The Economic Equity Investment Program framework was informed by a seven-member advisory group consisting of nonprofit and agency executives, community leaders and advocates, and public policy specialists. The program began January 1, 2023.
Business Oregon received nearly 90 program applications, requesting over $51 million in funds. After a thorough evaluation process involving agency staff and a diverse panel of external reviewers, 36 grants were awarded. Successful applicants demonstrated a meaningful track record of delivering programs or resources to target populations within at least one of the following key areas: land ownership and real property acquisition, entrepreneurship and business development, workforce, and intergenerational wealth building. The recipient organizations are listed below in those four categories.
Here is a
Winter 2024 Update on progress and outcomes for EEIP organizations.
Ownership of Land, Principal Residences, and Other Real Property: 10 Projects; $5,735,020 Awarded
Bienestar was founded in 1981 with a mission to provide quality housing to farmworkers and their families due to substandard living conditions in migrant camps. This project would provide HUD-approved housing counseling and down payment assistance to Latinx, limited English, and low-income people in rural Washington County.
Award Amount: $354,500
CASA works to build intergenerational wealth for those who have been marginalized, specifically farmworkers and people of color, through advocacy, asset building, and affordable housing development. As one of the leading IDA providers in Oregon, CASA aims to help savers achieve first time homeownership and build equity. This project would pair financial coaching and debt management with access to IDAs for eligible beneficiaries seeking to purchase homes.
Award Amount: $752,500
Since the late 1980s, the FHDC has been working with community partners to build and improve housing opportunities for immigrant farmworkers, their families, and other low-income and BIPOC populations in Oregon. This project would provide foreclosure prevention and homeownership services, credit counseling, IDAs, workforce training, career coaching, and job search support for farm workers/immigrants in the Willamette Valley.
Award Amount: $480,000
As a social justice network, Habitat for Humanity of Oregon is deeply committed to using a cultural diversity and equity lens to inform its nonprofit culture, operations, and culturally responsive program design. Habitat’s "Rural Ready" program includes site acquisition and pre-development for 1st time homeowners in rural areas. This project would build at least 15 homes in rural areas of Oregon.
Award Amount: $850,000
Hacienda CDC is a culturally specific, Latino-led organization with over thirty years’ experience providing affordable housing and supportive services to low-income individuals and families. This project, in partnership with four Credit Unions, aims to support homeownership for buyers through interest rate buy downs, down payment assistance, or help covering closing costs.
Award Amount: $692,775
IRCO was founded by refugees and is the largest community-based organization in Oregon led by immigrants and refugees providing culturally specific and culturally responsive core services that create lasting impact for disenfranchised communities. This project will support immigrant and refugee community members with financial education, IDAs, small business grants, workforce training, and immigration assistance in Malheur County.
Award Amount: $400,000
Kor is a nonprofit that builds net-zero, permanently affordable communities to house BIPOC households earning less than 80% AMI with family housing needs. This program would acquire land supporting the creation of 30 homes for LMI families, pay closing costs and provide some down payment assistance in La Pine and Prineville.
Award Amount: $400,000
For nearly 50 years, NAYA has strived to enhance the diverse strengths of Native youth and families in partnership with the community through cultural identity and education. Rooted in indigenous teachings and values, its approach to economic equity is to reconnect clients to belonging and financial stability, revive community prosperity and family economic well-being, reaffirm sovereignty and self-determination, and renew balance and systemic change. This project will support home ownership through creating a land trust model, down payment assistance, foreclosure prevention, and home repair assistance.
Award Amount: $900,000
Since its inception in 1987, UMHS has become the third largest nonprofit in Eastern Oregon, serving children and families in 11 rural and frontier counties--an area roughly the size of the State of NY. UMHS has partnered with CASA to provide down payment assistance to 13 LMI/Latinx savers. This program will supplement the down payment assistance the participants have already saved by providing mini grants to each saver to offset rising housing costs.
Award Amount: $205,245
For 28 years, Community Home Builders has been advancing economic equity for low and very-low-income individuals and families by helping them obtain homeownership in Yamhill County. This project would allow Community Home Builders to purchase and pre-develop land in Amity, Oregon that will then be built on and sold to LMI families in Yamhill County, reducing the cost of each lot and supporting infrastructure.
Award Amount: $700,000
Entrepreneurship and Business Development: 16 Projects; $5,181,484 Awarded
The mission of the Black United Fund of Oregon is to assist in the social and economic development of Oregon's underserved communities and to contribute to a broader understanding of ethnic and culturally diverse groups. This program will support eligible small businesses throughout the State of Oregon with TA, consulting, and connections. It will also provide stipends to emerging entrepreneurs.
