Cities.  A few weeks later, the Legislature and the Governor agreed to provide $5.1 million in funding for the Small Business Technical Assistance program – up from $3 million last year. This allowed MGCC to support 65 community-based organizations across the state.  The Legislature and the Governor also approved $17.5 million for CDFIs and CDCs to invest in small businesses and an additional $17.5 million in grants. Finally, on the last night of the legislative session, the House and Senate approved $110 million in new capital authorizations for small business programs.  All these initiatives – the grants, the CDFI investments and the technical assistance – were part of the recommendations that we first put forward in March!

With these new resources secured, the power of the Network once again revealed itself as dozens of CDCs, CDFIs and community-based groups mobilized to help clients apply for grants and LISC stepped up again to coordinate information flow, communications, and technical assistance.  By the application closing date, over 10,000 businesses had applied for help, including 3,700 businesses owned by people of color.  Governor Baker announced initial awards of $50.8 million on December 21, with 95% of the grants going to businesses owned by people of color – a victory for racial equity that would not have happened without this network. A few days later, he announced another $68 million in grants with 50% going toward businesses of color and 50% to women-owned businesses. This was in sharp contrast to what we saw with the PPP program where white-owned and larger businesses fared better. On December 23, the Governor announced a commitment of $668 million in small business grants – far more than we had ever expected, but an amount that is clearly needed to meet the devastation caused by this pandemic.

A victory of that scale has many parents, so I will not argue that our Network deserves all the credit.  Clearly, many other business advocates and industry associations were also pushing for resources, as were municipal and elected officials. No doubt Governor Baker and his entire Administration were already aware of the pain created by the necessary public health measures and were determined to provide some relief.

That said, the Governor cannot distribute $668 million by himself. He needs organization, infrastructure, and a delivery system. He needs to be pushed by advocates like us. Moreover, we know these programs cannot be implemented equitably without community-based organizations.  Our network, working hand in glove with MGCC for the past ten months, created the opportunity and platform (and external pressure) to make this investment possible.

Today’s victories were built on years of hard work

I think it is important to remember that the seeds of this success were planted many years ago.  For me, it goes back at least until 2006 when MACDC was able to successfully lobby Governor Mitt Romney and the legislature to create the Small Business Technical Assistance program in the first place.  At our 2006 MACDC Convention, we secured a pledge from then candidate Deval Patrick to sustain the program, which he did. In 2010, we worked with the Patrick Administration (and Senate President Karen Spilka who was chair of the Economic Development Committee at that time) to create the Mass Growth Capital Corporation as a successor to the Community Development Finance Corporation.  In the negotiations over that legislation, we insisted that MGCC retain the mission and commitment to racial equity that embodied CDFC (which itself was created by Mel King in the 1970s) and secured a permanent seat for CDCs on the MGCC Board. Larry Andrews and I were founding board members of MGCC and together with our colleagues on the board and staff, and under the leadership of the Patrick Administration, we built an organization dedicated to equitable small business development. Governor Baker embraced this vision when he spoke at the 2014 MACDC Convention as a candidate and has followed through ever since. In 2019, Governor Baker and the Legislature increased funding for the program by 50% to $3 million – long before COVID-19 even existed!

More recently, the Baker Administration and MGCC had a few trial runs at providing disaster relief to small businesses, first during the snow emergencies that welcomed Governor Baker to office in January 2015, and then again in 2018 following the Columbia Gas explosions in and around Lawrence. In both instances, MGCC was there to support impacted businesses and the lessons learned in those crises – especially the close collaboration with Mill Cities Community Investments in Lawrence – proved vital when COVID-19 arrived.

I share this history to underscore that successful advocacy and successful community development is an on-going process that builds on past success and past failure, that relies on lessons learned and relationships forged, that builds infrastructure and muscle memory and is handed off from Administration to Administration and generation to generation. The pandemic accelerated this process, but it did not start it, and it will not end it.  I have no doubt that the lessons and relationship built over the past 10 months will continue to yield impact for years and even decades to come.

The Path Forward

Most immediately, of course, the network will continue to address the immense challenges that remain. As we start 2021, with hope that vaccines will soon end this wretched pandemic, we are mobilizing the network to tackle an ambitious agenda:

• Help more businesses apply for and smartly deploy the $668 million in MGCC grants.
• Help more businesses secure new PPP forgivable loans and get existing PPP loans forgiven.
• Partner with DHCD and local governments to fully disburse existing CDBG resources for small businesses.
• Collaborate with MGCC to implement new small business support programs approved by the Legislature, including a major new investment program for CDFIs & CDCs that lend to small businesses and a program to close the digital divide among small businesses.
• Convene our network bi-weekly to continue sharing information, building relationships, and engaging policy makers.
• Offer professional development opportunities to practitioners through the Mel King Institute for Community Building.
• Provide support to the small business community to ensure that they have the information, capital, customers, and networks needed to successfully reopen and scale up their operations as health restrictions are hopefully eased later this year.
• Systematically strengthen the small business eco-system by working with the Boston Foundation, MassINC and others to ensure that it can spark and sustain equitable business development that closes that racial wealth gap over the long term.
• Transform this network into a powerful advocacy force under the banner of the Coalition for an Equitable Economy, so we can continue this work beyond the immediate crisis and build a dynamic and equitable economy for everyone.

Together, we can take some pride in what was accomplished in 2020, even as we wish we could have done more. Thankfully, the relationships, networks and results built in 2020 have created an opportunity to achieve more in 2021 and beyond. 

As we begin this work anew, I take inspiration from the courage and persistence of the thousands of small business owners who have endured so much and continue to fight, adapt, and persevere. They have sacrificed to help stop this deadly virus, and it is our turn to have their back.

For their benefit and ours, let’s get to work!