Economic Vitality Unplugged

[Inspirational Music]

[Keith] Welcome to Economic Vitality Unplugged. A podcast where we take a deep dive into people,

policies, and projects shaping the future of Tallahassee-Leon County's economy. I am Keith Bowers, the Director

of the Office of Economic Vitality. And I'm excited to bring you an engaging conversation with leaders

and change makers driving economic growth and opportunity in our region. Today we're talking about a powerful

initiative that's making waves in our community. We are here with Katrina Tuggerson

Just to give you a little background, the program is all about equipping cities with the tools and strategies they need

to foster financial empowerment, entrepreneurship, and inclusive economic growth.

Katrina is here today and she's going to be talking to us about the program. For those of you who may not

know Katrina Tuggerson, Katrina has been a leading voice in advocating for minority- and women-owned businesses,

and ensuring that all entrepreneurs have a seat at the table in our region's economic landscape.

We'll be discussing how the CityStart program is shaping financial empowerment efforts here in

Tallahassee and Leon County, and what it means for local businesses and entrepreneurs and how collaboration between public

and private sectors can drive lasting change. Let's dive in! As I mentioned today, joining us

is Katrina Tuggerson, who is the President of the Capital City Chamber of Commerce, so Katrina,

do you mind just giving the audience a little background on yourself and your role? Go ahead. [Katrina] Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you, Keith for your efforts and what the Office of Economic Vitality is doing and to continue

our conversations in the community. With you being a partner and a shoulder of the chamber

we've been able to set up this ecosystem. As we continue to do what we do in the community and be voices in the community,

We noticed that it was a gap and this was one of the gaps that it was and is always when you go in with small

businesses and listening to the need of any community. They always talk about the gap of their financials,

whether it's at home or whether it's in their businesses or even starting a business from a need. So as a chamber,

we thought it would be very resourceful to be one of those solutions in addition to what

you do at your office. [Keith] So this is financial empowerment and blueprint. How did it come together?

[Katrina] Oh wow, I think everybody pivoted, and I know for a fact, pivoted after COVID and how

to do our processes better. How to better serve our community. We even came together as stakeholders to

say, "What do we need to be doing?" And Capital City Chamber came out with some different ideas and what needed to be done

and filled with different gaps. So we always talked about which the county itself, Leon County Government,

put out a pamphlet on the lowest zip code in the state of Florida, which was 32304. So in addition,

our solution with the financial empowerment booklet that Leon County Government has put out now is one of the solutions

that will come up under that 32304 segment. Like you can have all these community meetings and you can

just meet, meet everybody saying the same thing. But what Capital City Chamber did, we walked into the room and said,

"Okay, how can we bring the solution?" Just a bite a piece of the apple and just start working. And that's

one of the things that we've done. So we were able as a board and a team to go out and secure funding and start

fishing for with cities of financial empowerment initiative and Bloomberg foundations and what that

looked like. But when we got to the table, they say, Well, you can apply as a chamber and you from working

side-to-side with me, Keith, you know, I ask. You know, my first thing is like you tell me, I can

apply? And you know, that puts me on ten. That means I'm going to go a hundred percent in.

And I'm calming that down. [Keith] Don't calm it down! [Katrina] Yeah, yeah, yeah. And you know what? I take the

same drive as the small businesses that we serve. When you tell them they can't do something they just go a hundred percent

in. So you got to have that as leadership as well. So anyway, what happened was the cities of financial empowerment

which I love their structure and what they've done with the different communities that they serve in. They only want to work

with city and county entities so that it can have weight to what they're doing. But the unique thing about Tallahassee,

When we went to the meetings we got a grant, got accepted. When we went to the meetings in New York, we were sitting there we all

happy. It was one city representative, myself, and a county representative. We're sitting there all happy

and what they were telling us is something that our community has already done. We have such a good structure

here in Tallahassee that we had already set a lot of the structure up but we needed their

weight and what the cities of financial empowerment brought. We needed some more tweaking. They brought that, they gave us the

guide in order to go with this blueprint that we have now put out, the press release went out on March the

4th and we're looking forward to giving the public more information on what that looks like.

[Keith] That is amazing and congratulations first of all [Katrina] Thank you. [Keith] That is some feat and

for for you to be able to take the lead on this and bring these tools and resources back to our community.

I just think that that's just wonderful initiative that's been undertaken by the chamber. So, again, thank you.

So I know a big part of developing the financial empowerment blueprint is engaging with community members and local stakeholders.

Can you share some insights on what the community identified as key financial barriers?

