Suncoast Community Capital Talks Business Development Plan for Low-Income Areas at City Council Meeting

BRADENTON – A public hearing on the City of Bradenton's proposed grant allocations for its 2016-17 Community Development Block Program took place during Wednesday's city council meeting, and one organization chosen to receive money from the program discussed its plans to increase economic activity in two of the city's low-income areas.

Tim Dutton of Suncoast Community Capital spoke on the application his organization submitted to the city "to look at some specific work that we targeted" for the areas served by the Central Community Redevelopment Agency and the 14th Street Community Redevelopment Agency. The SCC's plan, which would be used to help people in those areas develop businesses, would be given $43,750 out of the CDBP's $389,677.

Dutton talked about how such plans can benefit people of low and moderate income, referencing research on money circulation.

Research shows that dollars can circulate less in communities of low income and communities that are non-white, said Dutton. The two areas he focused on have fewer businesses per capita than more affluent areas; "so we've proposed to work with folks in those two areas to help them develop businesses that would be in their neighborhood."

That working relationship would likely take 12 to 18 months due to the need to first develop a sophisticated business plan for starting businesses and give people with credit issues time to repair their credit, said Dutton.

SCC plans to work with 12 to 15 people, with a focus on young entrepreneurs.

The CBDP still has a number of steps before final approval and enactment. The next step is to develop a draft Action Plan and advise the public of the draft, who will have between May 26 and June 27 to comment on it. The final plan is slated for adoption by the city council on July 20 and will begin on October 1.