* This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting. [00:00:01] IT IS MONDAY, APRIL 29TH. [South Dallas Fair Park Opportunity Fund Advisory Board on April 29, 2024.] TIME IS SIX 20. MS. REGINA, WOULD YOU START OFF WITH A ROLL CALL, PLEASE? LEANDER JOHNSON. PRESENT. CARLA MCKENZIE. KIMBERLY SIMS. PRESENT. SHANE HALEY PRESENT. SHANE HALEY. PRESENT. YOU NOT HEARING KIN. CAN DAMON LEVINE PRESENT? CAN'T HEAR YOU. DAMON. PRESENT. YOU'RE VERY LOW. YOU ARE SUPER CHRISTIAN. MARQUEZ. PRESENT. DESTINY KUMA V BROOKS. WILLIAM DAWKINS. PRESENT. TRENT HUGHES. CARL ENRIQUEZ. PRESENT. AARON PV. PRESENT. OKAY, MR. CHAIR, THANK YOU VERY MUCH. NEXT AGENDA ITEM. AGENDA ITEM NUMBER TWO, APPROVAL OF MINUTES. EVERYBODY SHOULD HAVE RECEIVED THE MINUTES, UH, IN THEIR EMAILS ALONG WITH A PACKET, UH, AND HAD A CHANCE TO REVIEW THAT. ARE THERE ANY CHANGES? IF NOT, UH, IS THERE A MOTION TO APPROVE? SO MOVED. SO MOVE. MR. DAWKINS. THERE A SECOND. SECOND. SECOND. MR. MARQUEZ? ALL IN FAVOR? AYE. ANY OPPOSED? THEN APPROVED. NEXT AGENDA. ITEM NUMBER THREE, THERE BE PUBLIC SPEAKER SIGNED UP, MR. REGINA. UH, WE DO HAVE PUBLIC SPEAKER, UM, MR. LUBBOCK SMITH. AND BEFORE YOU COME UP, LET ME READ THE RULES TO YOU. WE'LL NOW ALLOW FOR PUBLIC COMMENT. SPEAKERS ARE ALLOWED THREE MINUTES AND MUST STAY ON TOPIC. MEMBERS OF THE BOARD ARE NOT ALLOWED TO ASK QUESTIONS. SPEAKERS MUST OBSERVE THE SAME RULES OF PROPRIETY DECORUM AND GOOD CONDUCT APPLICABLE TO MEMBERS OF THE BOARD. ANY SPEAKER MAKING PERSONAL AND PERTINENT PROFANE OR SLANDEROUS REMARKS OR WHO BECOMES BOISTEROUS WHILE ADDRESSING THE BOARD SHALL BE REMOVED FROM ADDRESSING THE BOARD. REAL QUICK BEFORE WE GET STARTED, MS. REGINA, I SAW MS. UH, KUBO HOP ON. SO LET'S RECOGNIZE HER AS, AS BEING PRESENT. MS. KUUMBA, CAN YOU TURN YOUR CAMERA ON SO WE CAN RECOGNIZE YOU AS BEING PRESENT? NEED A VERBAL? GOT IT. I THINK WE NEED A VERBAL. DO WE NEED A VERBAL? YES. MR. KUMA BOA. MR. KUBO, CAN YOU GIVE US A VERBAL, I APOLOGIZE. YES. PRESENT. OKAY. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. OKAY, REGINA, PLEASE. UH, MS. MR. SMITH, THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE THIS EVENING. THANK YOU. GOOD EVENING EVERYONE. I'M LO SMITH II. I'M NOT FROM LU TEXAS. ALL RIGHT. I'M FROM OAK CLIFF, BORN AND RAISED, LIVING IN SOUTH DALLAS. UH, SO I'M A RESIDENT, BUT I'M ALSO SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT AND DIRECTOR OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AND OUTREACH AT VISTA BANK. UH, NEW BANK LOCATED OFF OF 32 25. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. BOULEVARD, RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET FROM FIESTA AND FAIR PARK. UM, NOT HERE TO SOLICIT OR TALK ABOUT THE BANK, UH, BUT IT'S DEFINITELY IMPORTANT TO TALK ABOUT THE RESOURCE AND OPPORTUNITIES THAT'S COMING TO SOUTH DALLAS. UH, I'M A FIRM BELIEVER IN THE SOUTH DALLAS FAIR PARK OPPORTUNITY ZONE FUND. I THINK WE HAVE GREAT INDIVIDUALS HERE. UH, A PART OF THAT EFFORT FOR THE SMALL BUSINESS CENTER. GO TO ANTHONY, MARISSA, MARIO, UM, REGINA, UM, EVEN JOYCE. UH, THERE'S A NUMBER OF GREAT PEOPLE, A PART OF IT, BUT I THINK IT'S BEEN VERY, UH, UM, DAUNTING AND, AND, UH, DIFFICULT WITH THE INDIVIDUALS THAT WORK WITH THAT ARE CASH FLOWING, BRINGING IN MULTIMILLION DOLLARS THAT WANT TO BE A PART OF SOUTH DALLAS, AND THEY WANNA DO IT IN A WAY THAT CAN REALLY REVITALIZE AND BRING TRANSFORMATION AND GENERATIONAL WEALTH OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT. BUT WHEN YOU HAVE TONS OF APPLICATIONS YOU HAVE TO FILL OUT WHEN THERE ARE THINGS, WHEN THEY CHECK IN AND SAY, HEY, YOU KNOW, WHAT ELSE DO I NEED TO DO? AND THEY DON'T GET ANY FOLLOW THROUGH OR FALLBACK, I THINK IT MAKES IT VERY DIFFICULT. AND I'M NOT HERE TO POINT FINGERS OR SAY, WELL, YOU ALL ARE DOING WRONG. IT'S MORE SO TO ECHO, THIS IS A GREAT OPPORTUNITY. LET'S FIND OUT A WAY IN HOW WE CAN PARTNER. UM, SO THAT WAY WE CAN SEE SOUTH DALLAS REACH ITS FULL POTENTIAL AND GO ABOVE AND BEYOND. UM, THIS IS A COMMUNITY THAT HAS BEEN EXTREMELY OVERLOOKED AND UNDERVALUED. UM, I KNOW A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT NEIGHBORS AND BUSINESS OWNERS THAT I NOT ONLY BANK, BUT HAVE A GREAT SENSE OF PRIDE AND HEART AND LOVE FOR, AND I WANT TO SEE THEM TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS OPPORTUNITY. BUT IF WE DON'T COME TOGETHER COLLECTIVELY IN ORDER TO, YOU KNOW, REALLY WORK AS AN ECOSYSTEM, AS ONE BODY TO MAKE THIS HAPPEN, WE'RE GONNA MISS OUT ON THE CHANCE TO REALLY SEE SOUTH DALLAS BECOME WHAT IT CAN'T BECOME. SO, I'M HERE TO REALLY JUST OFFER MY HAND OF OLIVE BRANCH AND FIND OUT WAYS HOW I CAN ADD SERVICE AND VALUE TO YOU ALL TO MAKE YOUR JOBS EASIER [00:05:01] AND MAKE THINGS STREAMLESS FOR OUR CLIENTS AND CONSTITUENTS AND BUSINESS OWNERS WHO WANT TO MAKE OUR COMMUNITY BETTER IN SOUTH DALLAS. SO THAT WAY THE CITY OF DALLAS AS A WHOLE CAN BECOME THE GREAT CITY AND CHANGE THE WORLD AS AS IT CAN. THANK YOU. THANK YOU LUBBOCK. THANK YOU MR. SMITH. AND THANK YOU FOR ALL THE FANTASTIC WORK THAT YOU DO IN THE COMMUNITY. UM, WE, WE'VE SEEN ALL THE GREAT THINGS THAT YOU'VE DONE IN THE COMMUNITY, UH, HOW YOU'VE HELPED, UH, YOU'VE ALWAYS EXACTLY WHAT YOU SAID HAVE BEEN THERE TO, TO OFFER, UH, YOUR SUPPORT, YOUR FEEDBACK, UH, YOUR GUIDANCE, UH, OVER THE YEARS FOR A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT PROJECTS, PARTICULARLY AS IT RELATES TO SOUTH DALLAS IN GENERAL. SO WE APPRECIATE ALL THE WORK THAT, UH, VISTA BANK DOES AND SPECIFICALLY YOU. AND, UH, THANK YOU FOR, FOR BEING HERE THIS EVENING. ALL RIGHT, MS. REGINA, DO WE HAVE ANY OTHER SPEAKERS SIGNED UP? THAT'S THE ONLY ONE WE HAVE SIGNED UP FOR TODAY. OKAY. HOLD, HOLD THAT THOUGHT. MR. SMITH, UH, MAY HAVE SOME BOARD MEMBERS WITH SOME QUESTIONS A LITTLE LATER. ALRIGHT, APPRECIATE IT. UH, NEXT AGENDA ITEM, AGENDA ITEM NUMBER FOUR. UH, THIS WAS ORIGINALLY SLATED TO BE, UH, A SLOT FOR THE CITY ATTORNEY'S OFFICE TO DISCUSS THE FRAMEWORK, UH, IN WHICH WE NEED TO ABIDE BY AS IT RELATES TO SUBCOMMITTEES, UH, AND, UH, MAKING SURE THAT WE DON'T VIOLATE ANY WALKING, YOU KNOW, QUORUM RULES AND, AND THINGS OF THAT NATURE. UH, MR. GARY POWELL IS WITH US THIS EVENING. UH, HE, HE'S NOT SLATED TO TO, TO SPEAK ABOUT THAT, SO, UH, WE'LL HAVE TO GET SOME ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FROM THAT FOR THAT. UH, IN BETWEEN NOW AND THE NEXT MEETING, WHICH WE'LL MAKE SURE WE'LL DISTRIBUTE TO THE BOARD, UH, AND WE NEED TO HAVE, YOU KNOW, SPECIAL CALL MEETING IN BETWEEN, UH, FOR A FEW MINUTES TO, TO GET SOME CLARITY ON THAT. WE'LL DO THAT. SO, UH, WE'LL TABLE THAT ITEM FOR NOW AND MOVE ON TO AGENDA ITEM NUMBER FIVE, WHICH IS A STAFF UPDATE FROM THE SMALL BUSINESS CENTER. SORRY, CHAIR. SORRY, INTERRUPT. UM, MARQUEZ, IS THERE A WAY WE CAN ADD THIS TO THE NEW AGENDA TO THE NEXT, NEXT MONTH'S AGENDA, JUST IN CASE IT DOESN'T GET OFF THE BOOKS? WE'LL, WE'LL, WE'LL DO THAT. IF WE CAN DO THAT, WE CAN HAVE A MEETING IN BETWEEN, GET SOME FEEDBACK IN BETWEEN, AND THEN WE CAN ADD IT AGAIN TO THE NEXT AGENDA SO THAT WE MAKE SURE WE ARE ALL HEARING THE SAME THING AND, AND WE HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO ASK QUESTIONS. SO YES, WE'LL DO THAT. THANK YOU, CHAIR. OKAY. ALRIGHT. UH, AGENDA ITEM NUMBER FIVE, UM, A STAFF UPDATE FROM THE SMALL BUSINESS CENTER, UH, REGARDING LOANS AND THE OUTREACH EFFORTS. UM, AND THIS WILL BE A PRESENTATION BY MR. KING, MR. CHAIR. UM, IN, IN OUR PREPARATION, WE HAD, UH, FOR, TO PRESENT TODAY, UH, THERE WERE TWO SLIDES THAT I WOULD PRESENT, UH, IN REGARDS TO THE BUSINESS AND LOANS, BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT I MANAGE. AND THEN MARIO WILL SPEAK ON THE OUTREACH EFFORTS. OKAY. SO IF YOU DON'T MIND THAT VERY WELL, VERY WELL, WE'LL, WE'LL, WE'LL, UH, SWITCH THAT. WE'LL TALK ABOUT THAT AND, UH, GIVE YOU THE FLOOR TO SPEAK ABOUT THAT. AND THEN WE'LL HAVE MR. KING COME UP. THANK YOU. UH, AND IF EVERYBODY, EVERYBODY ONLINE WILL HOLD QUESTIONS UNTIL THE END OF THE PRESENTATION, UH, AND THEN WE'LL OPEN IT UP FOR ANY QUESTIONS THAT YOU HAVE. BUT, UH, WE'LL, WE'LL