Your Monthly Update
from the Community Development Partnership
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A Word from Jay...
Our mission as non-profit community development corporation is to nurture a vibrant Lower Cape region by promoting environmental and economic sustainability, expanding opportunities for low- and moderate-income residents, and preserving our unique cultural and historic character. And the strategies we undertake to fulfill our mission focus around creating homes that are affordable to year-round residents and supporting small businesses with training, technical assistance and access to capital.
For the past six months, through a comprehensive strategic planning process we have been assessing the strategies we should undertake to ensure vibrant and healthy year-round communities on the Lower and Outer Cape. Our consultants conducted some 40 key informant interviews and convened two focus groups in preparation for a day long board and staff retreat.
At the day long retreat, we identified four strategic priorities:
- Affordable Housing Management & Development: As the leading nonprofit affordable housing organization on the Lower Cape, the CDP needs to evaluate the organization’s role in housing development and scale its activities to address the critical need for more permanently affordable and well-managed housing.
- Economic Development: Revamp the CDP’s economic development programs to focus on supporting family-sustaining year-round jobs and greater economic opportunity for Lower Cape residents.
- Mission, Name & Brand: Revise the CDP’s Mission to be a bold statement that focuses on ending the decline of year-round residents on the Lower & Outer Cape and supporting a more diverse year-round population. Revisit CDP’s name and brand to ensure both align with our mission.
- Community Engagement: Strengthen the CDP’s capacity to engage with residents of the Lower Cape in ways that value diversity and include all segments of the community to actively participate in the CDP’s programs and activities and influence regional priorities.
Over the next six months of the new year, our board and staff through a strategic planning committee will explore new initiatives, evaluate existing efforts and make recommendations to improve our work to create opportunities for people to live, work and thrive on the Lower Cape. I look forward to sharing the results of this process with you and welcome hearing your thoughts about how we can respond to the challenges our region faces in preserving a healthy and vibrant year-round community.
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Jay Coburn
Chief Executive Officer
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Harbor Hill: A new market rate rental community
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"It was really all about stability"
Chris Cardia
Resident, Harbor Hill
Over the past 20 years, the affordability and availability of year-round rental housing on the Outer and Lower Cape has greatly diminished as existing year-round rental housing has been acquired by second home owners and largely rented as short-term vacation rentals. On-line vacation rental platforms have accelerated this conversion and the town of Provincetown has led the way in seeing its inventory of year-round rental housing affordable for working families disappear from the market.
A 2018 study by UMass Dartmouth entitled
Understanding the Housing Needs and Challenges Facing Provincetown, Massachusetts,
explains the negative impact of the short-term vacation rental market on the availability of year-round rentals. The owner of a two-bedroom condominium in Provincetown renting their unit for the 20-week tourism season at $254 a night could potentially net more than $34,000 annually for a unit that could otherwise rent for a market rate rent of $1,300 per month or $15,600 per year. Even if a property owner rented the unit for only half of the summer season, they would still earn more than they would if it were rented on a year-round basis. These market forces have led to a severe shortage of year-round rental apartments for working people who earn too much to qualify for traditional affordable housing
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Supporting Local Business
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Grant King: Building you business through the CDP's Technical Assistance Program
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“Thanks to Pam, I get to work with more like-minded people. I find that very satisfying.”
Grant King
Freelance Graphic Designer, Provincetown
After spending more than 30 years living and working in New York City, Grant King decided it was time for a change. In 2017 Grant left the city and settled year-round in Provincetown. He had lived in town a number of years ago and has returned annually ever since. When a friend asked him why he hadn’t moved back yet, Grant knew it was time. “It was really on an impulse, but after more than a few years of research,” he says. Having been a regular visitor to Provincetown, Grant was aware of the challenges he would face making Provincetown his year-round home.
The Provincetown Commons, a co-working space opened in 2018, has been an important part of Grant’s transition out of city life. “When I learned about The Commons I knew I could make this work,” reflects Grant. It is at the Provincetown Commons where Grant met the CDP’s Director of Business & Credit Programs Pam Andersen. Pam hosts office hours at different venues across the Lower Cape, including once a month at the Provincetown Commons.
