In Seattle's Central District, Dennis Comer, the Executive Director of the Central Area Collaborative, is forging new paths to economic equity. According to Frontporch Seattle, Comer is challenging the status quo of financial institutions through the initiative known as Community Controlled Capital. This pilot project is designed to offer a lifeline to minority-owned small businesses facing immediate hardships by providing emergency funding without the red tape and debt often associated with traditional lending avenues.
Comer, having moved to the Emerald City from Washington, D.C., in 2011, encountered skepticism regarding the viability of setting up a business in the Central District. Comer, nonetheless, alongside his wife, took the plunge. Their foray into the food industry with a vegan dessert bakery and a vegan deli, although now defunct as such entities, has evolved. The commercial kitchen now serves as a food incubator fostering growth for other BIPOC food startups. "Small business is what holds up the economy of the United States. Running a small business helps you generate wealth for yourself, and it levels the playing field," Comer elucidated in a statement obtained by Frontporch Seattle.
The plight of small businesses, in particular those owned by individuals from marginalized communities, has caught the attention of initiatives like the Department of Neighborhoods’ Generational Wealth Initiative. Comer is a member of the aforementioned cohort, dedicating his efforts to designing and enacting the Community Controlled Capital as a viable means to navigate and ultimately challenge systemic barriers. Afflicted businesses are given an opportunity for survival and potential growth sans the daunting process that often deters or outright denies the accessibility of capital through conventional methodologies.
This objective to balance the economic scales comes from firsthand experience. Comer has witnessed the Central District's landscape of opportunities and challenges and has channeled that knowledge into action, an action that is steadily altering the face of local business ownership and sustainability.