LET, UH, MR. MR. BARWICK AND MR. KING FINISH BEFORE WE ENTERTAIN QUESTIONS. OKAY. THANK YOU. GOOD EVENING AGAIN, UH, MR. CHAIR, UH, BOARD MEMBERS, UH, AUDIENCE AND, UH, STAFF, UH, FOR THOSE THAT DON'T KNOW ME, I AM ANTHONY BARWICK. I'M THE PROGRAM ADMINISTRATOR FOR, UH, ENTREPRENEURIAL, THE ENTREPRENEURIAL DEPARTMENT WITHIN THE SMALL BUSINESS CENTER. AND, UM, WHAT I'M GONNA DO IS PROVIDE YOU, UH, SOME OVERVIEW AND SOME INFORMATION REGARDING THE BUSINESS LOAN AND GRANTS. OKAY. AND JUST KIND OF GIVE YOU A WALKTHROUGH. NOW, THERE'S A LOT OF INFORMATION THAT I WON'T BE ABLE TO ARTICULATE IN THE SHORT AMOUNT OF TIME, BUT THANKFULLY I HAVE WRITTEN, UH, DOCUMENTS, UH, THAT I'M HAPPY TO DISTRIBUTE, UH, FOR YOU. OKAY. AND, UH, ONE OTHER NOTE, UH, MR. CHAIR, REAL QUICKLY, UH, ON THE SLIDES, SLIDE SEVEN AND SLIDE NUMBER NINE HAVE BEEN, UH, WERE WERE MIXED ACCIDENTALLY. SO I WILL BE, UH, TOUCHING ON SLIDE SEVEN AND SLIDE NINE. AND MARIO KING, DR. MARIO KING WILL, UH, DISCUSS SLIDES EIGHT AND 10. [00:10:01] MY APOLOGIES FOR THIS MIX UP TO YOU AND THE BOARD NOTED. THANK YOU SO MUCH. OKAY. SO, UH, TO CREATE A NARRATIVE FOR YOU, FOR EVERYONE, UH, AND TO HELP YOU UNDERSTAND THE INFORMATION THAT'S BEING PROVIDED, I WILL, UM, I'LL TRY AND GIVE YOU A BACK VIEW AND THEN GIVE YOU A FORWARD VIEW OF HOW WE OPERATE, WHAT WE'RE, WHAT WE'RE FACING, HOW I'VE CHANGED OUR STRATEGY, AND WHAT WE'RE CURRENTLY DOING IN THE RESULTS SO FAR. SO, UH, FROM A STAFF PERSPECTIVE, AGAIN, I AM THE PROGRAM ADMINISTRATOR. UH, DR. MARIO KING IS THE SENIOR OUTREACH COORDINATOR, AND, UH, THE NEWEST MEMBER OF OUR TEAM, MARISSA MERCADO MERCADO, IS THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COORDINATOR. AND AS AN OVERVIEW, AS, AS PREVIOUSLY REPORTED, THE PURPOSE OF THE SOUTH DALLAS FAIR PARK OPPORTUNITY FUND IS TO PROVIDE LOANS AND GRANTS TO PROMOTE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND SUPPORT HUMAN DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVES AND NEIGHBORHOODS SURROUNDING, UH, FAIR PARK LOANS AND GRANTS ARE AVAILABLE TO SUPPORT BUSINESSES OR IN ENTITIES LOCATED WITHIN SPECIFIC CENSUS TRACKS, OR THAT SERVE A POPULATION THAT IS MADE UP OF AT LEAST 90% OF RESIDENTS FROM THOSE CENSUS TRACKS. SO WHEN I TALK ABOUT ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS TODAY, THESE ARE DEFINED AS PROJECTS OR PROGRAMS THAT RESULT IN THE CREATION OF NEW JOBS, THE RETENTION OF EXISTING JOBS, OR INCREASE THE SERVICE AREA TAX BASE. AND, UH, IN REGARDS TO LOANS AND GRANTS, THEY SHALL NOT BE AWARDED TO PERSONS OR ENTITIES WHO HAVE OUTSTANDING LIENS OR TAX LIENS, CITY LIENS, ANY PARTIES TO A LAWSUIT AGAINST THE CITY HAVE FILED FOR BANKRUPTCY WITHIN THE LAST PREVIOUS FIVE YEARS, CURRENT, OR CURRENTLY IN DEFAULT UNDER ANY OTHER AGREEMENT WITH THE CITY OR WITHIN THE PREVIOUS FIVE YEARS. NOW, WHEN WE TALK ABOUT ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS ONLY AS IT RELATES TO OUR LOANS AND GRANTS, IT'S, IT'S KEY TO, UH, IDENTIFY WHAT I FOUND WHEN I FIRST STARTED. WHAT I DID IS WHEN I CAME OUT, WHEN I WAS HIRED ON MARCH OF 2023 LAST YEAR, FIRST THING I DO AS A DATA GUY IS I WANT TO UNDERSTAND MY COMMUNITY. AND, UM, WHAT I FOUND IS, FIRST, UH, WITHIN THE COMMUNITY, I DID SOME RESEARCH, UM, FROM A, FROM A STATISTICAL ANALYSIS. THE POPULATION OF SOUTH DALLAS FAIR PARK IS A POPULATION THAT'S 18,145. THE EDUCATION LEVEL IN TOTAL FOR OF 61% OF FAIR PARK COMMUNITY OF THE FAIR PARK COMMUNITY, UH, HAS A HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA OR LESS WITH 39% OF HIGHER EDUCATION MASTER'S DEGREE, OR 5% BACHELOR'S, 7% SOME COLLEGE OR ASSOCIATE OR ASSOCIATE DEGREES OF 27% AND LESS THAN HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMAS 25%. THE MEDIAN MEDIAN INCOME HOUSEHOLD IS 43,719,000 FOR 40 3007 19. AND THE RACIAL DI RACIAL DIVERSITY IS AFRICAN AMERICANS MAKE UP 57% OF THE COMMUNITY. HISPANICS MAKE UP 31% WHITES, 10 AND TWO MORE RACES, 2%. WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT? THIS IS IMPORTANT. SO WE FULLY UNDERSTAND THE COMMUNITY IN WHICH WE SERVE. SO, UH, WHEN I, UH, STARTED LOOKING AT WHAT OUR PROJECT, WHAT IS THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PROJECT, THIS IS WHERE IT, UH, WHERE THE CHALLENGE EXISTS. BUT I WOULD EXPLAIN HOW I'VE CHANGED THINGS AROUND TO TRY AND ADDRESS THOSE. SO, WHEN WE TALK ABOUT LOAN AND GRANT REQUIREMENTS, CLIENTS MUST EITHER OWN THEIR COMMERCIAL PROPERTY THAT IS LOCATED WITHIN FAIR PARK CENSUS TRACK OR RENT SPACE WITHIN A COMMERCIAL PROPERTY DWELLING, AND THEY MUST HAVE PRIOR APPROVAL FROM THE LANDLORD FOR THE NEXT FIVE YEARS. AND, UM, THE FUNDING FOR THE PROGRAM ARE FOR COMMERCIAL BUILD OUT PROJECTS ONLY. AND WHEN I SAY THAT, I MEAN, UH, IMPROVEMENTS SUCH AS INFRASTRUCTURAL ITEMS SUCH AS ROOF REPAIRS, ELECTRICAL, HVAC FLOORING, DRYWALL FOUNDATION, AND OTHER ITEMS THAT ARE AFFIXED TO THE BUILDING. AND, UH, IF THE CLIENT IS SEEKING A REIMBURSABLE GRANT, THE CLIENT MUST PROVIDE AT LEAST 20% OF OWNERS EQUITY OF THE PROJECT AMOUNT AND MUST PAY FOR THE PROJECT IN FULL UPFRONT TO BE REIMBURSED AFTER THE PROJECT HAS BEEN COMPLETED. AND THEY MUST PROVIDE APPROVAL OF, [00:15:01] OF ABILITY TO FUND THE PROJECT. ALL PROJECTS MUST BE UNDERWRITTEN AND PROPERTY INSURANCE MUST BE REVIEWED AND APPROVED BY THE OFFICE OF RISK MANAGEMENT, INCLUDING A RECEIPT OF OFFICIAL CER CERTIFICATE CERTIFICATION OF INSURANCE. UH, THE PROJECT COST CANNOT EXCEED $2 MILLION. AND IF, UH, FOR OUR LOANS, UH, IF YOU, IF, UH, INDIVIDUAL IS SEEKING A LOAN, THE LOAN INTEREST RATE IS 2%. AND AGAIN, THIS IS FOR COMMERCIAL IMPROVEMENTS ONLY. NOW, WHEN WE TALK ABOUT OUR 2023 STRATEGY, AS I, UH, WHEN I WAS HIRED, UH, I DID NOT, WE DON'T, I DID NOT HAVE A STAFF. AND I HAVE MET WITH, UM, I STARTED WITH, UM, DIFFERENT D OH, I STARTED WITH THE TEAM HUDDLE. UH, I WAS LOOKING TO CREATE A DASHBOARD AND TREND ANALYSIS. UH, UNFORTUNATELY DUE TO LIMITED, UH, STAFFING, THE ONLY POINT OF CONTACT WAS ME. AND, UH, SO THAT PRESENTED SOME CHALLENGES. UH, WE CURRENTLY DO NOT HAVE A CRM SYSTEM, A CUSTOMERS RELATIONS MANAGEMENT SYSTEM TO CENTRALIZE CUSTOMER DATA, CONTACT INFORMATION, DOCUMENTATION, MARKETING AUTOMATION, INFORMATION PRIVACY, AND INFORMATION REPOSITORIES. AND REGARDING TREND ANALYSIS, I CURRENTLY USE, UH, EXCEL AND WORD DOCUMENTS, UH, PLATFORMS. WE, WE DON'T HAVE ANY, UH, NO INTERNAL SOFTWARE TO GENERATE REPORTS. AND AGAIN, I'M CURRENTLY USING MICROSOFT O UH, OFFICE, EXCEL, BUT I'M A DATA PERSON. SO I MAKE, I MAKE, I DO TREND ANALYSIS AND THAT KIND OF THING. SO, WHAT, WHEN WE GET TO THE DATA PORTION OF THIS, AS OF APRIL, 2024, I HAVE MET WITH 151 FOR-PROFIT BUSINESSES AND OR INDIVIDUALS WHO HAVE EITHER SOUGHT SMALL BUSINESSES, TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND OR FUNDING. OF THE 151 CLIENTS, 146 CLIENTS WHO AT OR IN NUMBERS, 96% ARE NOT PREPARED OR CANNOT BE FUNDED. 78 ARE PRE VENTURES, MEANING THEY HAVEN'T STARTED A BUSINESS YET. 62 ARE STARTUPS, EIGHT ARE EXISTING FIRMS, AND THREE ARE MATURE FIRMS. OF THE A HUNDRED AND FORTY, NINETY THREE OF THE 93% PERCENT OF THE CLIENTS THAT I'VE MET WITH, THEY NEED TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE. BUT DUE, DUE TO BEING UNDERSTAFFED, THE SBC IS INSUFFICIENT TO PROVIDE BUSINESS COUNSELING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE. AND CURRENTLY, THERE ARE NO BUSINESS ENTITIES WITHIN THE SOUTH DALLAS FAIR PARK COMMUNITY THAT ARE IN THE PIPELINE TO BE FUNDED FROM JUNE 22ND TO DECEMBER 23RD. ONLY THREE BUSINESSES WITHIN THE SOUTH DALLAS FAIR PARK COMMUNITY HAVE BEEN FUNDED IN 2023, ONLY TWO FOR-PROFIT BUSINESS ENTITIES HAVE INQUIRED ABOUT THE SOUTH DALLAS FAIR PARK OPPORTUNITY FUND, BUT DECLINED. ON AVERAGE, IT WOULD TAKE THREE TO FIVE MONTHS OF INTERNAL PROCESSING BEFORE A BUSINESS IS FUNDED, FOLLOWING THE CURRENT TRENDS AND INTERNAL PROCESSES. ANY POTENTIAL QUALIFIED BUSINESS WITHIN THE SOUTH DALLAS FAIR PARK COMMUNITY WILL NOT BE FUNDED UNTIL APPROXIMATELY SEPTEMBER OF 2024. NOW, WHEN WE TALK ABOUT OUR EFFORTS FOR 2024 MOVING FORWARD, THAT WAS 2023. OKAY? WHAT I'VE DONE IS I'VE CREATED A 2024 STRATEGIC PLAN. AND WITH THAT STRATEGIC PLAN, IT'S A FORMAL ROADMAP TO ACHIEVE OUR VISION OF FOSTERING ECONOMIC GROWTH, EMPOWERING COMMUNITIES, AND CREATING OPPORTUNITIES FOR PROSPERITY. SECONDLY, I'VE CREATED A STRATEGIC PLAN FOR THE SOUTH DALLAS FAIR PARK COMMUNITY SPECIFICALLY. AND THIS WILL, WE'RE GOING TO, OUR TEAM WAS GOING TO FOCUS ON HOW WE WILL EFFECTIVELY PROMOTE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT FOR FUNDING PROGRAMS AND DELIVER PROGRAMMATIC EFFORTS WITHIN THE COMMUNITY. WE REVISED OUR CLIENT CONCENTRATION, SO NOW WE'RE FOCUSING ON BUSINESS DEVELOPERS, COMMERCIAL PROPERTY OWNERS, AND EXISTING BUSINESSES WHO ARE OCCUPYING COMMERCIAL SPACE. I WAS FORTUNATE TO, UH, DO SOME DIGGING, AND I FOUND I CREATED A, A DATA GRID OF THE BUSINESSES WITHIN SOUTH DALLAS FAIR PARK. AND THERE ARE CURRENTLY 610 BUSINESS PROPERTIES. 