[Katrina] The communication is always huge and then we're talking about a SEDI population which is the social economic

distress individuals. They serve from a war of a need so the county has two different pockets

of people. You have those SEDI, that population of people, and then you have the ones that

work hard and at a point where they need to pivot to buying that, securing that new home within our community securing

dollars to invest in their business. But the stakeholders that we bought, Tallahassee Lenders Consortium.

The financial institutions we were able to meet with all of the bank presidents in Tallahassee and have

conversations on what they're financial institutions are looking for, even incorporating their CRAs.

What that looks like, what does that really really mean and how has the impact hit our community? So we were able to pull

a couple of reports from that and just to see what I ask for reports from and we just

did another inquire like a couple of weeks ago. Can you please advise me what your CRA dollars is doing in our community?

I think that's what we should be looking at and showing as well. Looking at the dollars that are already in our communities that can

be unified together to help the small businesses and to help secure security for our citizens.

[Keith] Great. And for listeners and those who of you who are participating in this podcast, CRA means community reinvestment

act, which is a federal regulation that all regulated financial institutions have to adhere

to to ensure that they are providing services and products that are geared towards lower-minority,

low-income, and minority communities. So just for clarity on that, but that is spot on, and I

love the fact that you have reached out to the financial institutions, because they have to play a pivotal role in this initiative,

if it's to be successful. So it sounds like this effort is really all about financial stability from

the ground up. So let's talk about some of the specific focus areas outlined in the blueprint.

The first is housing and residential security solutions. So one of the proposed priorities

is housing and residential security. We know home ownership plays a huge role in wealth accumulation. What are

some of the ways the chamber is supporting affordable homeownership? [Katrina] Oh, wow, so the affordable home ownership.

We noticed that we have to stay within our stride. We're just supposed to focus on small business. But as a minority

chamber, of course we have to pivot into different areas that affect the minority small business, for example:

women. Women are the leading small business of the world, the state. I mean, we just lead,

we lead strong. But nevertheless, I understand that as a small business, all of that affects. So,

good home, food, security, having finances, making sure your kids have what

is met. It's important to making a healthy employee, a healthy business. And so we saw

that the reason why we take the lead on it, but take the lead on it with our partners, where we

don't try to do everything. But as we pull our stakeholders together, maybe we can strengthen what they're

doing. And maybe we can highlight what they're doing so we can bring it all together and say, we're in this all together, but how do we make it

work? [Keith] That's a very good point. And one of the blueprint's priorities, since it is housing, The county

has programs like the down payment assistance programs, as well as city and the community land trust.

How do these programs help address historical barriers to homeownership? [Katrina] Well, just a couple of weeks ago the county

itself did a ribbon-cutting for a 21-year-old kid. It didn't make sense for Capital City Chamber to not partner

with the government and the county. If they already have these programs in place, we don't have the structure or

the funds to put that into housing. So why would I not partner with my commission

or with the County Administrator to make this happen more efficiently? We put financial

empowerment into all of the libraries in the county. One of the initiatives that we started up under this, which we

started prior to CityStart was Bank On Tallahassee. So if you go to Bank On Tallahassee, it has all the

low hanging fruit of financial resources within our community. The website is currently

always under construction because we're always adding new things or new financial empowerment things that are going

on in the community. We're always adding that to that website and we've also partnered with United Way, which has the

data that does the tax. We don't have the facilities or anything so as partnered with our stakeholders,

it gives us strength to build this message out to our community. One more organization that we also sit on is Choose

Tallahassee, so if someone wants to come into our community and we have all of these structure and resources

set up for them, like, "Why not Choose Tallahassee?" So, it's a lot of different moving pieces to this and then people

comprehend according to where they are in life. I think with us providing this financial empowerment,

it allows anyone, in any stage of life, to just come into our community and be able to have access.

[Keith] Well, that's important, I mean, like you said, if you're creating a situation to where you're plugged in with the

various resources. So someone shows up at the Chamber's door looking for financial assistance, whether it be

to start a business, whether it be to deal with homeownership issues or affordable housing issues.

You're sitting in a position where you can direct them and you've got close relationships with other resource partners. [Katrina] Right.

[Keith] So, I just think that's just a wonderful model that you've incorporated there at the Capital City Chamber.

So, let's focus a little bit more on the real estate. My understanding is this program also is impactful

in helping families clear up heirs property. Typically, if someone dies a lot of times they

don't have a will and there are a lot of survivors that may have a claim to that property.

