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Leavey School of Business Santa Clara University

Community Fellows Blog Posts

Kate Laughton: Diving into Economic Development

Kate discusses her responsibilities of executing grants for the Storefront Initiative, a grant opportunity to help small businesses lease vacant spaces by helping to pay for the cost of city permits, fees and taxes.

 

This quarter, I have continued my responsibilities of executing grants for the Storefront Initiative, a grant opportunity to help small businesses lease vacant spaces by helping to pay for the cost of city permits, fees and taxes. We have executed six grants so far -- exceeding our goal! Passing by hustling and bustling stores that have received these grants shows how far these grants take small businesses and how impactful it is to the development of San Jose.

To strengthen the relationship between SCU and the city of San Jose, I began to initiate off-campus merchant relationships for SCU’s Flex program with hopes of getting more foot-traffic into San Jose restaurants.. The Flex program allows students to use their ID card to purchase food from off-campus vendors. These relationships will encourage students to venture out to eat in downtown San Jose, which will create a better economy for these vendors and more awareness of downtown San Jose for students.

I have also been able to broaden my knowledge of other initiatives the city is taking and steps needed to develop San Jose into a more cohesive community. I met with various restaurant owners to help develop a plan of having communal seating among various restaurants. I also attended the city’s quarterly meeting where department representatives discussed the issues San Jose is facing (homelessness, vacant storefronts, high-pollution, low turnout for community activities) and how they might be addressed. I met with James Stagi, the manager for the homelessness interventions and solutions division, to discuss the various programs that are currently in place. Currently, the department is working on the 2018 Homeless Census and finding out the best way to house the 4,500 people who experience homelessness everyday. I look forward to helping his team next quarter to develop a solution to this pressing issue.

The various perspectives I have gained so far have been invaluable and I’m excited to continue to contribute and learn more with the Office of Economic Development   next quarter!

 

NPI, NPI Fellows