57 OF THOSE BUSINESSES ARE FLEX, WHERE THEY, THEY [00:20:01] KIND OF VARY IN, UH, USAGE. AND, UH, THERE ARE TWO HEALTHCARE GROUPS, THREE HOSPI, THREE HOSPITALITY, 162 INDUSTRIAL BUSINESSES, 52 OFFICES, 287 RETAIL, 18 RETAIL IN THE STRIP CENTER, AND 29 SPECIALTIES. WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT? BECAUSE, UH, NOW WE KNOW THAT THERE ARE BUSINESSES THAT ARE, THAT ARE EXISTING HERE, BUT THEY NEED ASSISTANCE. SO WHAT I'VE DONE IS REDIRECT OUR EFFORTS TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE TARGETING OUR, OUR APPROPRIATE CLIENTS. UH, WE ACT, WE HAVE A SENIOR OUTREACH COORDINATOR, AND HE'S MAKING CONTACT TO THAT LIST. AND WE WILL BE, UH, MAKING, HE'S MAKING CONTACT WITH 589 LISTED BUSINESSES TO IDENTIFY THOSE THAT ARE CURRENTLY IN COMMERCIAL USE. WE'RE GONNA CREATE ESTABLISHED COMMUNITY CLUSTERS TO TALK TO THEM AND PRESENT OUR OPPORTUNITIES. AND, UH, WE'RE HOPING TO CREATE A BETTER PIPELINE. AS PREVIOUSLY STATED, UH, MARITZA RAMOS OR MERCADO, SHE CHANGED HER LAST NAME. UH, SHE, AS OUR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COORDINATOR, IS ALREADY, UH, DOING OUTREACH EFFORTS, UH, WITHIN OUR LATINO COMMUNITIES IN WEST DALLAS. AND, UH, WE'RE GOING TO GENERATE A BUSINESS GRID, LIKE I SAID, FOLLOW THE SAME PROCESSES AS THE, UH, AS THE BUSINESS, AS THE BUSINESS LIST THAT I, THAT I MENTIONED. SHE'S ATTENDING OUTREACH EVENTS AND SHE'S PROVIDING COMMUNITY CONVERSATIONS. UH, I'M, I'M VERY FORTUNATE TO HAVE HER JUST KIND OF HIT THE GROUND RUNNING. AND, UM, ONE, A FEW, A FEW OTHER ITEMS. WE REVISED, UH, WE'RE HAVING LEARNING LABS TO FOCUS ON ASSISTING INDIVIDUALS WITH PRO PERFORMANCE, EFFECTIVE BUSINESS PLANS, IRS BUSINESS TAX PREPARATION AND PARTNERSHIP STRATEGIES. SO THESE BUSINESSES CAN TALK TOGETHER, AND THEN THEY CAN, MAYBE THEY WANT TO TAKE ANOTHER APPROACH, ADD OUR FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES. AND, UH, WE, WE HAVE ESTABLISHED PARTNERSHIPS. I'M HAPPY TO SEE, UH, LUBBOCK HERE. UH, WE'RE NOW FOCUSING ON PARTNERSHIPS WITH CDFIS, LOCAL BANKS, CREDIT UNIONS, AND FINANCIAL SERVICES GROUPS, FINANCIAL SERVICE GROUPS, AND IMPACT, JUST SO YOU KNOW, AS, AS I CLOSE, UM, CURRENTLY WE HAVE SIX BUSINESSES IN THE PIPELINE APPLYING FOR FUNDING, APPROXIMATELY FOR APPROXIMATELY 2.3 MILLION. NOW, THAT'S NOT WITHIN FAIR PARK, BUT WE'RE USING THAT SAME STRATEGY. AND THIS IS WHERE I NEED THE, WE NEED THE BOARD'S ASSISTANCE, WE NEED YOUR INPUT, WE NEED YOUR VALUE, UH, STRAIGHT TALK. AND THAT'S WHAT I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO. UM, AND WE'RE ALSO USING A SMART PLAN OF ACTION. SO THESE ARE JUST A, I DON'T WANNA TAKE UP TOO MUCH TIME, MORE THAN I'VE ALLOWED MR. CHAIR, BUT THIS GIVES EVERYONE AN OPPORTUNITY TO SEE WHAT WE'RE DEALING WITH, HOW WE'RE DEALING WITH IT. UM, I, UM, A AB I'M VERY, VERY, VERY FOCUSED ON SMALL BUSINESSES. I'M A SMALL BUSINESS OWNER AS WELL. AND IT'S, THAT'S MY PASSION. SO I APPRECIATE THIS TIME. AND NOW I'M GONNA FORWARD THE FLOOR TO DR. MARIO KING, WHO'S GONNA TALK ABOUT OUR OUTREACH EFFORTS. THANK YOU. THANK YOU, MR. BARWICK. DR. KING, GOOD AFTERNOON TO THE BOARD CHAIR, UM, CHAIR JOHNSON AND TO THE BOARD, THANK YOU ALL FOR THIS OPPORTUNITY. I THINK IT'S ESSENTIAL FOR YOU ALL TO HEAR FROM STAFF, UM, ESPECIALLY THOSE OF US IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP WHO IS REALLY THE FACE FOR HOW THIS ENTIRE ORGANIZATION OF THE SBC WAS FOUNDED. AND SO, THE FIRST THING I WANNA TALK ABOUT IS JUST A LITTLE BIT ABOUT ME. UM, I AM THE SENIOR OUTREACH COORDINATOR. SO WHEN I FIRST CAME ON MY FIRST TWO, TWO MONTHS, I REPORTED DIRECTLY TO DIRECTOR WILLIAMS. AND I WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR OUTREACH ACROSS THE ENTIRE SBC, WHICH IS OUR BUSINESS INCLUSION DEVELOPMENT DIVISION, OUR WORKFORCE DIVISION, AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP. AND SO, OVER THE TIME, UM, THAT WORK STILL IS ESSENTIALLY THE SAME IN MY JOB DESCRIPTION, BUT WE ARE FOCUSING MORE OF OUR EFFORTS ON ENTREPRENEURSHIP AT THIS POINT. AND SO I, TWO MONTHS IN, SO I JUST WANNA LET YOU GUYS KNOW THAT TWO MONTHS, UM, WE DIDN'T DO OUTREACH, UM, THE FIRST TWO MONTHS. AND THEN NOVEMBER, DECEMBER, WE DIDN'T HAVE ANY OUTREACH EFFORTS. WE FOCUSED OUR EFFORTS ON REACHING BACK INTO THE COMMUNITY AND JUST REALLY RE STRATEGIZE, RE STRATEGIZING AND REPLANNING. AND THEN I WAS OUT FOR A MONTH 'CAUSE I HAD A NEW LITTLE BABY, WHICH I'M SUPER EXCITED ABOUT. SO WE'RE TALKING ABOUT, UM, APPROXIMATELY SIX MONTHS OF EFFORT [00:25:01] WENT INTO OUTREACH. AND SO WHEN ANTHONY TALKED ABOUT THE STATISTICS, I JUST WILL PIGGYBACK FROM AN ANECDOTAL STANCE ON STATISTICAL ANALYSIS. WHEN WE THINK ABOUT SOUTH DALLAS FAIR PARK OPPORTUNITY FUND, AND WE THINK ABOUT THE STRUCTURE OF HOW OUR GRANTS ARE. SO WHEN I GO INTO EVENTS, WHEN I GO INTO COMMUNITIES AND I'M HOSTING DIFFERENT TYPES OF EVENTS, AND WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THIS FUND, WHAT'S VERY DIFFICULT FOR ME, FROM A STATISTICS POINT THAT I THINK IS REALLY EGREGIOUS TO THE PUBLIC IS WHEN I'M PROMOTING, UM, PRODUCTS AND SERVICES THAT THESE PEOPLE REALLY, THAT ARE REALLY NOT FOR THE COMMUNITY THAT I'M PUTTING THESE PRODUCTS IN FRONT OF. UM, AND FOR A SIMPLE EXAMPLE OF THAT, I'LL TELL YOU, UH, WE HAVE VERY TRADITIONAL LENDING PRACTICES ON THE, FOR, ON THE FOREFRONT WHEN WE'RE THINKING ABOUT GRANTS AND LOANS. AND SO WE'RE THINKING ABOUT A STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE THE POOREST COMMUNITY IN THE CITY OF DALLAS, IN THE POOREST AREA IN THE CITY OF DALLAS. AND WE'RE TALKING ABOUT A 20% MATCH. IT BECOMES VERY DIFFICULT. AND SO FORWARDING TO THINKING ABOUT STATISTICAL ANALYSIS WHEN THINKING ABOUT THE ANECDOTAL EXPERIENCES, WHEN WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THE INDIVIDUALS WHEN I'M OUTREACHING, IS HOW DO WE ACTUALLY REACH THEM? HOW DO WE MAKE OUR PROGRAMS ACCESSIBLE TO THEM? AND HOW DO WE DO A BETTER JOB AT THAT? SO IN 2023, MY STRATEGY WAS TO COME IN AND CREATE AN OUTREACH PLAN FROM GRA A GRASSROOTS OUTREACH OUTREACH PLAN. AND WHAT GRASSROOTS MEANS TO ME IS TO ACTUALLY HIT THE GROUND RUNNING AND ACTUALLY GOING ALMOST DOOR KNOCKING AND TRYING TO UNDERSTAND OUR COMMUNITY, MAKING SURE THAT FIRST I'M CULTURALLY COMPETENT AND AWARE OF THE PEOPLE THAT WE'RE SERVING. AND SO WHEN WE THINK ABOUT WHAT OUR COMMUNITY LOOKED LIKE, ANTHONY DID AN AWESOME JOB AT EXPLAINING WHAT THE COMMUNITY LOOKED LIKE STATISTICALLY, BUT WHETHER DOES THE COMMUNITY LOOK LIKE THAT ACTUALLY PARTICIPATES IN OUR EVENTS. AND SO WE HAVE ABOUT, WE'VE BUILT THE LIST FROM ZERO TO OVER A THOUSAND INDIVIDUALS. NOW, WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT THAT NUMBER, YOU'RE SAYING, OH, THEY HAVE A THOUSAND PEOPLE. WHY DON'T HAVE SO MANY PEOPLE IN THE PIPELINE? WELL, ONLY 217 OF THOSE INDIVIDUALS ARE, ARE ENGAGED. AND 2023, WE HAD 136 OF THOSE INDIVIDUAL EN ENGAGED, CAME TO MEETINGS, RESPONDED TO EMAILS, AND TALKED TO US. IN 2024, WE HAD 81 OF THOSE INDIVIDUALS ENGAGED, WHICH CREATES THE 217 NUMBER. NOW, OUT OF THAT 217 NUMBER, LET'S CONDENSE THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE THAT ANTHONY TALKED ABOUT. SO WHEN WE GO ALL THE WAY DOWN AND WE THINK ABOUT HOW MANY OF PEOPLE ACTUALLY QUALIFY FOR OUR GRANTS AND LOAN PRO PROGRAMS, THREE, ONE