Your Monthly Update
from the Community Development Partnership
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A Word from Jay...
The CDP’s mission is to lead the Lower Cape in building a diverse year-round community of people who can afford to live, work and thrive here. The programs and services we provide to develop and manage affordable housing, and nurture the launch and growth of small businesses are key to achieving our mission. An equally vital part of our work is serving as advocates and facilitating collaboration with business, non-profit and government partners.
Our work as advocates takes on many forms. In this issue of our monthly E-news you will find an Op-Ed I co-wrote for the Provincetown Independent with my colleague Hadley Luddy of the Homeless Prevention Council in which we advocate that $3.8 Million in additional rooms tax revenue generated by the new short-term rental tax be used to create more affordable housing in our Outer and Lower Cape Towns.
Later this month, we will join other housing advocates working on the Cape and Islands in a meeting organized with our State House Delegation to focus on solutions at the state level that can help us meet our housing affordability challenges.
Advancing better policy in our eight towns and sharing our experience with advocates at the state and federal level is critical to achieving our mission. And your support of our efforts helps us to ensure the vitality and strength of the people who live here throughout the year.
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Jay Coburn
Chief Executive Officer
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Supporting Local Business
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Adventure Decor: Taking the steps towards recovery
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“I was so stressed with my business at the time, I don’t think I would have finished the application were it not for Pam.”
Rashida Jamieson
Owner, Adventure Decor
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For even the most experienced and successful small business owners, the COVID-19 pandemic has created unprecedented challenges. To help alleviate the burden, the town of Truro was awarded $400,000 in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Funds to provide forgivable loans of up to $10,000 for Lower Cape small businesses.
The forgivable loan program is targeted to help very small businesses, micro-enterprises, with fewer than five employees. Many of these businesses were not a good fit for other programs such as the Payroll Protection Program. To be eligible, business owners must be of low to moderate-income and demonstrate significant losses due to the pandemic.
The Community Development Partnership was chosen by the town to administer these funds, and we began accepting applications in the early fall. Adventure Decor owner Rashida Jamieson has been in business for over a decade, and was one the first to apply for and receive a loan.
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*Photo: Rashida in her Orleans store
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Harbor Hill: Housing is good for business
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“There are a lot of people who want to live here and give back to and contribute to the community but can’t, because they can’t afford it.”
Erik Borg
Co-founder Provincetown Brewing Company
Resident, Harbor Hill
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The culture, beaches and natural beauty of Provincetown attracts visitors from across the country. While many would love to live and work here full time, rising housing costs are making that increasingly difficult. In an effort to provide more opportunities for year-round rental housing, the town of Provincetown acquired Harbor Hill, a former timeshare development and converted the condos into market rate rentals. Erik Borg, a co-owner of Provincetown Brewing Company is one of the people who now has a stable, affordable home at Harbor Hill.
Erik is a Minnesota native, but moved to Boston for a job after college. While living there he made frequent trips to Provincetown. “We would go to Provincetown almost every weekend,” he says, “it's really when I fell in love with the town.”
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*Photo: Erik working at the brewery prior to the Covid-19 pandemic
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Supporter Spotlight: Anne Sigsbee and Cecil Newcomb
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“The CDP is recognized as the go to place when it comes to housing and economic
development issues.”
Anne Sigsbee
CDP Supporter
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“My history with the CDP goes way back,” says Anne Sigsbee. In 1993, she and her husband Andy, who died in 2012, moved to Eastham from Worcester with their 8-year-old daughter. “We had these wonderful neighbors, Joe and Sandy Bayne, who immediately started connecting us with a number of non-profits on the Cape.” The Community Development Partnership was among the first that caught their attention.
“When we first arrived and started working here we soon realized why there were so many social service organizations serving the Lower and Outer Cape,” recalls Anne. “It became apparent to me that there were two worlds on the Lower Cape – one in which people were comfortable and another where people struggled.” Anne soon found herself supporting and volunteering at several non-profits including Cape Cod Children’s Place (CCCP), where she served as a Board member, and the Lower Cape Outreach Council (LCOC).
