You’ve heard the saying “it takes money to make money.” It’s true. For all the good that Community Builders of Kansas City is doing and wants to continue doing into the future, it needs resources, and funding for projects on Kansas City’s East Side can be challenging.
“We have to get creative to attract funding; we have to bring together various pieces of the financial puzzle,” said Emmet Pierson, Jr., CBKC president and CEO. “Investing in our community may not yield enough return for some investors. We have to find other like-minded organizations that see the bigger picture and have a triple bottom line like us.”
To that end, CBKC has added powerhouse financial talent with years of experience specific to the intricacies of pulling together funding for difficult projects in the urban area and cultivated new funding streams throughout the country.
Steve Weatherford’s 40 years of housing policy and affordable housing finance knowledge and Bob Langenkamp’s experience at the City’s Economic Development Corporation and Planning and Development department help further equip the organization to seek new ways to fund projects and fundamentally shift the way it does business.
CBKC utilizes a variety of financing methods including conventional bank loans, HUD financing tools, local, regional and national grants and public/private partnerships. Grants like JPMorgan Chase’s Pro Neighborhood Grant, that has never been awarded in Kansas City, and public funds like the Kansas City Central City Economic Development fund and Opportunity Zones are just a few of the pieces of the puzzle.