WAS IN CARROLLTON, ONE IS THE CAKE BAR, WHO'S A VERY SUCCESSFUL ORGANIZATION THAT REALLY DON'T NEED OUR FUNDS. AND THEN ONE WAS A DEVELOPER WHO REALLY DON'T HAVE AN INVESTMENT AT THE SOUTH DALLAS TRAP PARK OPPORTUNITY, UM, FUND BECAUSE THEY DON'T LIVE IN THAT COMMUNITY. THEY JUST OWN PROPERTY THERE. AND THEN WHAT WE'LL SAY FOUR, WHICH IS ANOTHER INDIVIDUAL WHO ACTUALLY WAS HAVING A LOT OF DIFFERENT ISSUES WITH THE PROPERTY THAT HE HAD IN THE CITY, UM, WHICH MEANS THAT HE HAD LITIGATION AGAINST THEM, WHICH MEANS HE AUTOMATICALLY DIDN'T QUALIFY FOR OUR PROPERTIES. AND SO WHEN WE THINK ABOUT OUR PARTNERSHIP VALUE, FOR ME THAT THE TRANSITION FROM UNDERSTANDING THE COMMUNITY AND UNDERSTANDING THE PARTNERSHIP VALUE, WHAT IS THE VALUE IN TALKING WITH BANKS LIKE, UM, VISTA BANK OR TALKING TO CDFIS LIKE PEOPLE LIKE DEREK S IS, WE THINK ABOUT CAPITAL STACKING. HOW CAN WE UTILIZE OTHER ORGANIZATIONS TO BE ABLE TO SUPPORT OUR PROGRAMS? AND WE GET, UM, BANKS TO REALLY CREATE, AND, AND HERE'S THE DEAL. WE KNOW THAT BANK BANKING PRACTICES ARE REALLY EGREGIOUS TO, UM, BANKING PRACTICES ARE REALLY EGREGIOUS TO PEOPLE OF COLOR. UM, WE KNOW THAT STATISTICALLY. SO WHEN WE ARE THINKING ABOUT HOW DO WE REALLY USE THESE ORGANIZATIONS AS A PARTNERSHIP, WE NEED THESE ORGANIZATIONS TO ENGAGE WITH US SO THAT WE CAN TALK TO 'EM ABOUT CREATING PROGRAMS TO SUPPORT US. SO JUST TO THINK THROUGH THAT ALONG, THIS IS A VERY LONG GAME PROCESS. IF WE'RE GONNA KEEP OUR PROJECTS, IF WE'RE GONNA KEEP THE SOUTH DALLAS FAIR PARK OPPORTUNITY FUND, THE SAME MEANING WE'RE NOT GONNA CHANGE ANY OF THE REQUIREMENTS. WE'RE NOT GONNA CREATE A CRITERIA BECAUSE RIGHT NOW OUR CRITERIA AND PROCESSES REALLY DON'T EXIST. UM, WE'RE GOING ON A CASE BY CASE BASIS. WE WILL HAVE TO WORK WITH OTHER ORGANIZATIONS TO CREATE PARTNERSHIP PROGRAMS THAT CAN HELP THEM SUPPORT US SO THAT THEY CAN BE PREPARED TO BE FUNDED BY US WHEN THEY COME. SO WE TAKE THAT AND WE GO TO EXTERNAL RESOURCES AND WE THINK CAN LUBBOCK SMITH, IF SOMEBODY WANNA BORROW A HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS, WHEN WE THINK ABOUT THE ONUS EQUITY AND THEY DON'T HAVE A PROPERTY, SAY THEY'VE ACQUIRED LAND FROM A FRIEND OR FROM A FAMILY MEMBER THAT HAS PASSED AWAY, CAN WE GET LUBBOCK SMITH ORGANIZATION, VISTA BANK OR DEREK HICKS TO COME TOGETHER AND LOAN THEM 10,000 AND 10,000 THE CAPITAL STACK SO THAT THEY'LL HAVE THE $20,000 IN ALMOST EQUITY TO BE ABLE TO EVEN COME AND APPLY FOR OUR GRANT AND LOAN PROGRAM UPFRONT. THE SECOND PIECE OF THIS IS LEARNING LABS. SO WE TRANSITION RIGHT INTO OUR LEARNING LABS. HOW DO WE EDUCATE THE PUBLIC ON THIS PROCESS? RIGHT? WE ARE ALL HE . I I THINK IT'S SO AMAZING. I I'M, I'M LIKE A DATA GUY TOO. SO I LOVE THE FACT THAT, UM, MR. BARWICK SAID TO YOU GUYS, THE EDUCATION LEVEL AND ATTAINMENT OF THE PEOPLE IN SOUTH DALLAS FAIR PARK, IT'S EGREGIOUS TO ASK THEM SOME OF THE QUESTIONS THAT WE DO [00:30:01] WITHOUT PROVIDING THEM WITH EDUCATIONAL SERVICES ABOUT OUR PROGRAMS AND PROCESSES. TRADITIONAL BANKS DO THIS TO OUR PEOPLE ALL THE TIME. AND SO WHEN WE COME BACK IN AND WE DO THE SAME THING, WE'RE JUST, YOU KNOW, SHUTTING THE DOOR IN THEIR FACE. AND WHEN I TELL Y'ALL I'M SPEAKING, I'M SPEAKING FROM MY HEART, BUT I'M ALSO SPEAKING FOR THE COMMUNITY, THE PEOPLE THAT I DEAL WITH EVERY DAY WHEN WE HAVE THESE EVENTS. IF YOU CAN MOVE TO THE NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. AND I'M SO SORRY I DON'T HAVE A CLICKER. JESSE IS ACTUALLY REALLY GOOD. HE RUNS THE BUSINESS INCLUSION AND DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATION, AND I THINK HE'S AWESOME. SO THANK YOU JESSE, SO MUCH FOR LIKE, GOING TO THE NEXT SLIDE FOR ME. BUT . SO WHEN I THINK ABOUT DATA, UM, FOR ME, I AUTOMATICALLY THINK ABOUT HOW MANY PEOPLE WE HAVE A, SO WE HAVE THREE DIFFERENT DATA SETS, I THINK WAS REALLY IMPORTANT. UM, MR. BAR TALKED ABOUT 142, UM, PEOPLE THAT HE'S TALKED TO. IT'S IMPORTANT THAT YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT THAT 142 PEOPLE LOOK LIKE. THAT CAN BE PEOPLE FROM OUR UNHOUSED COMMUNITY THAT COME IN AND MEET WITH US ABOUT LOANS AND GRANTS. THEY CAN BE PEOPLE FROM, UM, THE SOUTH DALLAS FAIR PARK OPPORTUNITY. UM, I'LL SAY SOUTH DALLAS FAIR PARK COMMUNITY, WHO ACTUALLY REALLY JUST WANT TO INQUIRE BY OUR INFORMATION. THEY COULD BE BUSINESS OWNERS, THEY CAN BE PROPERTY OWNERS. WE'VE MET WITH PEOPLE FROM THE GRAND SCALE, FROM AN UNHOUSED TO A PERSON THAT HAS MILLIONS AND MILLIONS OF DOLLARS. AND THAT'S PROVEN WITH SOME OF THE GRANTS AND LOANS THAT WE'VE, WITH SOME OF THE LOANS THAT WE'VE ALREADY PUT THROUGH THE PIPELINE, ONE THAT THEY JUST SAID YES TO. SO OUR EFFORTS IS EVEN MORE SIMPLER. OVER THE COURSE OF THE SIX MONTHS THAT I TALKED TO YOU, WE HAVE HAD 36 OUTREACH EVENTS. WE'VE ATTENDED, PARTICIPATED OUR PLAN OVER 36 OUTREACH EVENTS. AND THAT'S SOMETHING I DID MYSELF, THAT ACTUALLY GIVE, UM, OUR, OUR CONSTITUENTS THE OPPORTUNITY TO COME INTO OUR, OUR SPACE, OR WE GO INTO THEIR SPACE AND TALK TO 'EM ABOUT OUR PROGRAMS. WHEN WE'RE TALKING TO 'EM ABOUT OUR PROGRAMS, WE EDUCATE THEM FOR THE FIRST 25 MINUTES, THE NEXT 30 MINUTES, WE THEN ALLOW THEM TO, WE DID BRING IN SOME TYPE OF PARTNER SUCH AS VISTA BANK. UM, WE, I, I'M SORRY HE'S HERE, BUT, UM, VISTA BANK AND TEXAS MEZZANINE FUND, UM, BANK OF TEXAS. THEY DO AN EDUCATIONAL PIECE FOR US. AND THEN, UM, WE'LL AFTER THAT, WE'LL ALLOW THAT COMMUNITY TO ASK US QUESTIONS. THE QUESTIONS THAT WE GET SOME OF THE QUESTIONS FROM AN ANECDOTAL FOR IS, IS THESE INDIVIDUAL PEOPLE WHO COME TO US PASSIONATE ABOUT THEIR FAMILY, THEIR BUSINESSES THAT ARE LITERALLY JUST TRYING TO PUT FOOD ON THE TABLE, COME TO US AND SAY, AND SAY, WHAT IS A BUSINESS PLAN? WHERE DO I START? OKAY? THEY ASK QUESTIONS LIKE, HOW, WHAT'S HER PRO FORMA? WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? YOU KNOW, AND THESE ARE THINGS THAT YOU CAN'T GOOGLE AND LEARN BECAUSE ACCOUNTING, I'LL TELL YOU, I GOT A PHD IN BUSINESS IN ECONOMICS, AND I HAVE A C IN ACCOUNTANT IN UNDERGRAD. SO ME AND LUBBOCK STAYED ON THE PHONE JUST A MONTH AGO WHERE I WAS TALKING TO HIM ABOUT BANKING, AND WE WERE LITERALLY DOING HIS PROJECT. OKAY? SO, AND WE ARE EDUCATED PEOPLE. AND SO TO ASK THESE PEOPLE TO HAVE A PRO FORMA, A BALANCE SHEET, UNDERSTANDING FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND FINANCIAL PRINCIPLES, AND GO THROUGH WHAT WE ALREADY KNOW AS AN EGREGIOUS BANKING, TRADITIONAL LENDING PROCESS COULD BE VERY DIFFICULT. HOWEVER, THE IMPACT IS SO REAL. UM, THE IMPACT I THINK OF THIS FUND, UM, COULD BE GREAT. BUT ONE OF THE PROBLEMS THAT WE'RE HAVING IS HOW DO WE TRULY REACH PEOPLE WITH THE CURRENT, UM, THE CHECKLIST THAT WE HAVE IN PLACE? UM, AND ADDITION TO THE, WHAT WE'RE ASKING OF THEM WITHOUT NUMBER ONE, EDUCATING THEM. AND I THINK OUR PROGRAMS COULD ALMOST SAY THAT WE WE'RE A LITTLE BIT CULTURALLY AND COMPETENT ABOUT HOW WE'RE EVEN ADDRESSING THE FUNDS, UM, THE FUND AND THE PEOPLE IN OUR COMMUNITY. AND SO, AND I SAY OUR COMMUNITY, BECAUSE I WORK HERE, UM, I DON'T LIVE THERE, BUT I'M PASSIONATE ABOUT THOSE INDIVIDUALS TOO. AND I JUST THINK THAT AS A CITY, WE HAVE TO DO A BETTER JOB, ESPECIALLY WITH THIS FUND AND BEING ABLE TO PROMOTE HOW WE MOVE FORWARD, UM, AND HOW WE ENGAGE THE SOUTH DALLAS FAIR PARK OPPORTUNITY FUND POSSIBLE. UM, PEOPLE, WE DO HAVE, UM, A NONPROFIT SECTOR THAT REGINA RUNS. I DON'T REALLY KNOW MUCH ABOUT IT, BUT WHAT I ALWAYS TELL PEOPLE IS, YOU KNOW, THAT'S ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY FOR YOU. BUT I THINK WE DO HAVE TO DO A BETTER JOB. I SHOULD KNOW ABOUT THE NONPROFIT SECTOR. I SHOULD UNDERSTAND IT SO THAT PEOPLE CAN UTILIZE THOSE TYPES OF THINGS TO CAPITAL STACK OR WORK TOGETHER. AND SO FOR ME, I BELIEVE THAT OUTREACH HAS BEEN VERY SUCCESSFUL. UM, AGAIN, WE'VE HAD, AT ANY POINT IN TIME, IF WE DO AN OUTREACH EVENT IN THE SBC, IF WE'RE HOSTING AN SBC IS HOSTING AN OUTREACH EVENT IN THE DFW AREA, WE'LL HAVE ANYWHERE FROM 25 TO 50 PEOPLE, RSVP WITHIN THE FIRST 48 HOURS. THESE INDIVIDUALS ARE ALWAYS DIFFERENT. WE HAD AN EVENT WHERE WE HAD THE EXACT SAME EVENT ONE WEEK AFTER THE NEXT. AND