Community Wealth City:
Denver, Colorado

With its population rebounding in the 1990s due to an influx of young Americans from across the country and a surge of Mexican immigrants, Denver recovered from large population losses it experienced in the 1980s. According to the US Census Bureau's 2006 American Community Survey, Denver's population was 570,000. As of 2006, the city was 55 percent white, 32 percent Latino, 10 percent African American, and 3 percent Asian. Sixty-two percent of the city's foreign-born residents have arrived in the last ten years and Mexicans represent about 25 percent of the city's total population. Additionally, residents in the their 20s and early 30s now make up Denver's largest age groups.

The Mile High City is also a leader in transit-oriented development, one of Denver's many contributions to community wealth building. For instance, the T-REX project, approved by voters in 1999, built a new 19 mile double-track light rail transit system with 13 new LRT stations, many of which have become the sites of transit-oriented development projects. Following the success of T-REX, voters in 2004 approved a sale tax to finance FasTracks, a $6.2 billion, 12-year comprehensive plan to build 122 miles of new light rail and commuter rail, 18 miles of bus rapid transit services, 57 new transit stations, and 21,000 additional parking spaces at transit park-n-rides, was approved by voters in 2004. These new stations will allow many more opportunities for transit-oriented development.

Denver is also home to other notable community wealth initiatives. The Urban Land Conservancy contributes to the surrounding community in a variety of ways, helping to secure land so that it remains affordable for schools, affordable housing, and office space for non-profits, while also providing financing and coordination to local community projects and initiatives. Another organization, Belay Enterprises, founded Bud's Warehouse, a career and life-skills training social enterprise that employs individuals rebuilding their lives from addiction, homelessness, or prison. Bud's Warehouse has since become a successful home improvement store and has now expanded to three additional locations.

An overview of community wealth building efforts follows:

Community Development Corporations

Colorado Coalition for the Homeless
www.coloradocoalition.org/site/PageServer
Established in 1984, the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless works to prevent homelessness and to create solutions to stem future homelessness. CCH currently manages over 1,000 affordable housing units and integrates services and programs into those housing communities, in order to support residents who struggle with homelessness.

Community Resource Center
www.crcamerica.org/about
Providing training, technical assistance and consultation to community-based organizations in Colorado and across the country, the Community Resource Center, established in 1981, has helped train more than 400 nonprofit leaders and, in 2001, published an online database called Colorado Grants Guide, providing information about funding sources for nonprofits throughout the state.

Del Norte Community Development Corporation
www.delnortendc.org
Del Norte's mission is to create and preserve housing and other opportunities for underserved households, including those that are low and moderate income, Spanish-speaking and those with special needs. In 2003 alone, the organization assisted 120 first-time homebuyers.

Hope Communities
www.hopecommunities.org
Founded in 1980 with the mission of providing affordable housing to residents of Denver, Hope Communities has since expanded to include programs in education and community building. Hope Communities owns 350 affordable rental units throughout Denver for residents earning less than 80 percent of Denver’s median income.

Northeast Denver Housing Center
www.nedenverhousing.org/index.php
Northeast Denver Housing Center works to create affordable housing for low- to medium-income households. Founded in 1982, to date NDHC has developed and manages 55 units of affordable housing and 500 rental housing units, including 16 green affordable housing units.

NEWSED Community Development Corporation
www.newsed.org
Having served the Denver Latino community for more than 34 years, NEWSED CDC focuses its community economic development in the La Alma/Lincoln Park neighborhood and West Denver. NEWSED’s has helped revitalize Santa Fe Drive between 5th Avenue and Colfax Avenue, bringing in more than 350 businesses and 3,000 jobs. NEWSED has also developed over 500,000 square feet of housing and retail/commercial real estate, including two shopping centers.

Rocky Mountain HDC, Inc.
www.rmhdc1.qwestoffice.net
Rocky Mountain HDC, Inc. has, since its founding in 1995, developed 200 units of affordable housing for low- and medium-income Denver residents and has provide other social service aid to community members through its Family Services Program.