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Judy Keller on Making an Impact
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“We are again seeing an emphasis placed on shopping at local establishments to create a neighborhood feeling and the CDP is instrumental in helping small businesses realize this effort.”
Judy Keller, Orleans
Sixteen years ago Judy Keller, a retired math teacher of 35 years, arrived on the Cape with her partner Carolyn, a former Girl Scouts of the USA executive, ready to start another chapter of their lives. They settled in Orleans where they live with Carol’s 97-year-old mother.
Judy has been a supporter of the CDP for over 10 years and was first introduced to the organization by former CDP Board member Florence Seldin and current Board member Fran McClennen. When Judy was determining which organizations she wanted to support, it was the CDP’s work in economic development and Housing Rehabilitation that really sparked her interest.
Judy is also a member of the local Jewish congregation Am Ha Yam and serves on their Board of Directors. “Organizations that make an impact in the lives of people living in my local community are important to me,” says Judy.
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CDP Increases small business loan maximum
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The Community Development Partnership has good news for small businesses on the Lower Cape. It has increased the maximum amount that may be borrowed through its small business loan program from $40,000 to $50,000. The maximum amount of $40,000 dollars was set 17 years ago and has remained unchanged since. Increasing the maximum loan amount will help the CDP better meet the needs of the local small business community, by allowing them to fulfill a wider range of loan requests.
The business loan program is designed to help low to moderate income small business owners on the Lower and Outer Cape, who may not be in the position to receive a bank loan. Loans are available to both startup and established businesses. Loans serve a number of uses including, but not limited to the purchase equipment, provide startup capital, and provide cash flow to a business. CDP small business clients have included yogis, artists, mechanics, fishermen, landscapers, chocolatiers, baristas and restaurateurs.
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Business & Credit Workshops
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Save the Date! Upcoming Small Business Workshops
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QuickBooks Help Sessions
January 9
3:00 - 5:00
CDP Offices, Eastham
January 20
1:00 - 3:00
CDP Offices, Eastham
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Do you use QuickBooks Online or QuickBooks Desktop? Are you having trouble, stuck on something or are things just not working right? Where do you go for help? Come to the CDP’s QuickBooks Help Sessions on Monday or Thursday afternoons and get your questions answered. The CDP will run these sessions September - December. Get your records together now, be ready for tax season, and start off the new year on the right foot!
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SCORE Individual Business Counseling
January 23
9:00 - 1:00
CDP Offices, Eastham
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Upcoming small business assistance office hours
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Chatham Works
January 7
3:00 pm - 6:00 pm
323 Orleans Rd
CDP Offices, Eastham
January 14
10:00 am - 1:00 pm
3 Main Street Mercantile Unit 18A
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Harwich Cultural Center
January 9
10:00 am - 1:00 pm
204 Sisson Road
Provincetown Commons
January 28
10:00 am - 1:00 pm
46 Bradford Street
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Drop in or make an appointment to talk with CDP staff to address a variety of topics including record keeping, QuickBooks, business planning, cash flow projections, steps to starting a business, setting goals and much more.
Drop-Ins are welcome, but those with a scheduled appointment will be given preference. These sessions are free to Lower Cape small businesses.
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CDP Partners with WE CAN to bring programs
to the Outer Cape
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This Place Matters
our bi-weekly radio & television show
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Tune in
92.1 WOMR & 91.3 WFMR
Wednesdays 12:30pm
Join host Jay Coburn & guests to learn more
about activities affecting the people and places on the Lower and Outer Cape.
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January 15
: Join
SCORE Volunteer Justina Carlson
and
Pam Anderson
the
CDP's Director of Business & Credit Programs
as they discuss SCORE mentoring.
January 29
: Join
Brad Schiff
of
Pierce-Co
t
é Advertising
as he discusses the CDP's "We Can't Afford to Lose the People Who Can't Afford to Live Here" media campaign.
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Thank you
for supporting the work we do to make the Lower Cape a place where we can all
live, work
and
thrive
!
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