WE, WE HAD THE 25 MAX AND THEN THE 25 MAX AT BOTH OF THE EVENTS, AND WE PROVIDED THE SAME INFORMATION AND IT WAS 25 DIFFERENT PEOPLE BOTH TIMES. AND WE USED THE SAME LIST. SO OUR ENTREPRENEURS AND THE PEOPLE IN SOUTH DALLAS FAIR PARK ARE [00:35:01] EXTREMELY HUNGRY. THEY REALLY WANT THESE OPPORTUNITIES. THEY REALLY WANT, THIS FUND IS IMPORTANT. THE SBC IS ESSENTIALLY VERY IMPORTANT AS WELL TO US. UM, AND IT'S IMPORTANT TO THEM, BUT WE HAVE TO CREATE A BETTER WAY TO BE MORE ACCESSIBLE. SO IN 2024 AND 2025, WHEN WE TALK ABOUT AN OUTREACH PLAN, WE TALK ABOUT HOW WE'RE DOING THIS. UM, ANTHONY WANTED TO COME UP WITH THIS PLAN TO REALLY, UM, INVEST IN SOUTH DALLAS FAIR PARK. UM, UH, MANY OF OUR EVENTS WERE FOCUSED ALL THROUGHOUT DALLAS, BECAUSE THAT'S WHO WE SERVE. WE SERVE ENTIRE DALLAS. BUT WHAT, UH, MR. BARR WOULD LIKE TO DO IS TO CONCENTRATE OUR EFFORTS REALLY ON THE FAIR PARK COMMUNITY AND THAT LIST OF BUSINESSES THAT ARE DIRECTLY THERE. NOW, EVEN WHEN WE THINK ABOUT THAT LIST, WHEN YOU LOOK ABOUT THAT, THINK ABOUT THAT LIST, COMPREHENSIVELY 589 OF THOSE BUSINESSES, PROBABLY 50% OF THOSE BUSINESSES ARE REALLY PROBABLY REGISTERED, ARE, ARE REGISTERED WITH THE SOS AND ACTUALLY UPDATE IT WITH THE COMPTROLLER'S OFFICE. SO NOW WE'RE TALKING ABOUT 250 PLUS BUSINESSES. AND THEN ONCE WE GET INTO THAT, HOW MANY OF THEM ACTUALLY HAVE A STOREFRONT AND NOT OPERATING FROM A HOME OFFICE? AND THEN WHEN WE THINK ABOUT FLEX SPACE, THEY DON'T REALLY OWN THAT SPACE. ARE THEY AT THE DECK? ARE THEY RENTING FROM THE DECK OR ARE THEY RENTING FROM SOME, SOME OTHER PERSON TO BE ABLE TO JUST HAVE AN ADDRESS? SO WE ARE STILL THINKING ABOUT CREATIVE SPACES, BUT HOW DO WE IN FAIR PARK ALLOW THIS LONG OPPORTUNITY TO SERVE THOSE INDIVIDUALS AS WELL? UM, I THINK ONE THING I ALWAYS SAY IS, UM, THE DIRECTOR, JOYCE WILLIAMS ALWAYS SAYS THAT, YOU KNOW, WE GOTTA FIGURE OUT HOW WE GET TO THOSE INDIVIDUALS, AND I CAN APPRECIATE THAT. BUT I THINK THE WAY THAT WE GET TO THEM IS TO LEARN THEM AND TO UNDERSTAND HOW WE ACCOMMODATE THEIR NEEDS. AND THEN HOW DO WE COME TO THIS BOARD TO BE ABLE TO RECOMMEND POLICY THAT ACTUALLY FIT THE NEEDS OF THOSE INDIVIDUALS SO WE CAN ACTUALLY START GETTING MONEY OUT THE DOOR. SO THROUGH THAT, WE WANT TO TALK TO PEOPLE. WE WANNA HAVE COMMUNITY CONVERSATIONS, WHICH ARE ROUND TABLE DISCUSSIONS THAT WE NEED OUR BOARD HERE TO COME TO. AND HERE. SO YOU CAN UNDERSTAND SOME OF THOSE ANECDOTAL EXPERIENCES OF THOSE INDIVIDUALS. WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND THAT WE DO HAVE 30 PLUS PERCENT OF PEOPLE THAT ARE HISPANIC. AND I'M A BLACK MAN THAT'S SPEAKING. NO, NO, NO SPANISH. SO IT'S GOOD THAT WE FINALLY HAVE SOMEONE THAT BRINGS ON THE INCLUSIVENESS THAT OUR ORGANIZATION TALKS ABOUT. AND WE HAVE MARISSA, SHE HAVE A NEW LAST NAME, . OKAY. I SAID THAT PRETTY, UM, SPANISH, BUT . BUT WE HAVE MARISSA. SHE IS AMAZING, HER PERSONALITY AND LIKE, UH, MR. BARBARA SAID EARLIER, SHE LIVES IN, SHE LIVES IN FAIR PARK. SO HER PASSION IS SUPER, SUPER IS JUST AMAZING. AND SHE'S A RESILIENT PERSON. AND SO WE BELIEVE IN THAT. AND SHE REALLY FEST IS THE SAME ENERGY THAT I GET FROM THE INDIVIDUALS THAT WANNA BE A PART OF OUR LOANS AND GRANTS. AND THEN REALLY CROSS-SECTIONAL. I'LL TELL YOU, THE CITY OF DALLAS HAVE SOME AMAZING DEPARTMENTS, AND WE HAVE SOME VERY, VERY INTELLIGENT PEOPLE THAT WORK FOR THE CITY OF DALLAS. AND I'VE HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO WORK IN, WORK WITH SOME OF THOSE DEPARTMENTS RIGHT NOW, THE LIBRARY SERVICES IN. AND, UH, WE HAVE A BUSINESS SUMMIT COMING IN SEPTEMBER, AND WE EXPECT OVER 500 SMALL BUSINESSES TO BE AT THAT BUSINESS SUMMIT THAT WILL BE IN THE CITY LIBRARY, WHICH IS SEPTEMBER 12TH, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12TH. AND WE ARE PLANNING THAT RIGHT NOW WITH THE LIBRARY. UM, WE THINK ABOUT CITY COUNCIL LIAISONS PER DISTRICT. I THINK WE HAVE ONE NOW THAT'S HERE. AND ONCE SHE LEARNED ABOUT US WITH THROUGH, UM, THE OUTREACH OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT. SO JUST UNDERSTAND, I HAVEN'T SEEN THEM NOT COME TO A MEETING. AND SO WE ARE SUPER, FEEL SUPER GOOD TO HAVE THEM AS TEAM MEMBERS. WE JUST GOTTA ENGAGE THE REST OF 'EM. AND THAT'S OUR FAULT BECAUSE I HAVEN'T ENGAGED THEM BECAUSE I JUST DIDN'T KNOW IF I COULD OR NOT. UM, AND THEN THE SOUTH DALLAS FAB PARK OPPORTUNITY BOARD MEMBER ASSISTANCE, JUST YOU GUYS TO BE PRESENT BANKING PARTNERSHIPS, YOU'VE HEAR, HEARD ABOUT THAT, AND THEN TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE. UM, I THINK WE, WE CAN ALL AGREE THAT TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE IS IMPORTANT. WE ALL KNOW HOW TO USE IPADS AND COMPUTERS, BUT WE HAVE TO GET OUR LOAN APPLICATIONS. THEY HAVE TO BE A PROCESS WHERE PEOPLE CAN GO ONLINE, UNDERSTAND WHAT OUR CRITERIA IS. SO WE HAVE TO CREATE A CRITERIA FIRST THAT IS, THAT IS EQUITABLE AND THAT IS FAIR. AND THEN WE HAVE TO CREATE A PROCESS THAT ALLOWS PEOPLE TO UNDERSTAND WHAT THEY'RE GONNA BE GOING THROUGH, IF THEY'RE GONNA INVEST THEIR TIME, AND WE'RE TELLING THEM THAT THEY CANNOT START A PROJECT UNTIL THEY'RE FUNDED. AND THEN NUMBER THREE, WE HAVE TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE CULTURALLY AWARE AND COMPETENT OF EACH AND EVERY PERSON THAT WE SERVE. AND BRINGING THEM TO THE FOREFRONT AND JUST SAYING, HEY, APPLY FOR OUR LOANS, WHICH IS WHAT WE CURRENTLY DO. UM, AND NOT GIVING THEM ANY STANDARDS OF PRACTICE IS ESSENTIALLY AN EGREGIOUS PROCESS. AND IT'S JUST LIKE TRADITIONAL BANKS LIKE IC. BUT, UM, , NO, THANK YOU ALL FOR ALLOWING ME THE OPPORTUNITIES TO SPEAK. UM, I AM, I VALUE THIS OPPORTUNITY AND I'M OPEN FOR ANY QUESTIONS AND I TOO HAVE CREATED. AND JUST ONE SECOND, REGINA, IF YOU DON'T MIND. UM, I CREATED A DOCUMENT THAT'S VERY DETAILED. IT HAS A SWOT ANALYSIS THAT TALKS ABOUT STRENGTHS, WEAKNESS, OPPORTUNITIES AND THREATS THAT I BELIEVE COULD BENEFIT THE BOARD. UM, [00:40:01] AND UNDERSTANDING MY EXPERIENCE AND UNDERSTANDING WHERE ARE THE STRENGTHS WE ARE AND THEN WHERE ARE SOME OF OUR WEAKNESSES, AND THEN HOW WE CAN, HOW DO YOU TURN THESE WEAKNESSES INTO OPPORTUNITIES? AND THEN DON'T LET OUR THREATS STAY THERE TOO LONG, WE HAVE TO ATTACK AND REALLY ENFORCE. AND THEN LASTLY, I HAVE A, ANOTHER DOCUMENT WHERE I CREATED THAT ESSENTIALLY GOES THROUGH EVERYTHING I TALKED ABOUT TODAY, UM, MY EFFORTS AND WHY I DID THIS AND WHY WE DID THAT. AND WHILE WE PARTNER WITH THIS SMALL BUSINESS AND THAT SMALL BUSINESS. BUT, UM, WE NEED TO GET OUR PROCESS ONLINE. UM, IT NEEDS TO BE PUBLIC FACING. WE GOTTA GET OUR INFORMATION CORRECTED, UM, SO THAT IT IS, UM, THERE AND WE JUST, WE GOTTA GET YOU GUYS UPDATED TOO. WE GOTTA MAKE SURE THAT YOUR NAMES AND STUFF ON OUR WEBSITE AND CONTACT INFORMATION SO WE CAN BE GOOD. ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH. I VALUE YOUR TIME. THANK YOU SO MUCH, DR. KING, AND THANK YOU, MR. BARWICK. UM, YOU KNOW, FIRST OF ALL, THERE'S A LOT TO UNPACK THERE. I DON'T THINK WE'VE EVER HAD, I I DON'T THINK WE'VE EVER HAD A MEETING WHERE THIS LEVEL OF DETAIL HAS BEEN SHARED WITH US AS IT RELATES TO WHAT'S BEEN DONE, HOW IT'S BEEN DONE HISTORICALLY AND CURRENTLY, AND WHAT SOME OF THE CHALLENG ARE CHALLENGES ARE THAT STILL EXIST AS TO WHY WE HADN'T BEEN ABLE TO GET MONEY OUT THE DOOR DESPITE HAVING ENGAGED STAFF, DESPITE HAVING AN ENGAGED BOARD, DESPITE HAVING AVAILABLE FUNDS TO DISTRIBUTE. UM, SO THIS WAS VERY INSIGHTFUL. SO, UH, I'VE GOT A FEW MORE COMMENTS, BUT I'M GONNA TURN IT OVER TO, TO THE BOARD FOR QUESTIONS. UH, IF THERE ARE ANY QUESTIONS AT THIS TIME, I HAVE A QUESTION. OH, GO AHEAD. UH, DR. KING, YOU MENTIONED, UH, CAPITAL STACKING, UM, YOU KNOW, LIKE DIFFERENT, UM, BANKING PARTNERSHIPS, WORKING WITH CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS TO BE ABLE TO SOURCE CAPITAL SO THAT WAY THEY CAN THEN APPLY FOR MEET THE 20% THRESHOLD. HOW EFFECTIVE HAS THAT BEEN? I WAS PRETTY INTRIGUED BY THAT. I'LL BE REALLY HONEST WITH YOU. UM, RIGHT NOW IT'S NOT EFFECTIVE AT ALL, BUT 'CAUSE WE DON'T REALLY UNDERSTAND IF WE ARE GONNA BE ASKING FOR 20%, 30% OR 50%. SO RIGHT NOW WE CAN'T REALLY, UM, ENGAGE