Dorchester Bay Economic Development Corporation
“Strong People Make Strong Communities”
Dorchester EDC & Social Capital
Dorchester Bay Economic Development Corporation focuses on many aspects of economic development. They cover all the major characteristics of economic development by breaking it down into three parts, real estate development, economic development and community engagement. This EDC was founded in 1979 by local civic associations that wanted to resolve problems of economic disinvestment, unemployment, crime, community tensions and the shortage of quality affordable housing. The levels of these issues have changed since the development of this corporation but the overarching ideas and goals remain almost identical. This EDC seems to want to build on the concept of social capital to create community economic development.
Dorchester Bay collaborates with many other local organizations which is an effective way to create a sense of empowerment within the community. As mentioned in Community Change: Theories, Practice, and Evidence, “literature shows that by far, the prevailing driver in community social capital development is participation in local organizations and associations, as this is linked to each of the elements of social capital as a precondition as well as an outcome. Most importantly, participation in local organizations is strongly connected to both the feelings of empowerment and actual empowerment at the individual and organizational levels” (Fulbright-Anderson, 2006, p. 45) This concept presents the importance of community and economic development organizations that work on a local scale in order to engage with the residents.
Social capital addresses the importance of community participation. Social capital is a widely accepted concept in literature that is said to have a positive effect on community conditions. Figure 1, is a representation of the non-linear path that social capital takes to empower communities. A way Dorchester Bay EDC is creating opportunities and resources to enhance social capital is through the “DotThought” events. The first DotThought event was held on December 8, 2016 and was the first in the program series. These events are in incredible way for members at all levels of the community are able to create social networks. The goal of these events is to bring together community residents, non-profit leaders, policymakers and other experts to confront challenges in Dorchester. The topic of the first event was “From Finding Jobs to Creating Jobs: Community and Economic Development for Boston’s Future.” The main speaker was Dr. Banu Ozkazanc-Pan, Associate Professor of Management at UMass Boston. She spoke about the importance of not only thinking about job training but to also set goals of entrepreneurship and ownership in the neighborhood. This gave the community members the chance to connect with fellow residence as well as community leaders, while receiving information on opportunities they could potentially take advantage of.
Concluding Statement
The mission statement does not mention all the underlying concepts that explain the framework of the corporation but they are implemented extremely well. The opportunities they are creating for their community are the opportunities that have been proven to positively effect neighborhoods. With revitalization through real estate development to the involvement of the youth, this corporation covers many of the bases of community economic development. Because this corporation was founded about 38 years ago it has been able to mature into a multidimensional community economic powerhouse. This framework would not be easily imitated by new corporations because spreading themselves to thin to cover many bases of community development might not prove to be as effective for an organization who has not been able to establish their success yet.
Work Cited:
Xavier de Souza Briggs, Elizabeth J. Mueller, with Mercer L. Sullivan. From Neighborhood to Community, Evidence on the Social Effects of Community Development Corporations (New York: Community Development Research Center, 1997)
Fulbright-Anderson, K., & Auspos, P. (2006). Community change: theories, practice, and evidence. Washington, D.C.: Aspen Institute Roundtable on Community Change.
Home. (n.d.). Retrieved December 9, 2016, from http://www.dbedc.org/
Lichtenstein, G. A., & Lyons, T. S. (2010). Investing in entrepreneurs: a strategic approach for strengthening your regional and community economy. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger.
Phillips, R., & Pittman, R. H. (2009). An introduction to community development. London: Routledge.
The Giving Common — An Initiative of the Boston Foundation. (n.d.). Retrieved December 10, 2016, from https://givingcommon.org/profile/1076902/