Rocky Mountain Communities
www.RMMHA.org
Rocky Mountain Communities, established in 1992, manages 1,000 units of affordable housing throughout Colorado, including 500 within Denver. RMC also provides a variety of support services for families.

Community Development Financial Institutions

Mile High Community Loan Fund
www.mhclf.org
Founded in 1999 as a community-based, nonprofit organization to administer a loan fund and provide early-stage capital for developers of affordable housing, Mile High Community Loan Fund grew out of a joint initiative between and received initial capital from the City and County of Denver, Fannie Mae Foundation, Enterprise Foundation, and U.S. Bank, including $3 million in grant funds from the City of Denver. Now a $12 million loan fund, MHCLF has expanded its geographical target area to include fifteen counties throughout the state and has continued to secure new investments, including $2.35 million in 2007 from five new investors.

Native American Bank
www.nabna.com
Native American Bank was founded in 2001 by a group of Tribal Nations and Alaska Native Corporations. The Bank aims to (1) serve as an engine for Indian economic development, (2) establish a significant Indian presence in the financial marketplace, and (3) project the growing economic power of tribes and Indian businesses onto the national scene.

Community Land Trust

Colorado Community Land Trust
www.coloradoclt.org
Originally focusing on the redevelopment of the former Lowry Air Force Base, the Colorado CLT, was founded in 2002 as the Lowry CLT. In 2006, the land trust expanded its reach to the entire Denver metropolitan area. CCLT has developed more than 150-units of permanently affordable housing.

Cooperatives

Denver Community Credit Union
www.dcfcu.coop/index.php
Open to anyone in the City and County of Denver, the Denver Community Credit Union, established in 1934, helped form the Colorado Credit Union League, which now has over a 144 member credits unions and represents one in three Colorado citizens. DCCU, with more than $200 million in assets, is also heavily involved in the community, assisting 1,000 adults and youth with free financial education and supporting over 40 community organizations in 2007.

Denver Co-op
www.denvercoop.com
Currently conducting business online and looking to open a retail grocery store in Denver, the Denver Co-op sells local organically grown vegetarian foods and products. Committed to community growth and to providing an open and welcome space to everyone, the Denver Co-op also has ambitions to include a café and community event/meeting space.

Cross Sectoral

Urban Land Conservancy
www.urbanlandc.org
Founded in 2003, the Urban Land Conservancy acquires, develops, and preserves community land and assets in urban areas for schools, affordable housing, and office space for non-profits. Securing land at today’s prices allows ULC to ensure that the space will remain affordable and accessible for future community endeavors. ULC also provides capital, resources, and coordination to other organizations for community development projects.

Employee Ownership

CH2M Hill, Inc.
www.ch2m.com/corporate
With more than 24,000 employees and $5.1 billion in revenue, CH2M Hill, Inc. is a 100- percent employee owned global engineering and operations business. Consistently ranking near or at the top in performance in its various fields, it has also won numerous awards for its environmental and sustainable approach and for having an excellent employee work environment.

GH Phipps
www.geraldhphipps.com
Founded in 1952, GH Phipps is a full service Construction Manager/General Contractor, involved in the medical, education, religious, high-tech, commercial, and public arenas. With revenues exceeding $280 million and over 100 employee owners, GH Phipps is one of Colorado’s largest contractors and was responsible for constructing Invesco Field, home of the Denver Broncos, at Mile High.

Trinidad Benham Corporation
www.trinidadbenham.com
Worker-owned with 500 employees, Trinidad Benham Corporation is the largest independent marketer of dry edible beans in the United States and the second largest spooler of household aluminum foil in the U.S.

Green Collar Jobs

Greenprint Denver
www.greenprintdenver.org
Launched by the City of Denver in 2006, Greenprint Denver is a five-year, citywide plan that seeks to reduce global warming emissions by 20 percent through a wide range of energy efficiency measures. The project also aims to position the City of Denver to be a regional center for balanced and renewable energy and green industries by creating 1,000 new training and job opportunities in these areas for metro Denver residents by 2011
Transit Oriented Development

Metropolitan Council
www.metrocouncil.org
Founded in 1967 to coordinate planning and development within the Twin Cities metropolitan area, the Metropolitan Council provides transportation, water utility, housing, and park and open space services. It has also overseen the development of the Central Corridor Light Rail Transit, whose ridership has already surpassed 2020 projections. Additionally, new commercial and retail activity has opened all along the line and property values near the corridor have increased an additional 22 percent compared to the rest of the city.

