Supporting the community during light rail construction
The Rainier Valley Community Development Fund was created to help the community during the construction of the Link Light Rail Transit Project. The light rail route runs down the middle of Martin Luther King, Jr., Way South, one of only two transportation corridors in the Valley. Light rail construction affected business districts from Mount Baker in the north to the Boeing Access Road Rainier Beach in the South.
Right from the outset, elected officials and community leaders were determined to help businesses along the MLK corridor weather disruptions that affected their visibility, commercial deliveries, parking, and vehicle and foot traffic. In addition, leaders envisioned ways to leverage the economic opportunities presented by the transit project. To these ends, Seattle Mayor Paul Schell, the Office of Economic Development, Sound Transit, King County and Rainier Valley community leaders, established the Rainier Valley Community Development Fund (RVCDF) in November of 1999. The City and Sound Transit committed $50 million to capitalize the fund. A steering committee comprising 10 members from the community and 5 from the public sector developed an operating plan for the CDF that went into effect in 2005.
Funding growth, employment, and development
The Rainier Valley Community Development Fund was established as a self-sustaining, community controlled financial institution to stimulate economic development in the Rainier Valley. It is anticipated that funding from the City of Seattle's Office of Economic Development provides ongoing support for its activities will continue through 2012.
Initially, the CDF focused on assisting businesses affected by light rail construction, offering Supplemental Mitigation Assistance (SMA) to businesses along Martin Luther King, Jr., Way South. The assistance has beenwas used for rent increases, equipment replacement, tenant improvements and operating costs necessary to maintain business operations or reestablish a business. Under this program, over $15 million was granted to local businesses achieving a success rate of 85% of the businesses operating pre-construction surviving post construction.
The CDF also funded a construction Pre-Apprenticeship Program to introduce eligible Rainier Valley residents to construction apprenticeship opportunities, with the goal of obtaining journey-level construction careers. As of 2009, more than 140 local residents had obtained construction-related jobs through the program.
Community development financing
These online resources provide more information about the work of community development financial institutions such as RVCDF:
- Opportunity Finance Network
- Coalition for Community Development Financial Institutions - "What are CDFIs?"
- Knowledgeplex (an online resource center for affordable housing and community development)