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From YouTube: Whats Up AVL! – Episode 29
Description
In this episode of What's Up Asheville, Sam Parada hosts Rachel Taylor, Economic Development Division Manager, to talk about the City's upcoming vendor outreach event to connect minority and women-owned businesses, as well as the Mountain Community Capital Fund, which serves to offer financial loans to local entrepreneurs.
Mountain Community Capital Fund: https://www.ashevillenc.gov/department/community-economic-development/business-inclusion/mountain-community-capital-fund-information-page/
Bidding opportunities: https://www.ashevillenc.gov/department/purchasing/bids/
B
Good
officer,
new
Nashville
I'm,
your
host
Emperor,
as
always,
and
welcome
to
another
episode
of
what's
up
Asheville
here
on
wres
100.7
FM.
Now
today,
with
me,
I
have
Rachel
Taylor.
She
is
the
economic
development
division
manager
for
the
city,
she's
new,
at
the
position
for
a
couple
months.
Now
too,
that's
right.
C
C
So
I
started
at
the
city
in
the
economic
development
specialist
position
so
and
that's
in
the
community
and
economic
development
department,
so
we've
got
Economic
Development,
affordable
housing,
community
development
and
houselessness
strategies,
and
so
I
started
there
and
I
had
a
background
in
rural,
develop
more
rural,
Economic
Development
and
worked
on
a
lot
of
projects
and,
as
we
were
kind
of
reimagining,
what
the
division
needed
to
do
and
look
like
I
was
able
to
apply
and
move
up
into
this
position.
Nice.
B
C
C
Yeah,
so
Economic
Development
is
really
focused
on
creating
good
opportunities
for
employment,
economic
Mobility.
So
you
know
one
of
the
kinds
of
work
that
we
do
is
working
with
the
economic
development,
Coalition
and
Buncombe
County,
and
if
there's
a
big
company
who
wants
to
locate
in
Asheville,
we'll
work
with
them
through
that
process.
So.
B
C
Well,
I'm
gonna
back
up
just
a
little
bit
and
say
that
we've
got
in
within
our
division.
There's
a
lot
of
layers
in
our
department
and
So
within
our
Economic
Development
Division.
We
have
a
couple
of
different
offices
and
programs.
So
with
the
business
inclusion
office,
the
main
goal
of
that
office
is
to
promote
equity
in
Contracting
and
kind
of
be
that
pass
through
to
work
with
the
city
and
so
we're
hosting
an
event
to
meet
vendors
and
and
work
with
vendors
for
the
minority
and
women-owned
business
enterprises.
B
B
C
Yep,
mostly
local,
so
the
business
inclusion
office
has
a
race
and
gender
conscious
policy
and
we
do
that
every
year.
Another
project
we
have
going
on
is
the
disparity
study,
and
so
we
have
to
have
a
disparity
study
every
five
years
to
be
able
to
have
that
race
and
gender-conscious
policy.
So
we
work
with
vendors
from
about
a
10
County
radius,
around
Asheville,
okay,.
B
C
This
event
is
really
geared
towards
connecting
the
mwpe
vendors
across
with
that
with
each
other,
so
it's
kind
of
like
a
networking
event
and
we
want
to
be
able
to
introduce
vendors
to
Prime
contractors
so
without
getting
too
far
into
the
technical
aspect,
it's
like
you
can
have
a
prime
contractor
and
a
subcontractor
and
so
creating
connections
across
those
different
categories
as
well.
We'll
discuss
the
city's
Capital
Improvement
plan,
so
you
know
what
what
do
we
think
we're
going
to
be
spending
money
on
what.
C
C
A
B
Yeah
I
was
gonna,
say
since
I
work
closely
with
capital
projects.
I
know
that
most
of
the
biddings
and
most
of
the
contracts
that
happen
are
for
construction
primarily,
but
I
also
know
that
some
of
the
you
know
the
purchasing
departments
they
also
they
work
on
getting
all
the
vendors
and
stuff
and
I
know.
For
example,
one
of
them
was
a
website
Creator.
C
B
C
I
remember:
a
recent
project
was
like
a
like
a
call
center
type
of
thing,
I
think
maybe
for
the
water
department
or
something
makes
sense.
So
that's
a
that's.
A
great
point
is
that
there
are
a
lot
of
different
projects
and
you
know
we're
working
on
some
materials
to
just
help.
You
know
kind
of
Contracting
with
the
city
101.
You
know
how
how
to
even
get
started.
Thinking
through
that.
