City's Department of Economic and Community Development Relocates to Main Street Station

The newly formed Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) has begun operations in its new office space within Main Street Station, 1500 East Main Street, Suite 400. The city recently consolidated and reorganized the community development, economic development and real estate services departments with the intent of establishing a robust economic and community development agency.

"DECD's move to Shockoe Bottom firmly anchors that department into the things that are quintessential to the city of Richmond; African-American heritage and historic themes manufacturing, general business, trade, transportation, government, literature, and architecture. The area presents a microcosm of Richmond. Further, locating DECD reflects again my administration's commitment to the Shockoe Bottom area," said Mayor Dwight C. Jones.

The relocation of DECD to Shockoe Bottom also represents a cost savings and creative use of an underutilized city-owned space. The city previously paid rent for the office space that held the former Department of Economic Development, as the property is not city-owned.

"It is useful that the department is located outside of City Hall and that it becomes part of a neighborhood. My goal is to position DECD to continue to spur new business development with the establishment of a revolving loan fund for small and minority businesses and neighborhood development," said Mayor Jones. "This proposed fund will provide access to a flexible source of capital that can be used in combination with more conventional sources. The fund level will be between $1.8 million and $2 million. The fund will be a self-replenishing pool of money providing gap financing to be used for development and expansion of small businesses."

For more information on the Department of Economic and Community Development, visit www.richmondgov.com/EconomicCommunityDevelopment.

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