Individual Wealth Building

Mile High United Way: Assets for Family Success Program
www.unitedwaydenver.org
Denver’s United Way chapter has been a national leader in the use of match-savings individual development accounts (IDAs). Since the program began, 1,118 savers have opened an IDA, and more than $2 million has been invested in the community through their investment of savings and match funds.

Municipal Enterprise

Denver Convention Center Hotel Project
www.denverconventionhotel.com
The City of Denver decided to use public ownership as a strategy to finance the development of a 37-floor, 1,100-room hotel with 1.25 million square feet of building area to support its convention center. The facility opened in December 2005 and is managed by the Hyatt Regency hotel chain.

Denver Housing Authority
www.dhanet.com/DHA
The Denver Housing Authority provides affordable housing to more than 23,000 individuals representing 9,400 very low- to medium-income families in Denver. Governed by a nine-member Board of Commissioners appointed by the Mayor of Denver, DHA owns and operates 3,800 conventional public housing units, nearly 700 subsidized multi-family units, and about 200 other locally funded housing units.

New State and Local Policies

Front Range Economic Strategy Center
www.fresc.org
FRESC seeks to educate, organize, and empower the working families of Denver and the Front Range to hold governments and corporations accountable for responsible community-centered development. A community benefits agreement is the core strategy of FRESC’s Campaign for Responsible Development. The efforts of the CRD coalition have been focused on the CBA goals of quality jobs, affordable housing, union construction, workers rights, and neighborhood improvements.

Social Enterprises

Belay Enterprises
www.belay.org
Belay Enterprises was started in 1995 by a group of local businessmen, community leaders and pastors who wanted to make a difference for the urban community. They believed that by recycling materials that were previously thrown away they could change lives and provide opportunity for the disadvantaged. Out of this vision grew Bud’s Warehouse, a career and life-skills training program for individuals rebuilding lives from addiction, homelessness, or prison. Over the last nine years, Bud’s has grown to be a successful and popular home improvement stores in the country and has been able to fund the start-up of three additional enterprises.

Women’s Bean Project
www.womensbeanproject.com
Founded in 1989, the Women's Bean Project is a non-profit business dedicated to helping women break the cycle of poverty and unemployment. The nonprofit aims to provide participants with a safe, accepting work environment where each can learn to identify and build upon their talents and gain the skills needed to get and keep mainstream employment. Employment training is provided through working in the group’s gourmet food production business.

State and Local Investment

Colorado Public Employees’ Retirement Association
www.copera.org/pera/about/investments.stm
This pension fund, as of December 31, 2003, had dedicated roughly $900 million of its $30 billion in pension funds to local investments, including nearly $500 million in state venture capital and related investments.

Denver Urban Renewal Authority
www.ci.denver.co.us
Financed through a combination of public and private investment, including tax increment financing (TIF), which allows the Denver Urban Renewal Authority to use the net new tax revenues generated by the redevelopment to help finance the project, DURA has overseen more than 28 redevelopment projects and has invested more than $500 million in public funds. DURA has redeveloped 3 neighborhood shopping centers, renovated 4 vacant department stores, saved 11 historic structures, and has helped more than 15,000 homeowners with Emergency Home Repair and Single Family Rehabilitation housing programs.

Transit-Oriented Development

Transportation Expansion (T-REX) Project
www.metrodenver.org/news-center/metro-denver-news/T-REX.html
Through extensive cooperation by inter-governmental agencies and by voter approval in 1999, the Colorado Department of Transportation and the Denver Regional Transportation District joined forces to build transit ridership and discourage sprawl through building transit villages that will be built at the same time as the transit system itself is constructed. These transit villages, jointly developed with the private sector, are designed to be pedestrian-friendly, human-scale communities. The T-REX project finished under budget and nearly two years ahead of schedule in 2006.