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OP-ED: Use Rooms Tax Dollars for Housing
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Local governments must intervene to solve year-round rental crisis
By Jay Coburn and Hadley Luddy
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Over the past two decades, year-round rental apartments have all but vanished on the Outer Cape as their owners have discovered how much more lucrative it is to rent their homes and condos to visitors to our beautiful region in the summer and shoulder seasons. The advent of online rental platforms such as Airbnb and HomeAway (now VRBO) accelerated the loss of rental housing for people who live and work in our communities year-round.
A 2018 study, conducted by the Public Policy Center at UMass Dartmouth for the town of Provincetown, documented how workers cannot compete with visitors who are willing and able to pay premium prices for short-term rentals. The simple truth is that property owners stand to earn significantly more through short-term rentals than year-round market-rate rentals.
The study found that renting a unit on Airbnb every night from May through September could potentially net more than $34,000 annually. Renting that same unit year-round to a local worker for $1,300 per month generates only $15,600 in a year — a difference of $18,400. Even if the property owner rented that unit for only half of the summer season, it would still produce slightly more income than it would if the unit were rented year-round.
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Additional Funds Released for Small Business
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If your business meets the following criteria, you could be eligible for a
- Your business is located on the Lower and Outer Cape
- Your business was established prior to 10/1/2019
- Your business currently has 5 or fewer employees
- You make less than 80% of the area median income
- You are able to show your business had a decrease in sales or net income from 2019 to 2020
Funds are limited and will be distributed on first come, first serve basis. Loans can be used for rent, utilities, staffing, inventory, or costs to pivot your business due to COVID-19.
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This regional grant to the Town of Truro is funded by Community Development Block Grant (CDBG-CV) funds administered by the Massachusetts Dept. of Housing and Community Development.
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Business & Credit Workshops
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Update on Business & Credit Workshops
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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 would like to schedule an appointment, please reach out to Pam Andersen at pam@capecdp.org or 508-240-7873 x18.
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Get Free Small Business Assistance
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Its the start of a new year and whether you need assistance preparing for tax season, QuickBooks help, or guidance on making a a business plan for 2021, the CDP is here to support you.
Director of Business and Credit Programs Pam Andersen is available for free small business help over the phone or via Zoom. Find a time that fits in to your schedule so you can get the assistance you need to prepare your business for success this year!
Click the link below to schedule a 30 or 60 minute appointment!
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Webinar: Navigating the Alphabet Soup of Food Safety
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Join the CDP and Cape Cod Cooperative Extension Food Safety Educators for a FREE 1-hour webinar as an introduction to farm food safety.
Confused about farm and food safety lingo? Curious about value added products or marketing Grandma’s pickle recipe with your farm grown cukes? Have you tried to sell at a retail store and get ‘you’re not certified’? Been Selling direct to consumer and gearing up for the ‘scale up’? Join us and learn the next steps for your business.
When: February 8, 1:00 - 2:00 PM
OR
March 8, 10:00 - 11:00 PM
Where: Remote via Zoom
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Legal Consultations for Small Business
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Attorney Melanie O'Keefe from the law firm La Tanzi, Spaulding and Landreth will be hosting free 30-minute consultations to answer questions related to small business law including:
- Best orginizational format for your business
- Partnership agreements
- Liability issues
Dates: February 9 and March 9
Time: 9:30 AM - 11:30 AM
Where: Via phone call
To book your FREE 30-minute consultation call or email Marina at
WE CAN - 508-430-8111 or marina@wecancenter.org
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Additional COVID-19 Resources for Businesses
We have created a separate page on our website that is a compilation of resources for local businesses, including various SBA, unemployment and other federal programs.
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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.
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Thank you for supporting our efforts to support the Lower Cape community during this crisis.
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