INDI, IT'S SUCH A, A VERY GRAY AREA. SO I REALLY DON'T UNDERSTAND RIGHT NOW WHERE WE ARE WITH THAT. AND SO THAT, THAT WOULD BE A QUESTION FOR DIRECTOR WILLIAMS. UM, BUT I WOULD FOR THAT PORTION, THE 20 30 20 30 AND WHAT'S THAT? 51 51, 50 1%. SO, BUT WHAT I'LL TELL YOU IS THAT ONE THING I THINK IT CAN BE SUCCESSFUL WHEN WE ARE AT ALL OF THESE BANKING MEETINGS. SO WE BRING MULTIPLE BANKS IN AT A TIME AT THESE LEARNING LABS AND THE ISSUE, I THINK THAT COULD BE SUCCESSFUL. BUT AGAIN, I BELIEVE THAT WE STILL HAVE TO REMEMBER THAT WHILE EACH PERSON IS BORROWING A LOT LESS MONEY WHEN THEY'RE DOING CAPITAL STACKING, UM, THAT'S A TOOL THAT BANKS HAVE USED, TRADITIONAL BANKS HAVE USED. SO IT'S STILL A VERY TRADITIONAL PROCESS THAT COULD BE VERY EGREGIOUS TO PEOPLE THAT ALREADY DON'T HAVE MONEY AND THAT ARE ALREADY, YOU KNOW, LOOKING TO GO INTO A PROCESS. SO I THINK IT COULD BE SUCCESSFUL FOR, FOR SOMEBODY WHO OWNS A COMMERCIAL PROPERTY, HAVE A THRIVING BUSINESS, BUT FOR THE PEOPLE THAT WE'RE LOOKING TO SERVE, WHICH IS THOSE ONE AND TWO PERCENTERS OF THAT POPULATION, I THINK IT IS, UM, AGAIN, A PROCESS THAT OUR PROCESS IS SUPPOSED TO BE KIND OF TRYING TO OVERCOME BY HAVING OUR LOAN. SO I THINK WE SHOULDN'T ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO CAPITAL, CAPITAL STACK MORE SO ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO, AND I ONLY USE CAPITAL STACK BECAUSE I FEEL THAT CAPITAL STACKING IS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR THE CURRENT PRACTICE THAT WE HAVE. AND IT'S PROBABLY ONE OF THE ONLY WAYS THAT SOME PEOPLE CAN GET THERE. BUT I BELIEVE THAT OUR LOAN FUNDS ARE CREATED TO ASSIST THOSE INDIVIDUALS WHO DO NOT HAVE CAPITAL. SO I THINK INSTEAD OF HAVING THEM THE CAPITAL STACK, I THINK WE NEED TO CHANGE THAT WORD TO IN KIND MATCH, UM, MAYBE LOOKING AT LAND, UM, VALUE, LOOKING AT VEHICLE VALUE AND LOOKING AT ASSET VALUES TO SEE WHAT OTHER RECOURSES WE CAN USE FOR THAT 20% INSTEAD OF LOOKING AT THE, YOU KNOW, THEM GOING TO BORROW FROM OTHER LENDING, TRADITIONAL LENDING INSTITUTIONS. EXCELLENT. THANK YOU. CAN CAN I ADD TO THAT PLEASE? UM, WHAT WE'RE ALSO DOING IS, UH, WE'RE HAVING MEETINGS, FROST BANK, UH, ALL OF THE LOCAL BANKS TO UNDERSTAND WHAT THEIR, UH, BUSINESS THRESHOLDS ARE, AND THEY HAVE SOME CREATIVE, [00:45:01] UM, FUNDING. AND WHAT I, WHAT, WHAT I'M NOT TRYING TO DO IS REINVENT THE WHEEL, BUT TO FIND OUT OTHER STRATEGIES AND WHAT'S, WHAT'S, WHAT I FIND VERY ENCOURAGING IS THE RESPONSIVENESS FROM THE BANKS WANTING TO ASSIST. AND THEN, UH, OBVIOUSLY WE CAN'T JUST PROMOTE ONE BANK, BUT WE WOULD LOVE TO BE ABLE TO PROVIDE ALL OF OUR BUSINESS OWNERS WITH THE BANKS AND PROVIDE THEM WITH BASIC CLEAR UNDERSTANDING INFORMATION BECAUSE THERE'S A LOT OF MISTRUST. AND THIS IS WHAT WE ARE HAVING THESE MEETINGS. WE'RE, WE'RE, WE'RE, YOU KNOW, WE'RE MEETING, UH, THERE'S SEVERAL BANKS THAT I'M MEETING WITH. WE'RE ACTUALLY GOING TO A WHITEBOARD AND WE'RE ACTUALLY KIND OF HASHING OUT WHAT IS IT THAT YOU CAN PROVIDE OUR COMMUNITIES THAT WE CAN PARTNER AS A CITY. SO WE'RE NOT THE EXPERTS, BUT WE ARE GOING TO THE EXPERTS AND THAT'S, AND I HOPE TO YIELD, UH, SOME, SOME KIND OF FORMULA, SOME KIND OF STRATEGY THAT WE CAN ASSIST OUR, UH, COMMUNITIES. A FOLLOW UP QUESTION FOR YOU, MR. BAR, UM, HAVING ENRIQUE 60 SECONDS. YES, SIR. HAVING GONE THROUGH THE, UM, THE, THE LOAN PROCESS FOR, UM, FOR A SMALL BUSINESS LOAN MYSELF, UH, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I ENCOUNTERED, UM, WAS IT THE, THE BANK SPECIFICALLY HAD LIKE TEMPLATES OF DOCUMENTS, LIKE A, UM, BUSINESS PLAN DOCUMENT, A PROFORMA DOCUMENT, RIGHT? THAT WAS LIKE A PREDETERMINED TEMPLATE THAT JUST NEEDED TO BE FILLED OUT, UM, THAT KIND OF HELPED USHER THAT PROCESS. UH, DOES THE SMALL BUSINESS CENTER CURRENTLY HAVE ANYTHING LIKE THAT? CURRENTLY NOT. OKAY. UM, I HAVE WHAT FROM MY PREVIOUS, UH, LIVES OF OTHER ORGANIZATIONS, I HAVE THOSE, BUT NOTHING FORMALLY ESTABLISHED YET. OKAY. PERFECT. THANK YOU. THANK YOU, MR. ENRIQUEZ. MR. MARQUEZ, EXCUSE ME. . YES. THANK YOU, ANTHONY. THANK YOU, DR. MR. ENRIQUEZ. MR. MARQUEZ, YOU'RE NEXT. THANK YOU DR. KING. THANK YOU, ANTHONY. UM, I JUST WANTED TO POINT OUT THE ESSENTIAL, UM, BASICS THAT WE DEFINITELY SHOULD BE TALKING ABOUT IN THE FUNDAMENTALS. UM, IT'S LIKE MY THIRD TIME IN A COMMITTEE MEETING. UH, WE MEET FOR ABOUT AN HOUR AND A HALF EVERY MONTH. AND IT'S KIND OF DISCOURAGING TO HEAR THAT IF SOME OF THE EMPLOYEES ARE HAVING ISSUES LEARNING THE PRODUCTS AND, AND CRITERIA AND STUFF, HALF OUR MEMBERS MIGHT NOT KNOW, RIGHT? AND SO I THINK IT'S CRUCIAL THAT WE DEFINITELY PUT IN THE BOOKS THAT WE HAVE A SPECIAL MEETING OR SOMETHING TO TALK ABOUT THE PROGRAMS, RIGHT? NONPROFIT AND FOR-PROFIT. BECAUSE IF WE DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW WE'RE GONNA ASK QUESTIONS TO MAKE SURE THEY UNDERSTAND, RIGHT? OUR CLIENTS ARE SHAREHOLDERS. AND SO I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE WE PUT THAT CLEAR. UM, I ALSO WANT US TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE CAUTIOUS ABOUT BANKS, UM, JUST BECAUSE IF BANKS KNEW WHAT THEY WERE DOING, WE WOULDN'T HAVE TO BE FUNDING, RIGHT? AND SO IT'S A CATCH 22. UM, THE REASON WHY I SAY THAT IS BECAUSE I ACTUALLY AM A BANKER NOW. I ACTUALLY JUST JOINED TPK BANK TWO MONTHS AGO, SO I'M SPEAKING FROM EXISTENCE, UH, BEFORE HERE I WAS A HUD COUNSELOR AT AFFORDABLE BUILDERS. AND SO I WORKED WITH DATA SHARE HABITAT. SO I'VE SEEN THE BOTH SIDES OF IT, RIGHT? AND SO UNFORTUNATELY WE GOTTA MAKE SURE WE BUILD THE RIGHT CURRICULUM TO FIT OUR COMMUNITY, RIGHT? SO ONE THING I DO ASK IS THAT WE, WE CAN GET YOU GUYS' PRESENTATIONS OR DATA POINTS. I'D LOVE TO FIND OUT IT WAS 31% FOR HISPANICS. I ACTUALLY THOUGHT IT WAS CLOSER TO 20%. SO I WOULD LOVE TO GET THAT DATA FROM BOTH YOU GUYS. IF SO, YOU GUYS CAN SHARE THAT WITH THE COMMITTEE. I THINK THAT'D BE GREAT. BUT I THINK WE DEFINITELY NEED TO FOCUS ON WHAT THE COMMUNITY NEEDS, RIGHT? AND SO ONE OF MY QUESTIONS, DR. KING IS GONNA BE FOR YOU. YOU HAD OVER 31 EVENTS WITH 36 OUTREACH EVENTS. SO I WOULD LIKE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT WHAT YOU LEARN AT THOSE EVENTS AND WHAT WERE THE TOP THREE HURDLES THAT WE HAD. BECAUSE I WAS SPEAKING A CHAIR ON THE WAY HERE, UM, THE ONE ON THE ELEVATOR. AND I SAID, I MET FOUR DIFFERENT NONPROFIT NONPROFIT DIRECTORS IN SOUTH DALLAS, AND THEY ALL HAD NOTHING NICE TO SAY ABOUT SOUTH DALLAS FAIR PARK FUND. AND THAT WAS NOT GOOD, RIGHT? AND SO, AGAIN, JUST WANNA MAKE SURE WE'RE AWARE ABOUT THAT. BECAUSE AGAIN, IF, IF I'M HAVING ISSUES EXPLAINING CERTAIN THINGS TO THEM AND I'M A BOARD MEMBER AND THEN THEY COME OUT TO OUR OUTREACH MEETINGS, WE NEED TO MAKE SURE WE'RE ALL ON THE SAME PAGE. BECAUSE AGAIN, IT'S NOT YOU OR US OR THEM, IT'S ALL OF US. WE ARE THE CITY OF DALLAS. THANK YOU. SO I'LL TELL YOU, UM, THAT IS A VERY, A SENTIMENT THAT I, I HEAR, I ECHO THAT. UM, UNFORTUNATELY PEOPLE ARE BURNED BY THE CITY. UM, BUT PEOPLE ARE BURNED BY GOVERNMENT OVERALL, RIGHT? PEOPLE DON'T WANNA WORK IN GOVERNMENT SILOS. THEY DON'T WANNA WORK WITH US. SO WHAT'S ESSENTIAL IS, IS THAT WE BUILD TRUST AND SO PEOPLE DON'T TRUST US. SO THE THINGS THAT WE HEAR IN THE COMMUNITY IS WE ARE TRYING TO COMBAT A REPUTATION THAT HAS PLAYED AMERICA FOREVER. AND WHAT WE HAVE TO REALIZE WHEN PEOPLE DO TALK BAD ABOUT OUR, UM, OUR PROCESSES AND THINGS LIKE THAT, BUT ONE REGINA AS NONPROFIT, YOU CAN'T PAY ME NOT TO CHAMPION REGINA'S PRO PROGRAMS IN THE COMMUNITY. JOYCE [00:50:01] IS THE DIRECTOR OF THE SBC. YOU CAN'T PAY ME NOT TO CHAMPION JOYCE IN THE COMMUNITY. HOWEVER, I WON'T LIE, I REFUSE TO LIE. AND SO WHAT I WILL SAY IS IT BECOMES DIFFICULT, AND IT'S NOT THAT I DON'T UNDERSTAND OR KNOW THE PROGRAMS 'CAUSE I'M VERY FAMILIAR WITH, UH, SOUTH DALLAS FAIR PARK OPPORTUNITY FUND. I UNDERSTAND IT. I'VE READ THE PROGRAM STATEMENT, I KNOW THE RULES AND REGULATIONS. I AM VERY, VERY FAMILIAR IN ADDITION TO UNDERSTANDING THE NOFA PARK. I UNDERSTAND IT AS FAR AS POLICY GOES. THE PROBLEM IS, IS THAT WHEN I'M IN AN OUTREACH EVENT AND I GET QUESTIONS, AND SOME OF YOU HAVE