Award Amount: $60,000
The Black Leadership Action Council’s (Be Blac Foundation) mission is to develop and grow the Black community in Salem through leadership and convenings, partnering with and supporting Black-owned and operated businesses/nonprofits, and strengthening Black families. This project will support the Black Empowerment Grant Fund, which will provide grants to businesses.
Award Amount: $200,000
Bohemia Food Hub develops equitable economic opportunities to explore, start, and grow small food businesses in a supported environment. This program will provide startup micro-grants and technical assistance support for F&B entrepreneurs in/near Cottage Grove, Oregon.
Award Amount: $50,000
Capaces is a culturally specific community-based organization in the Willamette Valley. The Anahuac Program, housed in Capaces since 2019, offers traditional education in agriculture, culinary and cultural arts, wellness, and Indigenous languages. Anahauc serves the indigenous people of the Willamette Valley with an emphasis on the farmworker community. This project will expand the Anahuac Farm workforce and agriculture production infrastructure, develop the skills of future organic farmers and Indigenous culinary entrepreneurs, and increase the distribution of culturally specific foods to food insecure farmworker families.
Award Amount: $300,000
Created by and for the Latinx community of NW Oregon, Consejo Hispano is the only culturally specific and culturally responsive organization on Oregon’s North Coast and has been serving the region since 2005. The project will allow Consejo to continue its financial empowerment work and expand along the coast to meet additional demand.
Award Amount: $250,000
High Desert Partnership (HDP) exists to solve the complex challenges faced by Harney County – from mitigating wildfires to creating professional opportunities for youth. HDP plans to provide grants and technical assistance to support to small businesses in Eastern Oregon and rural communities, most of whom will be owned by Native or low to moderate income peoples. This grant would expand the current program to 3 new counties.
Award Amount: $400,000
Livelihood NW’s mission is to foster business sustainability and growth for historically under-served entrepreneurs within local communities. This program will provide professional services grants (like tax prep) and Small Business Milestones Grants (to buy assets needed to grow) to disadvantaged business owners statewide who identify as BIPOC, immigrants, have limited English language skills or live in rural areas of Oregon.
Award Amount: $220,250
Micro Enterprise Services of Oregon’s mission is to elevate and empower historically excluded and under-resourced entrepreneurs with tailored assistance and flexible capital to build family wealth through small business ownership. This program will provide IDA’s for businesses in Jackson County and will provide a loan rate subsidy (reduce rates from 9.5% to 5.5%) for business loans.
Award Amount: $200,000
NAMC-OR was established in 2007 and is a 501(c)(3) that focuses specifically on serving POC businesses in the construction industry and their workforce. NAMC-OR will partner with MESO and Black Business Association of OR to provide grants and business development support to eligible businesses in the Portland/Metro region.
Award Amount: $273,000
Nixyáawii Community Financial Services (NCFS) elevates small business development services to a higher level to grow a sustainable private sector on the Umatilla Indian Reservation in NE Oregon. This program will provide Native and rural businesses with direct grants, matching federal (SSBCI) forgivable loans, and will purchase a food truck to lease to clients.
Award Amount: $400,000
The Northwest Native Chamber (NWNC) is a Portland-based 501(c)3 that advances educational and economic opportunities for Native Americans and other BIPOC communities in OR and SW Washington. This program will launch an "Equity Investment Entrepreneur" Pilot program. It will include a cohort of 5-7 Native entrepreneurs/small business owners from across Oregon for 12-18 months. Its goal is to identify, support, and facilitate strategic high value capital purchases to increase the businesses capacity, market share, growth, and employment.
Award Amount: $456,464
PACCO is a nonprofit operating as a public benefit corporation, providing access to programs for historically marginalized, economically disadvantaged and underserved communities, especially Filipinos and other AAPIs. This program, operated in conjunction with the Black American Chamber of Commerce, will support grants to businesses in its Impact Now Business Grant program.
Award Amount: $700,000
SEDCOR, an economic development organization in the Willamette Valley, is partnering with the Latino Business Alliance (LBA) for this program. LBA unites and strengthens the Latinx business community, contributes to a stronger Oregon economy, creates awareness of the positive economic impact of the Latinx business community, and connects the general business community with the Latinx business community. This program will expand LBA’s Latino Microenterprise Development Program into Yamhill County and provide loans and wrap around support to businesses.