Why is that such a crucial factor in financial empowerment, and how is the chamber and this program

addressing those concerns? [Katrina] We had a couple of meetings and I asked myself as a chamber

president, "How in the world do I get it?" because larger chambers they don't have to deal with this. I do speak with other chambers

out of different states in their smaller chambers and the reason why we deal with all of the different aspects of the

community and heir properties. Most of the time minority businesses start out of a need and

sometimes they're able to get their dollars from collateral. The land that they had to invest to build

that big nice building and it may be tied up with a family member or maybe someone deceased or it may be

heir property. So we've been able to do case-by-case. You don't have

a recipe book that says this is the way to do it. This is what to do because every scenario is different. We, through the clerk

of court, I have different attorneys that are attached to the chamber. Even through business law that

they have agreed to do one consulting and then it's up to the business if they want to move further with them.

But the chamber pays for that one consulting to sit with anyone that needs to further them to the next step. We have an agreement

with North Florida Legal that has our opportunities. And the thing about it, Keith, since you asked that

as a chamber, you try not to get all into the weeds of all of that. But when you're serving in the community,

all of it connects. [Keith] You're right. So the other part of the financial empowerment blueprint,

is social wellness and support services. Financial stability, goes just beyond incoming

savings, it's about access to services like healthcare, transportation. Can you talk about how the chamber is

working with partners to expand these essential services? [Katrina] The services that are put in place

are great right now. What I think we're working more with the city and the county on is to make sure that the messaging

goes out and the different avenues that we have rolling out with the financial empowerment document that we're putting out

in the community is that if the resources are there how do we get people to utilize it and use it?

How do you get people in need to just stop getting themselves together and fill out this piece of paper? So

a lot dealing with underserved communities or bringing equity in the community is

that the administrative and the paperwork, a lot of people are scared to push that and so with different grants

and funding we got we've been able to be that technical assistance or we have a stakeholder, one person

in that particular office that would deal with people case-by-case. [Keith] Awesome. Let's go back to financial

education and business management. You talked a little bit about it, but a big part of financial empowerment is education.

Can you tell us about the Bank On Tallahassee initiative and how it's helping residents access banking

services? [Katrina] The Bank on Tallahassee initiative, it deals strictly with making sure that

when I met with these financial institutions it allows them to meet Bank On account

standards which allow them to have an account with someone that don't have that

perfect credit or don't have that cookie cutter resume that a financial institution

needs like the 850 credit score. But what it would look like to have a product in a financial institution

where everyone is welcome. So it looks at their account standards in order for you to meet that account standards

without the over drafting fees allowing people just to get that negative tone from financial institutions.

Another thing we looked at, If you were in business a while ago and you have bad business credit now what

it looked like to clean it up if we even had a fund in our community for businesses to clean up

the past fees in order to move forward and what that looks like. So we're having conversations about that. That

didn't get very far because everything that you do, everything that you put into the community, it requires dollars, and

where does those dollars come from? It's been interesting. I keep saying every week that, "Okay this

is all we're going to do on this project." but, it keeps growing, so I guess that's a good problem to have. [Keith] Definitely,

and then from a small business' standpoint, you know, access to capital can be a challenge. Especially with minority- and women-owned

businesses. You're very familiar and I know that you have promoted the SmartSteps Program, the

micro loan program that is being offered currently by the FAMU Federal Credit Union and

I think that your team had a role in getting that whole initiative set up. Talk to us a little bit

about the success of that program and what do you see in that program's future? [Katrina] I do see it is a future in

that program what has shifted and this is the way we're going now. The success in that program has been

great. Before I came along and sat in this seat I know it was some different programs in the community

prior, but things change. In order for the county to get that surplus money and the city to

get that surplus money and say when we came to them as stakeholders and concerners they said okay let's come

up with something where we can put some of the dollars back into the community and have it start that ecosystem to

access the capital and that's what we see now. We already had it set in place with Apalachee Regional Planning

Council, but with that being said, and they're doing a great job in what they're doing in their space

we came along and said let us be an extension to what Apalachee Regional Planning Council is doing and just specialize

on this population of people and it's been really great. [Keith] You see all these programs coming together,

I mean it is, in my opinion, I've seen other communities and the level of collaboration

and just the thoughtfulness of these programs and how they are designed

and integrated into various grassroots organizations, chambers of commerce. You mentioned the Apalachee

Regional Planning Council talking about weaving in the fabric of the financial institutions.