BEEN INTO MY OUTREACH EVENTS, WHEN SOMEBODY RAISED THEIR HAND AND SAY, WELL, YOU SAY ALL OF THIS, BUT WHAT'S THE CRITERIA? I'M LOOKING AT YOUR WEBSITE RIGHT NOW AND YOU GOTTA PULLED UP AND YOU'RE TRYING TO SHOW ME WHERE TO GO TO CLICK HERE AND PRINT OUT AN APPLICATION IN 2024. WHY IS THE APPLICATION NOT ELECTRONIC OR NUMBER OR WHY DO YOU, UM, OR WHY IS, WHERE'S THE CRITERIA? I KNOW I CAN'T SELL DRUGS. I KNOW I CAN'T HAVE A BAR. I KNOW Y'ALL NOT GONNA FIND STRIPPER CLUBS. YOU KNOW, THESE THINGS ARE VERY, YOU KNOW, COMMON SENSE TYPE OF THINGS THAT WE HAVE. BUT WHAT IS THE CREDIT SCORE RANGE THAT YOU'RE LOOKING FOR? THAT'S WHAT WE NEED TO KNOW. AND THEN WHY ARE YOU ASKING FOR MY TAX RETURNS FOUR TIMES? UM, I WENT THROUGH THIS PROCESS. WE RECENTLY, I'VE BEEN RECENTLY BO BOMBARDED AT MY LAST THREE MEETINGS BY THE SAME, UM, GROUP OF MAYBE LIKE THREE OR FOUR PEOPLE. AND THEY COME AND THEY ASK A LOT OF QUESTIONS ABOUT NONPROFITS. THEY ASK A LOT OF QUESTIONS ABOUT GRANTS, AND I CAN TELL THAT THEY'VE BEEN READING UP ON OUR PROGRAM. SO MAYBE THEY WERE DENIED. MAYBE THEY WERE GOING THROUGH SOMETHING VERY DIFFICULT. UM, WE RECEIVE, I RECEIVE ALL KINDS OF THINGS FROM THEM IN EMAIL, AND NOW I GET TO FORWARD IT TO MARISSA. BUT, UM, THE THING, THE, THE REALITY IS, IS WHAT WE'RE HEARING IS, IS THAT OUR PROGRAMS ARE NOT REAL. UM, WHO IS, WHO IS YOUR UNDERWRITER? WHO IS TELLING US NO, WHY? THEY'LL GET MAD AT ANTHONY. THEY'LL GET MAD AT ME. AND SOMETIMES WE'LL HAVE TO CURVE MEETINGS AND SAY, YOU KNOW, LET ME STOP YOU AND I, ANTHONY WILL TELL YOU, I'LL, I'LL STOP IT IN A MINUTE. LEMME STOP Y'ALL. WE'RE HERE TO JUST EDUCATE YOU AND TALK TO YOU THAT WE HAVE THE PROGRAM, BUT I CAN'T TELL YOU THE DIRECTION OF THE PROGRAM. I CAN'T TELL YOU HOW LONG IT WILL TAKE. I CAN'T TELL YOU THESE TYPES OF QUESTIONS. AND THE REALITY IS WE JUST NEED TO FIGURE OUT A WAY TO STREAMLINE THAT PROCESS. SO TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS, WE HEAR A LOT OF NEGATIVE THINGS, BUT WHAT I WOULD LIKE THE BOARD TO UNDERSTAND IS THAT YOUR WORK IS NOT IN VAIN AND THAT THIS FUND IS NECESSARY AND IS NEEDED. WE JUST GOTTA FIGURE OUT A WAY TO BETTER DISPERSE THE FUNDS. WE JUST NOT THERE YET. THANK YOU, MR. KING. MS. PEEVY, I SEE YOUR HAND NEXT. YEAH, THANKS. UM, DR. KING JUST WANTED TO START WITH SAYING THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR, UM, YOU AND MR. BARWICK SUCH, UH, ENLIGHTENING PRESENTATION, MUCH NEEDED. PLEASE DO SEND THOSE PDFS OR WHATEVER ELSE, UM, AND LOOK FORWARD TO MEETING YOU GUYS IN PERSON. I FEEL LIKE I'VE HAD A LOT OF THOSE, THE CONCERNS THAT YOU GUYS ARTICULATED ARE THINGS THAT HAVE BEEN UNSPOKEN INSIDE OF ME, , UM, AND I, AND I AM TRYING, LIKE I I WAS LIKE, SO FOR IF YOU'VE EVER MET FERAL FELLOWS, UM, YES, SHE WAS OKAY. SO SHE WAS LIKE MY FIRST EXPOSURE TO SOME OF THIS AT THE BEGINNING, AND I THOUGHT, WHAT AN ARTICULATE, STRONG, FOCUSED, EDUCATED, DYNAMIC HUMAN, UM, AND WATCHING HOW MUCH SHE STRUGGLED IN THIS PROCESS AND THAT IT STILL WASN'T LIKE SOLVED IN ANY WAY. AND LIKE THE RIPPLES THAT THAT CREATED IN HER LIFE BECAUSE THE FUNDING WASN'T WHAT IT NEEDED TO BE. WHEN WE SET LIKE ALL OF THESE THINGS THAT KIND OF LIKE UNRAVELED HER DREAMS, HER DREAM WAS LIKE TO SUPPORT THIS COMMUNITY THAT WE SUPPORT. AND I JUST STRUGGLE SO MUCH TO BE LIKE, WHY? I, I'M ALMOST LIKE, WELL, AND MAYBE THAT'S JUST MY PERSONALITY, BUT I'M LIKE, OKAY, GREAT, SO LET'S JUST CHECK. LIKE, LIKE I FEEL LIKE I WANNA SEE HER SWOT AND I'M LIKE, LET'S JUST START DOING STUFF. UM, THIS IS NOT MY FIRST TIME TO BE ON A BOARD THAT FUNDS PEOPLE, UH, PEOPLE WITHOUT MONEY. BUT LIKE THE, MY FIRST TIME DOING THAT WAS VERY HIGHLY EDUCATED PEOPLE WITHOUT MONEY. AKA, YOU KNOW, UM, PHD STUDENTS AND OTHERS LIKE THAT. UM, AND SO I JUST, IT'S SO COMPLICATED. MM-HMM, AND IT'S SO COMPLICATED. I'VE STRUGGLED TO GET MY HEAD AROUND IT AND I HAVE A MASTER'S AND WORK WITH LIKE, YOU KNOW, UM, A HIGH LEVEL OF THAT. AND WHEN YOU START TO TALK ABOUT SOMETHING AS COMPLICATED AS CAPITAL [00:55:01] STACKING , IT, IT, IT, LIKE MY, LIKE MY WHOLE BODY JUST CRINGES BECAUSE I'M LIKE, WE'RE ASKING A 96, LIKE WE'RE ASKING A 61%. THOSE EITHER HAD HIGH SCHOOL OR 25% LESS THAN HIGH SCHOOL TO LEARN HOW TO CAPITAL STACK. I DON'T WANT TO LEARN HOW TO CAPITAL STACK. LIKE, THAT'S SO INTENSE. SO I JUST AM LIKE, LET'S DO THIS. YOU KNOW? WELL, BOARD MEMBER AARON, I'LL TELL YOU THIS. UM, IF, IF THIS, UM, BOARD MEMBER PV, OKAY, I'LL JUST TELL YOU HONESTLY, FOR ME, I THINK IT IS DIFFICULT, BUT I DON'T THINK IT HAS TO BE. I THINK THAT WHEN WE LOOK AT MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT, WE ARE THE FRONTLINE AND WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS FOR THE PEOPLE WHO DON'T HAVE VOICES. SO WE'RE ESSENTIALLY THE VOICE FOR THE PEOPLE THERE. SO IT'S OUR JOB BECAUSE WE DO HAVE MASTERS, WE DO HAVE PHDS AND WE ARE FORMER DIRECTORS OF SBDC AND WE HAVE BOARD MEMBERS THAT ARE PASSIONATE AND CONCERNED. WE HAVE TO HAVE A WORK SESSION AND FIGURE OUT WHAT IS A GOOD CRITERIA BECAUSE THE COUNCIL IS VERY PASSIONATE ABOUT THIS. OUR CITY MANAGER AND DEPUTY CITY MANAGER ARE VERY, VERY, VERY PASSIONATE ABOUT THIS. AND IT'S OUR JOB TO WRITE A SCRIPT THAT WE CAN GO AND PRESENT IN EIGHT MINUTES TO THEM AND IT BE SOMETHING THAT'S CULTURALLY COMPETENT AND IS SOMETHING THAT IS INCLUSIVE AND SOMETHING THAT CAN BE UTILIZED THAT CAN HELP US GET THESE FUNDS OUT THE DOOR. AND SO THE FACT THAT WE'RE NOT DOING THAT AND WE'VE BEEN IN EXISTENCE FOR TWO YEARS IS JUST KIND OF DISAPPOINTING. UM, BUT EVEN MORE TO YOUR POINT, WHEN YOU HAVE SOMEONE LIKE FARRA FELLOWS AND WE UPSET THEM, AND SHE IS A STAPLE IN THE SOUTH DALLAS FAIR PARK COMMUNITY. SHE OWNS SEVERAL PROPERTIES. UM, I HEARD HER SPEAK THIS MORNING. THERE'S NOT A MEETING THAT I GO TO ABOUT DEVELOPERS, WHICH ARE THE PEOPLE THAT WE ARE SERVICING THAT PHARAOH FELLOWS IS NOT PRESENT AND THAT SHE'S NOT CHAMPION. I'VE SAT ON HER COUCH AT HER BUSINESS. UM, I'VE TALKED WITH HER, BEEN A PART OF HER COMMITTEES. BUT WHAT'S DIFFICULT IS IF WE HAVE UPSET HER AND SHE'S IN THE COMMUNITY AND SHE'S SPEAKING ABOUT HER EXPERIENCE AND HOW EGREGIOUS HER EXPERIENCE WAS WITH US, THEN THAT START TRANSLATING. SOME PEOPLE WILL JUST TRUST HER BECAUSE SHE DO HAVE OUR LOANS AND SHE DO HAVE OUR PROCESS. SO THEY'RE GONNA LOOK AT HER AND SAY, IF SHE HAD A BAD EXPERIENCE, I'M GONNA HAVE A BAD EXPERIENCE AND I'M GONNA NOT APPLY. AND I ALSO HAVE TO JUST SAY, I KNOW REGINA IS SITTING HERE LIKE, OH GOSH. BUT REGINA, WHEN I FIRST CAME ON, SHE WAS JUST LIKE, WE'RE SERVING A VERY, VERY LOW INCOME COMMUNITY. AND SHE TALKED ABOUT THAT ALL THE TIME. AND SO I THINK THE TWO POINTS IS IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE AS HARD. UM, WE HAVE TO DO A LITTLE BIT MORE WORK TO COME UP WITH A CRITERIA THAT'S, UM, INCLUSIVE. AND THEN I THINK THE SECOND PIECE OF IT IS WE GOTTA FIGURE OUT A WAY TO, EVEN AFTER THOSE PEOPLE GET THOSE FUNDS, IS HOLD THEM ACCOUNTABLE TO HOW THEY'RE DISSEMINATED AND MAKE SURE THEY'RE COMPLETING THEIR PROJECT. SO WE GOT THREE, THREE UNLOADED PIECES HERE. THE BEGINNING, THE APPLICATION PROCESS, THE YES PROCESS FOR THE COUNCIL, MAKING SURE WE'RE, WE'RE EDUCATING OUR COUNCIL AND LETTING THEM KNOW WHAT WE'RE GIVING THEM. AND THEN NUMBER THREE, THE COMPLIANCE PROCESS, UM, POST GETTING ALONG, WE GOTTA MAKE SURE ALL OF THOSE THINGS ARE ESSENTIALLY THIRD GRADE LEVEL AND EASY. SO THANK YOU. SO JUST ONE LAST QUESTION AND I'LL, I'LL TAKE IT OFF, WHICH IS REAL QUICK, MS. PETER, EVERYTHING. I'M SORRY. EVERYTHING THAT YOU GUYS TALKED ABOUT MADE ME THINK. LIKE, I JUST KEEP WONDERING, IT FEELS LIKE THE, THE INSTITUTION DOESN'T HAVE ENOUGH STAFF, WHICH I'M SURE YOU GUYS FEEL TO YOUR CORE. UM, AND I, I'M JUST TRYING TO FIGURE OUT LIKE, I DON'T KNOW IF THERE'S ANY, ANY LEVER, ANY WAY THAT WE CAN HELP OR WHAT THAT WOULD LOOK LIKE. OKAY. I'LL STOP. THANK YOU. YEAH, I THINK THAT'S A, UH, DIRECTOR WILLIAMS QUESTION. WHEN IT COMES DOWN TO STAFF, I, THAT'S WAY ABOVE NEED. THANK YOU FOR THAT QUESTION, MS. PEEWEE, UH, IS THERE ANYONE ELSE THAT HAS ANY QUESTIONS? YOUR BOARD? UH, IF, IF