A Word from Jay...

After a year’s hiatus due to the COVID pandemic, I am looking forward to gathering with friends of the CDP on Wednesday, August 25^th at Halcyon Farm in Brewster for our 7^th Annual Summer Evening on the Farm. This outdoor event will allow us to safely celebrate the work we do at the Community Development Partnership to lead the Lower Cape in building a diverse year-round community of people who can afford to live, work and thrive here.

Over the past 18 months, we have worked tirelessly to help businesses evaluate and apply for the various federal and state COVID relief programs and to distribute nearly half a million dollars in forgivable loans to our most vulnerable low-income business owners. These efforts were crucial to helping many small businesses in our region survive the economic crisis brought on by COVID-19.

As part of our evening, two small business owners will share their stories of how they have survived the past eighteen months with support from the CDP. Cape Air Founder and CEO Dan Wolf will be our special guest emcee to help us raise $200,000 through a fund-a-need auction. All the while you can enjoy a long-awaited evening on the grounds of Halcyon Farm set to the sounds of the Bert Jackson Quartet while you enjoy bites from local farms, beer from Devil’s Purse, Hard Cider from Shoal Hope Ciderworks, and wines & spirits from Truro Vineyards and South Hollow Spirits. Tickets are available by clicking this link.

Please join us in celebration of this resilient community and all that we do at the CDP to promote, develop and manage affordable housing as well as nurture the launch and growth of small businesses.

Small businesses are the driving force behind the Lower and Outer Cape economy. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit the Cape, many business owners worked hard to keep their companies afloat and adapted their business models to minimize their losses. But not even the most diligent planner could have predicted the economic fallout the pandemic would cause.

When Nicki Waite, owner of the Good Times Cape Cod ice cream truck began to prepare for this summer, she knew that she would need financial support if she were to hit the ground running.

For those battling alcohol or drug addiction, the Lower Cape’s housing crisis often exacerbates their struggle.  Unstable housing along with a history of drug and alcohol abuse can make it more difficult to find a rental, even for those who are now sober.

Derek Morgan was struggling with addiction when he moved to the Lower Cape from Worcester 20 years ago. His dad was living in Harwich and offered Derek a job and a place to live on the condition that he remained sober. He joined his father’s carpentry business and eventually began working for a fisherman out of Rock Harbor.

Derek remained sober for eight years before relapsing. He drifted away from attending recovery meetings, began drinking heavily, had several stints in jail, and was having suicidal thoughts. “I was at the end of my rope and decided that I had had enough,” he recalls. He called a friend who brought him to the emergency room at Cape Cod Hospital and in 2019, he recommitted to his sobriety.

When Marshall and Kathy Slocum of Brewster started their card and gift shop in Orleans in 1987, greeting cards were the common way people recognized important life events or conveyed personal sentiments.

The Cape House Shop was one of the first Hallmark Gold Crown stores. Hallmarks card shops are individually owned, and maintain a licensing agreement with Hallmark with benefits and restrictions similar to franchising. Over the years many shop owners didn’t adapt to the changing market conditions and went out of business. In the mid-80’s Cape Cod had seven Hallmark Card shops, now there is just one in Hyannis.

Mayflower Trolley will shuttle guests to and from the farm. MASKS WILL BE REQUIRED ON THE TROLLEY and will be available onboard.

General Admission tickets are $100 and can be purchased on the CDP's website.

Don't like to bike? You can walk, run, or row to reach your goal. The goal is for participants to get outside, get moving, and have fun! If you are interested in joining Team CDP or learning more about the event contact Nina@capecdp.org.

On Thursday, CEO Jay Coburn participated in a round table discussion on affordable housing in Falmouth. Some of the participants include Governor Baker, Lt. Governor Polito, Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development Secretary Kennealy, Department of Housing and Community Development Under-Secretary Maddox, Mass Housing Executive Director Chrystal Kornegay, and Mass Housing Partnership Executive Director Clark Ziegler.

The Governor shared his proposal to use $1B in American Rescue Plan Act funds for housing. They held a wide-ranging discussion on the need for affordable housing on the Cape and Islands.

At the end of May, the eight towns on the Lower and Outer Cape wrapped up another eventful Town Meeting season. This year residents showed overwhelming support for affordable housing articles.

Across the eight Town Meeting warrants, there were 54 housing-related articles totaling over $10,000,000. Some of the major articles include Orleans approving $2,000,000 for the creation of affordable housing at the former Cape Cod 5 Headquarters, and $2,450,000 for the purchase of the former Governor Prence Motel.

Wellfleet also voted to spend nearly $2,000,000 for the construction of wastewater facilities to serve the proposed affordable housing project at 95 Lawrence Road.

You can find a detailed breakdown of all 54 articles by following the link below.

Our Housing Rehabilitation Program is available to income-qualified residents of Eastham, Truro, and Provincetown. Qualified residents can receive up to $40,000 per household to pay for critical home repairs (like roofing and siding, electrical, heating, and plumbing work), lead paint abatement, and energy efficiency upgrades to keep their properties in good condition for the long term. And with local contractors doing the work, this means money flowing back into our economy.

This spring we launched Phase II of our public media campaign on the housing crisis. To learn more about how housing affects residents here on the Lower and Outer Cape, check out the campaign!

MGCC is partnering with a crowdfunding platform, Patronicity, to assist low to moderate-income and underserved entrepreneurs, and small business owners with meeting the capital needs of their business through matching grants. The objective of the BIZ-M-POWER grant is to provide entrepreneurs with new knowledge and skills for growing their business and advancing toward innovative approaches to obtaining capital through the earned support of local residents, neighborhoods, community members, and stakeholders alike by raising funding to match the amount requested in their grant application. Eligible MA-based small businesses that have been nominated by MGCC’s SBTA providers may be funded up to $20,000.

Massachusetts Growth Capital Corporation (MGCC) has just launched its Grant Program for the Development of Digital Capabilities on June 15, 2021. With our support, this grant program can potentially provide funding (up to $5k) for tools and services to develop digital capabilities for your small business. MGCC will make these funds available for eligible businesses until funding is fully disbursed. 

Please read more about both programs below and follow the links. If you determine that either of these programs is a fit for your business, please contact pam@capecdp.org or call 508-240-7873 x18. 

The CDP continues to offer all trainings, workshops, technical assistance sessions, and appointments virtually.

We remain committed to serving our business clients and our community. Staff is working both remotely and from the office. While we are not taking in-person meetings at this time, we will continue to meet with clients via phone or zoom.

If you or someone you know is interested in receiving weekly updates from our Business and Credit Program that are targeted to small businesses, please sign up for our Inside Scoop.