When it comes to gathering feedback from the community, there’s nothing like capturing it from the people working in the trenches day in and out! And that’s exactly what the Latin Chamber of Commerce of Southern NV tasked our team with doing! The Build Back Better Regional Challenge is the marquee of EDA’s (Economic Development Associations) American Rescue Plan program that aims to boost economic recovery from the pandemic and rebuild communities, including those grappling with decades of disinvestment. I was ecstatic to hear via the LVGEA (Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance) that Southern NV was selected as a finalist to receive $77 million in grant funds. As part of phase 2 of the grant application. An equity plan was one of the required elements of phase 2 of the grant application, This plan will help provide EDA with context about how all marginalized communities would benefit from the grant, should it be awarded. To assist, our team sprang into action as we had a short turn around window to capture feedback from our local Hispanic | Latino stakeholders. This feedback was incorporated into an overarching plan on behalf of various local chambers. Our community outreach and engagement efforts included everything from hosting several curated focus groups, conducting one-on-one conversations and grassroots marketing efforts to ensure that the people and businesses in the trenches had an opportunity to provide their feedback and boy was it fruitful! It continues to impress me, how much people are willing to open up, not only based on the relationship one has with them, but also because of our effort to show that we really care about what they have to share. Our team loves all the little details and staying organized! We put together a brief and to-the-point branded overview deck with examples of equity planning in action as well as shared anecdotal stories and behind the scenes efforts of what it took to get to where we were. We also followed up with additional notes, answers and a thank you. There is power in a thank you, especially when time is so valuable. We thank the Latin Chamber of Commerce and each one of the stakeholders that showed up to provide their insight as well as the Governor’s Office of Economic Development and MYS Firm for their guidance. We can’t wait to see what the future for our powerful Southern NV community will look like.