A
C
B
B
C
Really
geared
towards
more
towards
that
networking,
interaction
and
just
kind
of
getting
that
process
started
and,
at
the
same
time,
we're
hoping
to
have
that
you
know
guide,
hopefully
ready
by
that
time,
but
we're
thinking
through
all
right.
What
is
that
communication
and
information
sharing
process
look
like
so
we
know
that
there's
a
need
to
walk
through
the
steps,
but
you
can
always,
if
you're
a
vendor,
you
can
always
visit
the
website
and
get
more
information
on
each
project
on
the
bidding
and
Contracting
page.
B
Well,
I
love
that
you're
doing
this,
because
you
know
it's
Asheville
can
be
pretty
diverse
and
when
people
talk
about
diversity
they
say
that
you
know
different
backgrounds.
Different
genders
might
have
the
same
opportunities
right
now,
which
is
true,
but
at
the
same
time
there
is
that
historical
fallback
of
maybe
they
don't
have
the
same
resources
or
knowledge
on
how
to
play
for
the
bids
or
get
in
contact
with
some
people.
So
I
like
that
this
is
it's
a
very
important
process
that
you're
taking.
C
And
this
office
has,
you
know:
I
can't
tell
you
when,
like
the
minority
business
office,
and
so
this
work
has
been
going
on
for
a
really
long
time
and
kind
of
different
iterations,
and
so,
but
it
was
kind
of
when
we
had
the
dis.
The
first
disparity
studies
come
about
that
we
were
able
to
kind
of
adjust
or
create
a
policy
and
adjust
our
approach.
So
at.
C
C
C
B
I
know
that
right
now,
through
Communications
we're
working
on
expanding
with
different
departments
that
ask
for
contracts
like
capital
projects,
for
example,
to
see
if
they
have
access
to
multi-language
contracts,
because
maybe
there's
a
business,
maybe
local,
who
mostly
speak
Spanish
or
another
language,
and
see
how
we
can
get
that
local
economy.
You
know
moving
through
Asheville
because
we
do
care
about
looking
local
first,
so
you
know.
Do
you
know
how
many
people
are
part
of
these
mwb
or?
Is
that
something
that
people
sign
up
for.
C
So
we
do
have
an
mwbe
certification
process.
There
are
a
couple
of
I
think
folks
who
are
already
in
it
probably
are
aware,
but
so
the
city
of
Asheville
has
an
mwbe
certification
that
you
can
go
through
and
then
different
organizations
have
certifications
as
well,
that
kind
of
open
up
the
opportunities
a
little
bit
more.
So
if
I'm
a
business
owner
I
could
sign
up
for
this.
C
As
a
you
know,
women
on
a
business
there's
also
the
state,
has
a
program
and
the
Department
of
Transportation
has
a
program
that,
like
disadvantaged
business
enterprises
dves
and
that
really
kind
of
is
a
little
bit
of
a
broader
definition
than
what
we
use.
I
think
it
also
includes
maybe
a
like
a
veteran
population.
So
so
different
organizations
and
different
levels
of
government
use
different
certifications,
yeah.
C
C
So
businesses
are
as
a
vendor
with
the
city
and
and
through
that
process
and
through
the
mwbe
certification
we
can
understand
it's
kind
of
backend
information,
but
we
can
see
what
the
different
businesses
do,
and
so
that
is
a
is
a
way
that
we
can
contact.
Vendors
and
vendors
can
bid
on
different
projects.
Yeah
yeah.
C
C
B
C
C
C
B
C
C
So
this
program
is
really
geared
towards
business
owners
who
might
lack
a
collateral,
Financial
collateral
and
applying
for
traditional
loans,
and
so
it
really
you
know
the
the
whole
program
is
encourages
entrepreneurs
of
color
and
borrowers
with
limited
income
to
apply
and
and
so
this
fund
Mountain
Community
Capital
fund
I'm.
The
acronym
is
mccf,
so
I
might.
C
We
work
with
Carolina
Small
Business
Development
Fund,
Mountain,
Biz,
Works,
Self-Help,
Credit
Union.
Of
course
the
city
of
Asheville
participates
and,
as
does
Buncombe
County.
So
it's
a
really
collaborative
opportunity
to
provide
that
loan
guarantee
like
I,
said,
and
a
lot
of
the
loans
are
typically
in
the
range
between
5
000,
all
the
way
up
to
around
70
000.
