WILMINGTON RENAISSANCE CORPORATION

WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
• Implement the Wilmington is Working Workforce Ecosystem Analysis comprehensive report that supports and scales ability to serve consumers through virtual recruitment, training, and launch.
o Identify organization and training verticals to allow student and staff online training.
o Provide equipment, systems, and support for up to 500 trainees to work/train remotely.
o Assist training programs in supporting partners to access services, enhance programming, and increase capacity via shared resources.
• Create a dashboard in partnership with National League of Cities and Compass Red that uses a lens of social determinants of health and equity (not centralized by City tracking).
• Coordinate/align organizations supporting entrepreneurs/small businesses with Black and Brown entrepreneurs through the Equitable Entrepreneurial Ecosystem (E3).
o Identify, recruit, train, launch, and support minority entrepreneur and small business owners via a concierge-based model.
o Identify relevant entrepreneurial-based organizations to engage, support, and shepherd up to 20 entrepreneurs.
o Assist up to 20 programs in providing wraparound support, resources, and an engagement network to meet growth goals and needs.
o Provide a unified access point to assess, triage, and assist entrepreneurs to launch or re-launch toward recovery.

PLACEMAKING
The Alliance will engage Interface Studios to evaluate our ongoing, long-term, successful creative placemaking work in West Center City to create a plan that would expand this work into the City’s Northeast neighborhood.

CAPACITY BUILDING
The Alliance will seek to expand our staff by adding the following personnel:
• Director of Economic Development and Inclusion
• Business Development Coordinator
• Creative Placemaking Coordinator
• Paid internship for Placemaking support

REBUILDING WILMINGTON’S ECONOMY
Wilmington is Working Workforce Ecosystem Analysis is a comprehensive environmental scan and workforce report with goals and recommended actions. The multi-partner Wilmington is Working Equitable Technology Fund seeks to close the digital divide by providing nonprofits with devices for online training participants.
Equitable Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Wilmington (E3), a partnership with Pete du Pont Freedom Foundation, supports entrepreneurs of color. Mayor Purzycki supports this initiative and has joined National League of Cities’ City Innovation Ecosystem Program. Wilmington Strong Fund partnership provides grants to help small Black- and Brown-owned businesses recover from Covid-19 and stabilize communities. Wilmington Made incentivizes shopping locally.

SOCIAL INTERVENTION FOR VIOLENCE PREVENTION
We work with the Community Intervention Team, which utilizes both prevention – the Mentoring, Education, Employment and Trust (M.E.E.T.) program (youth under 18) and intensive case management (young adults 13-25) – to address systemic conditions creating inequity and contributing to violence.

NEIGHBORHOOD REVITALIZATION
Interlocking projects support both community needs and our pillars of work. Projects include transforming vacant parcels to green spaces like 7th & West Streets Park/Community Garden (a reclaimed brownfield) and The Rock Lot. At the Art O Mat (7th & Washington Streets), a former nuisance property will become a multi-use space with pop-up retail. The Kitchen Incubator (with Grace U.M. Church) will provide commercial kitchen space for culinary entrepreneurs.

Wilmington Alliance was created in 2019 by merging Wilmington Renaissance Corporation and Wilmington Leaders Alliance. All Alliance initiatives involve equitable wealth creation in the traditionally marginalized Wilmington communities of Black and Brown residents. This is done through 3 major pillars of work:

REBUILDING WILMINGTON’S ECONOMY
Wilmington is Working Workforce Ecosystem Analysis is an environmental scan of our workforce development landscape. This comprehensive report will identify stakeholders (unemployed/underemployed); support providers/employers; service arrays; gaps; and areas of opportunity. It will generate goals and recommendations for a robust pipeline of recruitment, training, placement, support, and follow-up, with benchmarks, timelines, and outputs. The multi-partner effort includes work to close the digital divide through the Wilmington is Working Equitable Technology Fund, where nonprofits with online job training programs can receive devices for participants.

