Seedco
Encyclopedia
Seedco, the Structured Employment Economic Development Corporation, is a national, nonprofit, community development
organization that works with local organizations in low-income communities to promote economic advancement and help people move out of poverty. Seedco partners with local community-based organizations (CBOs) to provide assistance to job seekers, workers, and small business owners in disadvantaged communities. Seedco's headquarters are located in New York City
and the organization does work in Alabama
, Arkansas
, Colorado
, Florida
, Georgia
, Louisiana
, Maryland
, Massachusetts
, Mississippi
, New Jersey
, New York
, Tennessee
, Texas
, and Washington, D.C.
Seedco also invests in low-income communities in many areas of the country through its subsidiary, Seedco Financial, to create jobs and support small business owners.
Seedco’s major initiatives include the following:
to help urban institutions such as universities and hospitals revive their inner-cities. By 1997, Seedco had partnerships with 105 institutions and 90 community-based groups in 58 sites nationally.
Beginning in 1998, Seedco embarked on a new series of programs that allowed local community-based organizations to enhance their efforts in providing employment services to welfare recipients. Seedco formed a network of CBOs in New York City called the EarnFair Alliance and provided local CBOs with funding, training, operational support, and technical assistance that enabled them to focus on delivering quality job training and career counseling services to residents of disadvantaged communities. By 2004, the EarnFair alliance had 10 CBO partners, annually placed more than 1,000 low-income people into jobs, was funded by about $6 million a year in government contracts, and had been recognized as a Promising Practice by the U.S. Department of Labor. In 2006, EarnFair placed 4,400 individuals into jobs at an average starting wage of $10.80 an hour.
Following the September 11 attacks in Lower Manhattan
, Seedco was asked by the Ford Foundation, the New York Times Foundation, and others to implement a disaster-recovery initiative for small businesses and their workers. The Lower Manhattan Small Business & Workforce Retention Project ultimately issued more than $26 million in loans, offered more than $8 million in grants, and provided technical assistance to nearly 400 businesses and organizations. The $45 million program was credited with saving or creating over 6,000 jobs in Lower Manhattan.
Seedco has continued its model of CBO networks and now develops new and innovative programs in the fields of workforce development, asset building, career advancement, small business services, housing assistance, and community lending. Seedco mobilizes public and private funding and coordinates these programs across its networks of CBOs in New York City and around the country.
Community development
Community development is a broad term applied to the practices and academic disciplines of civic leaders, activists, involved citizens and professionals to improve various aspects of local communities....
organization that works with local organizations in low-income communities to promote economic advancement and help people move out of poverty. Seedco partners with local community-based organizations (CBOs) to provide assistance to job seekers, workers, and small business owners in disadvantaged communities. Seedco's headquarters are located in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and the organization does work in Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
, Arkansas
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
, Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
, Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
, Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, and Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
Seedco also invests in low-income communities in many areas of the country through its subsidiary, Seedco Financial, to create jobs and support small business owners.
Seedco’s major initiatives include the following:
- Workforce Development — preparing low-income individuals for work through services such as job training and career counseling
- Asset Building — connecting low-wage workers to public benefits such as food stamps, health insurance, and housing counseling
- Small Business Assistance — providing financial and technical assistance to small business owners in New York City
History
Seedco was founded in 1987 as a community development intermediary with funding from the Ford FoundationFord Foundation
The Ford Foundation is a private foundation incorporated in Michigan and based in New York City created to fund programs that were chartered in 1936 by Edsel Ford and Henry Ford....
to help urban institutions such as universities and hospitals revive their inner-cities. By 1997, Seedco had partnerships with 105 institutions and 90 community-based groups in 58 sites nationally.
Beginning in 1998, Seedco embarked on a new series of programs that allowed local community-based organizations to enhance their efforts in providing employment services to welfare recipients. Seedco formed a network of CBOs in New York City called the EarnFair Alliance and provided local CBOs with funding, training, operational support, and technical assistance that enabled them to focus on delivering quality job training and career counseling services to residents of disadvantaged communities. By 2004, the EarnFair alliance had 10 CBO partners, annually placed more than 1,000 low-income people into jobs, was funded by about $6 million a year in government contracts, and had been recognized as a Promising Practice by the U.S. Department of Labor. In 2006, EarnFair placed 4,400 individuals into jobs at an average starting wage of $10.80 an hour.
Following the September 11 attacks in Lower Manhattan
Lower Manhattan
Lower Manhattan is the southernmost part of the island of Manhattan, the main island and center of business and government of the City of New York...
, Seedco was asked by the Ford Foundation, the New York Times Foundation, and others to implement a disaster-recovery initiative for small businesses and their workers. The Lower Manhattan Small Business & Workforce Retention Project ultimately issued more than $26 million in loans, offered more than $8 million in grants, and provided technical assistance to nearly 400 businesses and organizations. The $45 million program was credited with saving or creating over 6,000 jobs in Lower Manhattan.
Seedco has continued its model of CBO networks and now develops new and innovative programs in the fields of workforce development, asset building, career advancement, small business services, housing assistance, and community lending. Seedco mobilizes public and private funding and coordinates these programs across its networks of CBOs in New York City and around the country.
Leadership
Barbara Dwyer Gunn is the President and CEO of Seedco. George A. Pruitt is its Chairman.External links
- Seedco official web site
- Seedco Financial official web site
- Information of Seedco's Lower Manhattan Small Business & Workforce Retention Project
- New York Times article on Seedco's EarnMore Career Advancement Program
- Information on New York City's OpportunityNYC Program, administered by Seedco
- New York Times Article on Seedco's Small Business Efforts
- A Profile of an Affiliate in Seedco's National Housing Counseling Network