In your experience, have you seen other communities, or are there some communities that are focusing on these same initiatives

with the same allocation of resources? [Katrina] They do but they don't do it at the same magnitude that we do

and you hear this all the time. Tallahassee is unique. We are proud in everything we do and

Keith you know me personally. You know I'm a go in there 100% in. When we were up in New York, meeting

with this team. Another community. They were in, I want to say San Diego, California, "Oh, we doing

this, we doing that." But, the unique thing about it is: by Tallahassee having the city, the

State, the county within blocks of each other. Then our universities are top-tier

Top, top-tier. The training capacity and then now we have a state college that's top tier.

So even you, as an OEV Director over our economic development for our community, you got

to be proud going on to say, "Oh, this is the lay of the land. This is what we have in Tallahassee." Because I know you

proud, because I see you win all these awards. [Keith laughs] [Katrina] We back sitting at the tables, right? Busting

our brains and butts. Keith said, "Oh, this is what we're doing." But you're able to showcase that because at some

degree it's working. Then last week I had an interview with WCTV. I didn't even

know Tallahassee ranked 14th in Metro Cities as Black Businesses doing well. [Keith] Yeah.

And I say, "Where did you get that from? Because I'm tired." [Keith laughs] [Katrina] And all of us keep going and feel

like we're not doing enough. But when you see those types of reports, and the awards come, you just say,

"Maybe this is working," and you just keep going. [Keith] And I would agree. I mean, I think like when

you really start to look at Tallahassee and where we are as a community

and the different initiatives that we champion and the things that we set as priorities,

I really think that is very unique and it's not found in every community. And the other fact is

that, in this community, we've got three chambers of commerce and we've got NEBA and

100 Businessmen. So there's just like a lot of different organizations. But I think

what is very unique about our story is that we all come together. We all want to see

the same thing and there is no territorial turf wars or anything like that because I think one

of the things that we focus on, as you know, at OEV, is our mission and what that

means and how that plays out into the lives of the individuals that call Tallahassee-Leon County

home. So, I just thank you for your partnership and our relationship at the Capital City Chamber.

I want to talk to you a little bit about your financial empowerment summit. Last year you brought together

over 100 public and private partners and nonprofit leaders. What were some of the key takeaways

from that event? [Katrina] So we did that. We did the financial empowerment center. It was part of the funding

that we received from the Cities of Financial Empowerment. The chamber would always do an Advantage

Conference every year, anyway. So I said what it would look like if we coupled that with a financial

piece that we're also doing? Through that financial summit, we were able to compile all what we pulled back from

that summit into that financial blueprint of Leon County. So that is the results from

that. We have a wealth in equity. We talk about that and what that looked like. The history,

give you the history. We give you the background. We give you the economic disparity. How we came up with those analysis

from that. Also, a strategic tool is how to address it. That's huge. Don't just talk

about the problem, but how do we move forward and address the problems that we have in our community? And

one thing, Keith, I just want to say, I don't put my personal feelings into it. I look at

the problem and respect people in their places and just look at the issue and target the problem and just keep going.

And that has been a strength as you're working with different stakeholders and groups, you have to stay focused

on the issue and not our personal issues. [Keith] Absolutely. So looking forward, what's

next for the Chamber in terms of financial empowerment? I mean, this is something that you

and your team, to include your Board of Directors, financial empowerment is something that

you have a laser focus on. What do you see in the future for this initiative? And where do you

think you're going to realize the biggest impact? [Katrina] Even though we're doing, working with all the other chambers,

the networking is good, the handshaking is good, but we also realize policy and putting

things in place and structure. Maybe I don't see the results from this financial empowerment booklet

right now, but years to come we will. And so it's more about putting the structure and the

right resources and tools in line for progress. Any time that you're working in a community trying

to bring change to blighted areas, to poverished areas, it takes years. It's not anything that's

done on the night because it's learned behavior or it's governmental structures that got us there. So I

think as far as we continue to look and change policies and put things in

place for our new government, the city and the county can reference and keep everybody on track.

Let's use the guide to make sure that we're checking the block on things. And that's the way I kind of see things moving forward.