B
Okay
well,
and
there
is
no-
is
there
like
I
forgot,
the
specific
way
to
say
this,
but
let's
say
that
you
know
it's
like
the
neighborhood
grants,
the
matching
grants-
it's
not
like
the
city
puts
five
thousand
and
I
have
supported
the
other
five
thousand.
It's
like
an
actual
loan
from
the
ground
up
right.
C
B
C
That's
a
great
question,
so
we
work
with
like
I
said
all
of
our
partners,
and
so
businesses
and
borrowers
who
are
interested
will
complete
a
standard
small
business
application
with
one
of
our
participating
lenders,
and
so
that
includes
the
Carolina
Small
Business
Development
Fund
Mountain
Biz
works
and
Self-Help
Credit
Union.
So
it
really,
though
this
Mountain
Community
Capital
fund
is
here.
It
really
kind
of
comes
in
a
little
later
in
the
process
and
process
kind
of
starts
at
The,
Lending
Institution.
A
B
C
Well,
like
I
said
you,
this
is,
will
apply
through
the
the
participating
lenders
and
so
they'll
work
with
you
to
understand
all
right
you're.
At
this
stage,
we
recommend
going
applying
for
this
loan
guarantee
or
if,
if
you're,
really,
maybe
just
in
the
ideation
phase,
that
might
point
you
in
a
different
direction.
A
C
Have
a
lot
of
technical
assistance
providers
in
our
community
and
and
so
getting
to
the
right
one
on
the
right
stage
of
your
business
can
be
really
helpful,
and
so
so
the
process
for
this
would
be.
You
know
you
work
with
that
lending
institution.
They
take
you
through
the
application
and
then
the
committee
considers
the
application.
So
that's
kind
of
where
that
that
committee
comes
into
play.
Gotta.
B
Get
it
so
well,
you
heard
from
Rachel
if
you're
an
entrepreneur
or
you
have
a
business
and
need
a
loan,
there's
more
options
than
just
going
to
the
bank
and
going
through
the
difficult
process
of
finding
collateral,
etc,
etc.
So
yeah
find
out
the
information.
The
name
of
this
I
don't
want
to
call
it
a
project,
but.
C
C
B
A
couple
different
ways,
I
know
I,
know
there's
so
much
content
in
the
website,
all
right.
So
now
that
we've
talked
about
the
event
and
this
fund.
Let's
talk
about
why
you
know
why
is
equity
in
business
so
important
and
you
know
we
have
the
obvious
answer
of
because
everyone
deserves
it,
but
you
know
from
your
professional
experience
like
what
do
you
see
different
one
different
backgrounds
of
people
do
business
with
the
city.
B
Just
you
know
the
opportunity
there
were
so
many
people
who
you
know.
Maybe
your
child
is
the
first
member
of
your
family
to
go
to
college,
which
is
great,
but
you
know
there
needs
to
be
more
than
just
going
to
college
that
needs
to
be
finding
a
job
or
creating
your
business
and
a
lot
of
the
times.
Those
resources
are
simply
not
there.
So
you
know
these
are
long-term
achievements.
We're
trying
to
accomplish
so
you
know
bringing
up
all
these
business
together.
That's
I
think
that's
a
very
honorable
thing
to
do
exactly.
C
C
You
are
in
your
journey,
even
if
you're,
just
considering
I,
think
I
have
an
idea.
There's
somebody
in
in
Asheville
who
can
help
you,
and
you
know
we
have
a
lot
of
complex
issues
that
our
whole
Community
is
needing
to
face
together,
and
one
part
that
that
this
division
is
trying
to
work
on
is
that
economic
piece
of
it.
C
B
I
know
I've
I've
been
working,
I've
been
seeing
the
commission
meetings
and
stuff
and
all
the
IFA
recommendations,
and
it's
good.
You
know
that
the
city
and
the
county
are
working
with
the
members
to
bring
out
these
recommendations
forward
and
I
just
wanted
to
say
to
the
just
the
importance
of
bringing
this
businesses
back.
Because
you
know
displacement
has
been
a
thing
historically
and
it's
good
to
have
this
backup
now
that
it's
finally
being
pushed
forward
exactly.
B
C
B
C
So
we
have,
let
me
see,
we've
got
Economic
Development
Specialists
was
just
posted
recently.
Our
department
also
has
a
business
services
administrator
position.
We've
got
the
business
inclusion
manager
position
that
we're
hiring
for
and
then
we're
working
on.
Another
position
around
the
city-owned
properties
and
kind
of
Redevelopment
things
like
that.
All.