Community Teamwork Inc. was recently on the receiving end of a $125,000 grant from MassDevelopment in an effort to help fund CTI’s Entrepreneurship Center. The funding will be focused towards the TDI Lowell ACRE Capacity Improvement Program, which will assist struggling small business owners in the Acre neighborhood district with an assessment of their business activities, identification of areas they could improve in, technical assistance from the Entrepreneurship Center, and stabilization funds business owners will use to pay for services that would bring about changes suggested by our staff.
The Entrepreneurship Center, formerly known as the Merrimack Valley Small Business Center, was founded in 1998 to provide technical assistance for low and very low-income entrepreneurs to help them create, sustain and grow micro-enterprises. Since its rebranding into the Entrepreneurship Center in 2019, its services have expanded throughout Middlesex and Essex County, and refocused its program offerings and service model to better serve the diverse needs of its disadvantaged micro-enterprise clients.
“This program will provide crucial holistic support to independent businesses in Lowell’s Acre neighborhood, a TDI District. The partnership between MassDevelopment and CTI’s Entrepreneurship Center is an exemplary government-nonprofit partnership in service to the community,” said Lowell Economic Development Director Ali Carter.
The Transformative Development Initiative (TDI) is MassDevelopment’s signature place-based economic development program for Gateway City downtowns and commercial districts. TDI uses an accelerator model, committing intensive resources for a defined period to real estate development, small business stability and growth, arts and cultural amenities, placemaking, and targeted technical assistance and strategic planning. This work is laid on a platform of community engagement and partnership development; the agency requires that cities assemble a cross-sector partnership to apply, and over the course of the program works to make the partnership more representative of the neighborhood and use it as a platform to grow sustaining, working relationships. First added to the TDI “toolkit” in 2017, in response to local partners demonstrating the need for direct funding for small-business support, TDI Local supports local market development by fostering business, resident, and property-owner engagement, building community identity, and improving the public realm in TDI districts.
“In working with the TDI Partnership for the Lowell Acre Community, we look forward to investing our time and effort in this community to help its businesses prosper. The location between UMass Lowell and the entire downtown corridor make this area potentially a conduit for business and cultural exchange. The area is attracting investment, changing before our very eyes while maintaining its essential character and I look forward to seeing the results,” said Entrepreneurship Center Director Charles Smith.
MassDevelopment, the state’s development finance agency and land bank, works with businesses, nonprofits, banks, and communities to stimulate economic growth across the Commonwealth. During FY2023, MassDevelopment financed or managed 545 projects generating investment of more than $2 billion in the Massachusetts economy. These projects are estimated to create or support 10,522 jobs and build or preserve 1,583 housing units.
About Community Teamwork
Established in 1965, Community Teamwork is a non-profit Community Action Agency (CAA) serving more than 55,000 individuals and families in the City of Lowell and the seven surrounding towns of Billerica, Chelmsford, Dracut, Dunstable, Tewksbury, Tyngsboro, and Westford. Community Teamwork also serves as a Community Development Corporation and as the Regional Housing Agency for the Merrimack Valley and the rest of the Northeastern Massachusetts, including 71 cities and towns inclusive of the North Shore and Cape Ann. Community Teamwork is a catalyst for social change. We strengthen communities and reduce poverty by delivering vital services and collaborating with key stakeholders to create housing, education and economic opportunities. Our vision is a community whose institutions, systems, and people support everyone’s opportunity to thrive. www.commteam.org