We're celebrating because the day that we were in the commission chambers that Tuesday and the

commission blessed the financial empowerment booklet was the same day we got a email that we received a grant for

to continue our work and start a planning phase on what it looks like to have a Financial Empowerment Center within

our city and our county. And so if right now. [Keith] Congratulations! [Katrina] Thank you. And if Darryl Jones was here,

which is over to MWSBE, he'd said you may applaud. [Keith laughs] [Katrina] That is the same day we're sitting right

there. And I was actually sitting right kind of behind Mr. Shington Lamy and I reached up and showed

him the email and he was like, "Oh my god, good job!" So the thing about what we've done here

as a community, everything that the Cities of Financial Empowerment offered us as a community, we

utilized it. We were able to bring dollars into our community, utilized those dollars, and put tools and strategies

together for our community. [Keith] That is amazing. Once again, I just think that there is

so much work being done in and around financial stability, financial empowerment

and, as you state it, Katrina, so precisely is that these seeds that you're planting today,

you might not see the results. But, years down the road, you will start to see

the benefit of things that you and the leadership at the chamber and the other chambers that

are working in our community, you will start to see those results, so that's important.

So, how can residents and business owners get involved and take advantage of these resources? Now that

you've set the table, how do we start to take advantage of all this stuff that you're doing? [Katrina] It was blessed by the

Leon County Commission, nobody opposed anything. It's all good stuff. Now we're preparing

for the community and what that looks like. So we have infographics that will be going out, a social media campaign that will

be going out. I know exactly what dates, but we plan on rolling it out right after everybody

agree on what it should look like. So they can actually right now have access. The

county has a page and if you go to the Leon County Government page and just type in 'Financial

Empowerment Blueprint,' everything comes up. So we already have a couple of stakeholders on this website. You can

click on, go to the resources that they have available. Including with the housing, including with the food,

including anything like that. Including also, get this Keith, you know I like to do stuff out the box.

It just keeps me going. It keeps my adrenaline going. We're one of the only cities with the Cities of Financial Empowerment

adding a business component. [Keith] Wow. [Katrina] Yeah, you know, when I was up there in New York, you know that's just

gasoline on my little fire. So I'm trying to figure out why no other chambers were involved because

if you see where businesses were just closing the doors, closing the doors, this budgeting is capital, it's

money. And so we are one of the ones that are adding that business,

and we have a business toolkit that's located also in this Financial Empowerment Blueprint.

Just this week, we have Abby, that will be traveling to New York to share what Tallahassee's doing

in this financial blueprint, and how our city and county came together and got this blueprint done. So she will

be presenting before New York even just just this very week. [Keith] That's amazing. So once

again, Tallahassee-Leon County is setting an example for the nation to follow. And

this important work and working with some of the most, I would say, historically

underserved communities, and just making sure they have the resources. Making sure that they get an opportunity

to participate in the American dream. Whether it be home ownership, business ownership, any type of entrepreneurial

endeavors, and just enhancing the quality of life. So again, I'm completely blown

away by all the things that the Capital City Chamber is accomplishing under your leadership.

So before we wrap up, is there one key message or take away that you'd like to leave

our listeners with? [Katrina] You know, after every call I do they say, what's one

key thing? At every talk, I had the opportunity also to speak with a group

of 340 women last week. And I always, like I told them, I said,

and I mean re– exactly what I told them, because I had a young lady to call me the next day

and say, "Hey, what did you say?" And what I pointed out to them was next. Every morning I get

up and reflect on, okay, I tell the good Lord, I said, "Oh God, what's next?" And so I take that

next is new opportunities. It's exciting, and the X mean multiply with every odd touch and

then the timing, the timing has to be on point. And then if

it's not the time for you to do it, it's not that you're not saying it's not going to get done right now, but it's

coming. It's coming next. So I'll always line myself up with the next, but not 'I cannot

do it' attitude, but also what's next and the timing is just not the time. [Keith] I

love that. I'm going to steal that if you don't mind. [Katrina] You're about the 10th person that has said that. [Keith] I'll

give you credit. I'll tell them I got it from you. [Katrina] Once you understand that, everything else flows.

Because every day you come out, you're walking, you're representing yourself, you're entity and

you just got to know that is flowing in the right time. [Keith] That's amazing. Thank you so much. Katrina, I can't

thank you enough for sharing these insights today. The work is being done through the Financial Empowerment Blueprint,

the Bank On Tallahassee, all the things that you have your fingerprints on, it's truly making a difference

in breaking down financial barriers and creating economic opportunity in our community. So,

to our listeners, if you'd like to learn more about the Financial Empowerment Blueprint or Bank

On Tallahassee, or small business resources, please visit the Capital City Chamber's website.

Katrina, do you mind give us the URL for that? [Katrina] Oh, sure. So, it's, of course, it's www,

if you need that, but it's CCC three C's, tally dot com. [Keith] All right, well, thank

you again. Thank you so much, Katrina. And until next time, keep striving for financial security and

success to all our listeners. And stay tuned for more to come with Economic Vitality Unplugged.

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