Award Amount: $400,000
The Next Door provides education, business planning resources, and guidance to help Latino entrepreneurs set up or expand their businesses. The Programa Promoviendo Prosperidad/Promoting Prosperity Program will help Latinos in the Mid-Columbia Gorge region (specifically Hood River) build sustainable small businesses by providing technical assistance support, permitting, financial literacy and access to capital.
Award Amount: $271,770
The Urban League of Portland’s mission is to empower African Americans and others to achieve equality in education, employment, health, economic security, and quality of life. This project will provide business grants and wrap around services to Urban League clients to support their growth, sustainability, and wealth creation.
Award Amount: $800,000
WSCAT was founded in 2001 to address issues of equity and access to resources (financial skills,
credit counseling, workforce training, and matched savings) and to provide civic and economic opportunity for aspiring Native American business leaders, homeowners, tradespeople, and youth in a geographically--isolated, asset¬‐poor, poverty-¬‐stricken community. This program will expand economic equity for 800+ members of the Warm Springs Reservation through coaching, workforce training in hospitality, food prep, retail and arts, tech focused capacity building, financial skills and education, and tax prep.
Award Amount: $200,000
Workforce Development: 5 Projects; $1,049,360 Awarded
AHIVOY strengthens the Oregon wine community by empowering vineyard stewards through education. This project will provide wine industry professionals with a paid 17-week training program to further their technical skills/knowledge in the wine industry. The project is premised on the idea that Latinx people should have roles in the industry beyond bottling or fieldwork and was created in partnership with the industry, including commitments to promote/hire program graduates.
Award Amount: $195,360
Constructing Hope helps people of color, formerly incarcerated, and low-income adults enter careers with middleclass wages and defined benefits to support themselves and their families. This is a paid, 10-week training program for BIPOC/LMI/formerly incarcerated individuals entering the construction industry in the Portland/Metro area. Graduates are often placed directly into apprenticeships after completion.
Award Amount: $150,000
POIC+ROIC work on reconnecting alienated, at-risk youth and adults affected by poverty, family instability, and homelessness to education, career training, and culturally specific wraparound programs, including services for families impacted by the criminal justice system. The program includes paid career training for BIPOC/formerly incarcerated people/trauma victims to enroll in training in 1of 3 tracks: construction pre-apprenticeship, kitchen/culinary, or community safety worker training.
Award Amount: $124,000
Unidos’ mission is to promote the integration, participation, representation, and success of
Latinx individuals and families and to build bridges of support and understanding between Latinos and non-Latinos. This project will provide paid internships and wrap around support to eligible beneficiaries. It also plans to expand homebuyer education, financial literacy, and college admission support.
Award Amount: $400,000
Venture Partners Education and Career Development (Venture Partners) recognizes that capital access gaps between white, male founders and others exists, in large measure, due to the composition of those sitting at the investment table. To combat this, Venture Partners has created a fellowship program to train and place 100 diverse capital allocators over 5 years. This program will train and accredit participants in Venture Finance in partnership with San Jose State University.
Award Amount: $180,000
Intergenerational Wealth Building: 5 Projects; $1,535,066 Awarded
Since 1972, Centro has built systems to improve the health and economic mobility of underserved communities in Washington County. This program aims to decrease student debt for eligible beneficiaries and provides financial education through a matched savings program.
Award Amount: $500,000
Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon’s mission is to successfully integrate Slavic-speaking immigrants and refugees into communities by providing services that increase independence, enable economic self-sufficiency, and improved mental and physical well-being. This project will provide financial assistance and education to Slavic survivors of domestic violence.
Award Amount: $207,066
Based in Grants Pass, Project Youth+’s mission is to increase access to opportunities for low-income, first generation and under-represented youth to thrive in school, careers, and life. This project looks to expand the +Account IDA Program for economically underprivileged youth in Southern Oregon.
Award Amount: $140,000
RDI is a rural development organization working with communities to strengthen rural people, places, and economies in the Pacific Northwest since 1991. This program will help eligible beneficiaries in rural Oregon build wealth through personal investing/financial education and provides small business grants to small business owners.
Award Amount: $250,000
NeighborWorks Umpqua empowers tribal and other marginalized populations in SW Oregon to build financial skills and confidence to succeed in wealth building. One hundred participants will build emergency matched savings accounts after receiving financial education and coaching.
Award Amount: $438,000
Questions about the program can be submitted through this
question form.