GRCA Commerce Quarterly Spring 2019 - 7

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Two other important partnerships that were developed at the
different ends of the spectrum include the co-location of the Berks
County Redevelopment Authority (BCRDA) and the transition of
the Leadership Berks program from Alvernia to the GRCA. In the
case of the BCRDA, they took a suite of offices on the third floor of
our building. Their mission is to make Berks County a better place
to live, and, as such, the Redevelopment Authority provides access
to federal, state, and local funds for community redevelopment and
housing rehabilitation. Having access to their staff and expertise inhouse has been a welcomed development since many of their projects
complement our work in economic development. Leadership
Berks, which was originally founded by a group of organizations
that included the Chamber, is Berks County's premier leadership
development and civic engagement program. Since its inception,
over 900 professionals have graduated from the program, and their
alumni network includes movers and shakers from many Berks
County industries and companies. By having Leadership Berks as
a program of the GRCA, we can leverage the relationships on both
sides to expand the opportunities for new volunteer projects and
open the program to a wider range of applicants.
By far the most significant partnership development for the
GRCA took place in October 2018 when the Berks Alliance
agreed to strategically align with us. The Berks Alliance was
formed when a group of anchor institutions in the Greater
Reading area came together to invest in improving the health,
wealth and educational attainment outcomes for our community.
Led by John Weidenhammer, the group focused on promoting
community development projects that complement our work in
economic development. What they lacked, however, was the staff
and administrative capacity to implement programs and projects.
This is where the GRCA came in, leveraging our organizational
infrastructure and our thirty full-time staff to move community
development forward. Investments in entrepreneurship, college
work-study programming, façade improvement grants, community
planning in the 18th Ward, and monthly community educational
forums are all priorities that the Berks Alliance has agreed to fund
with the support of the GRCA in the implementation side. And we
are happy to support the work in these areas as they help to further
our economic development strategies as well.
As I look towards the future, I don't see the appetite for
collaboration dissipating in any way. Just the opposite: I am
encouraged by many organizations that have reached out to the
GRCA to partner with us. The Berks Agricultural Resource
Network (BARN), for example, is looking at new ways to expand
our relationship through the Penn Street Market initiative by
leveraging shared staffing. The Upper Perkiomen Valley Chamber
already hosts a joint networking event with us each year at Bear
Creek Mountain, and now we are looking to expand that to
include the other three partner Chambers. We are also exploring
developing a flexible small business loan fund in partnership with
an area credit union. All this is to say that the possibilities are both
big and small when it comes to collaboration, and the potential is
truly limitless.

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GRCA Commerce Quarterly Spring 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of GRCA Commerce Quarterly Spring 2019