The City of Richmond announced the launch of the Richmond Recovers II Grant Program for small businesses. The program is funded with $2 million from the city’s CARES Act appropriation and will be administered by the Economic Development Authority of the City of Richmond. This new grant program comes on the heels of the Richmond Recovers Grant Program which has approved 260 grants totaling $2.79 million.   “Small businesses are the backbone of our local economy, and COVID-19 continues to impact them disproportionately,” said Mayor Stoney. “This funding is not nearly enough to solve the problem, but it will help. We will continue to work to secure more support from the federal government until Richmond has fully recovered.”   Grants in the amount of $15,000 will be awarded to small businesses. Grant funds can be used to reimburse the costs of employee wages including the cost of benefits; rent and utilities for commercial workspaces; PPE and cleaning supplies; E-commerce ...

Richmond scores 100 on 2020 Municipal Equality Index Scorecard The City of Richmond has scored a 100 on the Human Rights Campaign’s Municipal Equality Index Scorecard, a national measurement of a locality’s policies, practices and procedures in place to fight discrimination against LGBTQ+ individuals.     When Mayor Stoney took office, Richmond’s MEI score was 42. Since then, it has climbed to 100, making Richmond the municipality with the fastest growing and one of the net highest equality ratings in the entire Commonwealth.   “This city has made an immense amount of progress toward true equality in the past four years,” said Mayor Stoney. “Since 2017, we’ve been fighting to tackle the systemic injustices that reduce quality of life for LGBTQ+ individuals, and especially LGBTQ+ people of color.”   This year, city leadership increased Richmond’s MEI score by adopting city contractor non-discrimination practices.   State level a...

Richmonders encouraged to weigh in on a tourism and economic development opportunity Starting today, Richmonders can take a survey asking what they believe the city should consider in a proposal for a potential resort casino in Richmond. The survey will be open through 11:59 p.m. on December 14. The results of this survey will inform the Request for Qualifications/Proposals (RFQ/P) document, which will begin the competitive process to select a resort casino operator and site. The RFQ/P will outline the expectations the city and its residents have for a complete and competitive development proposal. This survey is only the beginning of community engagement for a potential resort casino development. The selection process will consider community feedback, and a citywide voter referendum will determine if Richmond moves forward with the project.  “A competitive selection process will allow us to assess the best opportunity for Richmond,” said Mayor Stoney. “This survey is your opportu...

Sale allows city to save more than $41 million in additional interest costs over next 20 years; reduce s   payment period for new school construction by five year s F ollows reaffirmed AA+ bond rating by Fitch and Standard & Poors, Aa1 rating by Moody’s   Based on a competitive bidding process finalized on November 19, on December 10, 2020, the City of Richmond will close on its $103.5 million tax-exempt General Obligation (GO) Bonds, Series 2020A in order to issue new debt for city and schools projects, and its $51.6 million taxable Series 2020B bonds to refund existing debt service for interest rate savings.   Through the tax-exempt bond sale, the city is avoiding about $41.6 million in additional interest payments over the next 20 years compared to previous borrowing assumptions.   The overall true interest cost of funds for the city’s 2020A Bonds was approximately 1.42 percent, which is the lowest cost of long-term GO bonds for city and schools projects in th...

The Task Force to Reimagine Public Safety today publicized its final recommendations to the Stoney administration.   Click here to read the report.  The final recommendations come after the task force met twice monthly for three months. The task force’s three subgroups met weekly throughout that time.    Statement from Mayor Stoney:   “I’m mindful and appreciative of the emphasis the task force placed on equity and restorative justice throughout the process. The report is firmly rooted both in those shared values and an acknowledgement of the difficulty of changemaking on a large, permanent scale.  “My administration is committed to starting the necessary work to turn these recommendations into the policies, procedures and practices required to make this a safer city for each and every resident.    “Building the long-term, innovative, equitable public safety infrastructure envisioned in this report will take sustained effort, community engagement ...

Application materials are available here Applications for the city’s General Fund non-departmental grants, which go to local organizations to fund community-oriented programming, are now available on the city website.     Eligible organizations may apply for the city to fund specific programming in three key priority areas: children, youth and education; housing, human services and health; and the arts and culture. Additionally, this application continues to be the form for all quasi-governmental organizations to apply for city funding.   This is a one-year funding opportunity for non-profits and public sector organizations working on a grassroots level to promote equity in the City of Richmond.    A virtual informational workshop will be held in early December to assist applicants with completing their materials. Information on that opportunity will be available on the same webpage as the application materials,  here.   All proposal materials are due ...

The City of Richmond Office of Community Wealth Building (OCWB) Ambassadors have partnered with Richmond Public Schools and the Virginia Health Department to launch the Virtual Learning Project (VLP) in Richmond Redevelopment & Housing Authority (RRHA) communities.   The Virtual Learning Project is a community engagement response to ensure RPS students and families have what they need for a productive day of learning.   Each school day, a “Community Connector” will be responsible for safely checking in with each household and student to ensure they are prepared to learn. This will include offering support to parents, engaging students, and helping students gain access to the resources RPS provides every day, like online programming, meal distribution, and tutoring sessions.   “Considering the expansive network of support the city, school district and nonprofit community offer, sometimes the most valuable resource for families is a trusted navigator,” said Mayor Stoney...