Equitable Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Wilmington (E3): A partnership with Pete du Pont Freedom Foundation, The Equitable Entrepreneurial Ecosystem (E3 Wilmington) supports entrepreneurs of color. It connects strategic partners to support entrepreneurs with Entrepreneurship Coaching/Business Planning; Marketing/Promotion; IT/Infrastructure; and Space Planning/Access to Funding. Mayor Purzycki offered full support for this much-needed initiative, including joining National League of Cities’ City Innovation Ecosystem Program as a cohort city.

Wilmington Strong Fund: This fund (a partnership with Cornerstone West CDC, City of Wilmington, True Access, Cinnaire, and DE Division of Small Business) provides grants to help small businesses (Black- and Brown-owned) recover from Covid-19 and stabilize communities. Wilmington Made, a shop-local initiative, expands on our 2019 Market Made and West Side Made campaigns. Designed in partnership with other economic development organizations, it will market, celebrate, and incentivize shopping locally.

SOCIAL INTERVENTION FOR VIOLENCE PREVENTION
The Alliance works with the Community Intervention Team, which utilizes preventive Mentoring, Education, Employment and Trust (M.E.E.T.) program, for youth under age 18, and intensive case management, for young adults 13-25, to address structural and systemic conditions that create inequity and contribute to violence.

NEIGHBORHOOD REVITALIZATION
We create vibrant communities where individuals have the opportunity to live, work, thrive, and succeed. Projects include reclaiming vacant, often-polluted parcels for community designed green spaces like 7th and West Sts Park and Community Garden and The Rock Lot. Both now are locations for free quality community arts programming, Farmers Markets, and Farm Share pick-up.

The Art O Mat (7th and Washington Streets) turns a former nuisance property into a multi-use space with pop-up retail for arts programming and entrepreneurship support.

WRC PLACEMAKING
7th & West Streets Park. We purchased and remediated a 9-parcel brownfield to create a community park/garden (opened November 2019). Investment by multiple funders (including mortgage held by the Alliance and the State) totaled $1.3 million.

The Rock Lot. Popular arts programming: Drumming Circle, jazz nights, spoken word events, Capoeira workshops, bi-weekly Farm share pick up, Farmers Market. Programming suspended in March 2020 due to Covid-19.

Art O Mat. This project is advancing. After recent unanimous City Council property transfer approval, we are negotiating settlement with the City. Breckstone Architects and the Challenge Program are design/construction partners. The interior is demolished; remediation work is completed. The Land Bank approved us to take ownership of the adjacent vacant lot.

WLA WORK
Workforce Development
• In March 2020, WLA had to pause its programs Universal Banker and Construction Helper (with Generation, whose Wilmington staff was furloughed).
• Prior to March 2020 Wilmington is Working engaged the City’s largest employers to launch soft skills/targeted job training for construction/financial services industries.
• Partnering with Generation, we developed/implemented a workforce training curriculum. In 10 months, it graduated 90 students (18/Construction, 72/ Universal Banker).
• Programs collectively reported 92% placement into employment.

Violence Prevention
Social Contract completed the “Discovery Phase:” ecosystem landscape analysis; national best practices research; talent recruitment; and a plan to address violence among youth/young adults. This led to the “Implementation Phase.” Changes (approved by Longwood February 2020) called for $250,000 investment in the Community Intervention Team (CIT) Street Outreach program. Outcomes called for at least 30 youth under age 18 to complete the program with a culminating project and at least 20 high-risk youth and young adults (13-25) to participate in intensive case management. The following has been accomplished:
• Wilmington Alliance released $250,000 of funding.
• 813 N. Tattnall Street location was secured but (due to COVID-19) programming and case management is now virtual.
• M.E.E.T Program: Cohort #1 – 14 youth recruited, 10 completed; Cohort #2 – 6 recruited.
• Intensive case management: 2 case managers continue with 15-client load; 6 individuals starting employment and training program.