City of High Point, North Carolina

Amount Appropriated?

$4.0M

FFID tracks stages 1–2 — stages 3–5 vary by agency, assistance type, and earmark structure.

Project Description

The impetus for upfitting 300A Oak Street is improving economic equity \u2013 specifically, to provide access and support for area residents to pursue ownership and scaling up of advanced SSM businesses, because according to a 2020 study from UNLV Professor Tiffany Howard and the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, Black entrepreneurship and business ownership is one of the best ways to grow wealth. \n\nTo reactivate this underinvested neighborhood with a majority-minority population, the City will renovate and upfit 300 A Oak Street, a historic mill building in the SWQ. After building renovation, programming will prepare residents, especially MWBE and BIPOCs, to develop skills, start, and grow businesses. Created in partnership with the SWQ community, the facility will become a source of community pride and identity: it will be where a young woman gets an apprenticeship, where an experienced worker learns new skills, and where startups scale and ultimately move on to make room for the next. \n\nAdvanced SSM will help accomplish equity in the SWQ through business ownership and the creation of quality jobs. As research shows, Black business owners have a median net worth 12 times greater than that of Black non-business owners. SSM businesses, on average, pay wages that are 50% to 100% higher than retail or service jobs. \n\nSuccess after completing this purchase and renovation would mean SSM businesses growing and securing contracts, connecting private industry to MWBE suppliers and vendors, partnering with local entities for training, transforming a blighted area into an active neighborhood, and attracting private investment in the SWQ.