NOT, I'LL JUST TAKE A STEP BACK AND SAY, YOU KNOW, WHEN WE ALL, WHEN WE ALL JOINED THE BOARD AND WE STARTED THIS PROCESS, YOU KNOW, THREE OF THE MAIN THINGS THAT WE TALKED ABOUT DOING WAS, NUMBER ONE, YOU KNOW, HOW DO WE GET THE WORD OUT TO THE COMMUNITY THAT THE FUND EXISTS? NUMBER ONE, RIGHT? THAT WAS THE NUMBER ONE THING THAT WE HEARD IS THAT, HEY, WE DIDN'T EVEN KNOW THIS EXISTED. IT WAS A RESOURCE THAT WAS BEEN AVAILABLE. NOBODY KNEW ABOUT IT. NOBODY KNEW HOW TO ACCESS IT. THE SECOND PILLAR WAS, OKAY, HOW DO WE FIGURE OUT A WAY TO UNDERSTAND THE COMMUNITY AND TARGET THE BUSINESSES SO [01:00:01] THAT WE CAN GET THE MONEY OUT THE DOOR TO, TO HELP THEM? THAT WAS NUMBER TWO. AND THEN THE THIRD PILLAR WAS, OKAY, WE KNOW THAT WE'RE SERVING A LOW INCOME COMMUNITY. HOW DO WE STAND UP PROGRAMS AND ASSISTANCE SO THAT WHETHER YOU'RE APPROVED OR NOT, WE HAVE SOMEWHERE TO SEND YOU TO GIVE YOU SOME SUPPORT. SO IF YOU'RE NOT APPROVED, WE'RE NOT JUST SAYING NO, BUT WE'RE DIRECTING YOU THE RESOURCES THAT YOU, THAT YOU HAVE AVAILABLE TO YOU TO GET YOU TO A POINT TO WHERE YOU CAN APPLY. AND IF YOU DO QUALIFY, THEN THAT ENHANCES YOUR ABILITY TO BE SUCCESSFUL BECAUSE YOU HAVE THESE SAME SUPPORT PARAMETERS. RIGHT. SO IT SOUNDS LIKE WE'VE DONE A GREAT JOB OF FIGURING OUT A STRATEGY TO, FOR OUTREACH, RIGHT? I HEARD ALL THESE NUMBERS. YOU, YOU GUYS ARE TALKING TO SO MANY BUSINESSES, OVER A THOUSAND BUSINESSES, 150 PLUS FOR-PROFITS. RIGHT? UH, UNFORTUNATELY, 90 PLUS PERCENT OF THOSE DON'T QUALIFY BECAUSE WE'RE NOT CLEAR WHAT THE, THE CRITERIA IS. UH, WE UNDERSTAND THE DEMOGRAPHICS. WE HAVE PROBLEMS STANDING UP, TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS, UH, IN TERMS OF DATA AND SOFTWARE. WE DON'T HAVE A WAY TO TRACK FOLKS, IT DOESN'T SOUND LIKE, AND, AND JUMP IN IF I'M, IF I'M MISSPEAKING HERE, THE CITY DOES HAVE, UM, SALESFORCE, WE, WE JUST DON'T UTILIZE IT YET. SO, SO IT'S A MATTER OF US FIGURING OUT A WAY TO INTEGRATE IT INTO THE SBC BASICALLY TO, TO, TO USE THAT STUFF. SO, SO IT'S AVAILABLE AND WE JUST, WE JUST NEED TO INTEGRATE IT, RIGHT? THAT'S CORRECT. UH, WE DON'T HAVE A DASHBOARD FROM WHAT I UNDERSTAND THAT, THAT, THAT WE HAVE WITHIN THE SBC TO, TO TRACK OUR LEADS AND, AND, AND DO ALL THESE THINGS, IS, IS THAT ACCURATE? WELL, CURRENTLY WE USE, UM, MICROSOFT EXCEL, WHICH IS, AND I ACTUALLY CREATED A, UM, A DASHBOARD DATA DATABASE WHERE WE, UM, THERE SOME GRAPHS THERE. I CAN SEND IT TO YOU AS WELL, BUT IT'S A MANUAL PROCESS, UM, WHERE WE PRETTY MUCH, WELL, I PRETTY MUCH JUST TRIED TO LIKE CODE, USE EXCEL AND CODE THE CRM, UM, AND CREATED DASHBOARD THROUGH THAT PROCESS WHERE THE CHANGE, OKAY. UM, AND IT, IT'S BASED ON WHAT I'M HEARING, BASED ON THE FEEDBACK FROM DR. KING AND MR. BARWICK, WE HAVE A FUNDAMENTAL DISCONNECT FROM OUR COMMUNITY IN BRIDGING THE GAP TO BEING ABLE TO HAVE SOMETHING THAT'S ATTAINABLE FOR THEM TO BE ABLE TO ACCESS THE FUNDS, WHICH WE HAVE TO LOOK AT. NOW, THE GOOD NEWS IS, IS THAT I HADN'T HEARD ANYTHING THAT'S NOT FIXABLE. I THINK ALL OF THIS IS FIXABLE. YEAH, RIGHT. I THINK WE HAVE AN ENGAGED BOARD. I THINK WE HAVE A STAFF THAT'S IDENTIFIED THE CHALLENGES THAT WE HAVE. WE HAVE FUNDS AVAILABLE. IT SOUNDS LIKE WE HAVE THE SYSTEMS AND SOFTWARE IN PLACE WITHIN THE CITY OF DALLAS. WE JUST NEED TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO INTEGRATE THAT. AND THAT STARTS WITH FIGURING OUT HOW TO GET THE, OUR, OUR CRITERIA. WE WORK, WE'VE TALKED TIME AND TIME AGAIN ABOUT GETTING A ONE PAGER SO THAT WE CAN TALK TO THE COMMUNITY ABOUT LOANS. YEP. WE'VE TALKED TIME AND TIME AGAIN ABOUT STREAMLINING THE APPLICATION PROCESS AND MAKING IT ONLINE AND ACCESSIBLE SO THAT SOMEBODY GOES TO THE WEBSITE RIGHT NOW, THEY KNOW EXACTLY WHAT TO DO. AND AGAIN, WHY WE'RE ASKING FOR INFORMATION, WHAT THE BASELINE CRITERIA IS, AND MAKE SURE IT'S ATTAINABLE, RIGHT? SO ALL THESE THINGS ARE FIXABLE, WHICH IS WHY WE'RE GONNA FORM TWO SUBCOMMITTEES. ONE'S GONNA BE FOCUSED ON OUTREACH. AND WHAT I MEAN BY OUTREACH IS LEVERAGING THE WORK THAT'S ALREADY BEEN DONE BY YOU, DR. KING AND YOU, MR. BARWICK, TO FIGURE OUT HOW DO WE REVAMP AND, AND THE, AND THE MAIN PRIORITY OF THE OUTREACH IS GOING TO BE HOW DO WE FIGURE OUT HOW TO REVAMP THIS CRITERIA SO THAT IT MORE ALIGNS WITH WHAT OUR COMMUNITY NEEDS AND BEING ABLE TO, TO GET THEM FUNDING. THAT'S NUMBER ONE. THE SECOND COMMUNITY WILL BE FOCUSED ON THE MARKETING PIECE, AND THEN THAT WILL BE FO THE PRIMARY OBJECTIVE OF THAT WILL BE TO MAKE SURE THAT OUR WEBSITE'S UPDATED. MAKE SURE THAT WE HAVE AN ONLINE APPLICATION PROCESS, MAKING SURE THAT WE HAVE A CRM SYSTEM FROM THE CITY THAT WE CAN PLUG INTO. HOW, HOW DO WE INTEGRATE THAT? SO THAT COMMITTEE WILL BE FOCUSED ON THOSE TWO THINGS. AND I THINK IN COMBINATION WITH THOSE TWO THINGS, WE CAN GET THIS FIXED. SO, UM, YOU KNOW, FOR, FOR ALL THE THINGS THAT THAT, THAT WE HEARD [01:05:01] THIS EVENING AND THE DISCONNECT, THE, THE, AGAIN, THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT WE KNOW, WE KNOW WHERE THE ISSUES ARE NOW FOR THE FIRST TIME. RIGHT NOW, THE QUESTION IS HOW DO WE STAND UP PROGRAMS AND PUT SYSTEMS IN PLACE TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE SERVING THE COMMUNITY AND DOING WHAT WE'RE SUPPOSED TO AND HOLDING UP OUR END OF THE BARGAIN. RIGHT? SO WITH THAT, ARE, ARE THERE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS FOR, FOR DR. KING, UH, OR MR. BARRICK? AND, AND ALSO WANNA RECOGNIZE, UH, MARITZA IN THE WORK THAT SHE'S DOING ON THE MARKETING SIDE, BECAUSE NOW SHE'S FOCUSING ON THE LATINO COMMUNITY, WHICH, WHICH IS A WHOLE NOTHER DEMOGRAPHIC THAT WE CAN BRING IN AND, AND ASSIST. BUT AGAIN, IF WE, IF WE DON'T HAVE OUR ACT TOGETHER ON THIS SIDE TO MAKE IT EASY FOR 'EM, THEN AS WAS MENTIONED, THESE FOLKS ARE GONNA TURN AWAY THESE FOLKS OR, OR ARE GOING TO TALK BAD ABOUT THE FUND AND NOT WANNA APPLY. RIGHT. WHICH IS, WHICH IS ALL COUNTERPRODUCTIVE AS IT'S AS TO WHY WE'RE HERE. SO THESE ARE THINGS THAT, THAT, THAT WILL GET ADDRESSED AND WE'LL GET FIXED. AND THE BOARD HAS STAND AND STOOD WILLING AND READY AND ABLE TO HELP AND OFFER RESOURCES. EVERY SINGLE MEETING. WE HAVE MULTIPLE BOARD MEMBERS SAYING, HEY, YOU KNOW, I WORK WITH THIS GROUP, I WORK WITH THAT GROUP. I CAN PULL IN THESE RESOURCES, I CAN HELP WITH THAT. RIGHT. WE JUST NEED TO FIGURE OUT WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE AND, AND THAT, THAT'S WHAT WE'RE GONNA DO. MR. LEVINE, I SEE YOUR HAND, MR. LEVINE. WE CAN, WE CAN'T HEAR YOU. I, I'M TRYING TO TURN MY MIC UP. CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW? YEAH, YEAH. UM, JUST REAL QUICK, I, YOU KNOW, THANK YOU FOR SPEAKING TO THAT BECAUSE AS A BOARD MEMBER, I REALLY LOVE EVERYTHING THAT I HEAR, BUT I KEEP HEARING STRATEGY, STRATEGY, STRATEGY. AND I THINK THAT'S WHAT WE REALLY NEED TO NAIL DOWN. YOU KNOW, WE, WE'VE, WE'VE DONE REALLY GOOD WORK WITH GETTING THE WORD OUT, GETTING PEOPLE TO KNOW THE FUND IS THERE. BUT AT SOME POINT, I THINK WHAT THE BOARD CAN REALLY HELP WITH IS HELPING WITH THE FORESIGHT OF WHAT'S TO COME. SO IF YOU SAW MY COMMENT, I WAS KIND OF MENTIONING, YOU KNOW, WHILE WE'RE GETTING ALL OF THAT STUFF DONE WITH THE SBC, AND SAY FOR INSTANCE, WE HAVE THE OUTREACH STRATEGY, PULL US IN SO WE CAN START BRINGING UP SOME, YOU KNOW, SOME IDEAS ABOUT IMPLEMENTING, YOU KNOW, GETTING OUT IN THE COMMUNITY AND IMPLEMENTING SOME OF THE WORK SO THAT YOU CAN OFFLOAD. UM, 'CAUSE I'M HEARING THERE'S A, THERE'S A STRUGGLE WITH THE RESOURCES AVAILABLE AND THE WORK THAT HAS TO BE DONE. RIGHT? SO I'M HOPING THAT WE FORM A REALLY SOLID PARTNERSHIP AND STRATEGIZE THROUGH IMPLEMENTATION AND SUBSEQUENTLY SUSTAINMENT. 'CAUSE WE'RE GONNA GET THERE, WE'RE GONNA HAVE STUFF IN A PIPELINE STUFF WORKING, AND THEN THE NEXT THING YOU KNOW, WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO SUSTAIN THE PEOPLE THAT WE'RE PULLING INTO THESE PROGRAMS. SO I HOPE THAT, YOU KNOW, THIS IS REALLY KIND OF RESONATING WITH SOME PEOPLE. 'CAUSE THERE WAS, THERE WAS A LOT TO UNPACK IN THE PRESENTATIONS. I REALLY ENJOYED THEM. BUT I THINK WE HAVE TO HAVE MORE OF THESE CONVERSATIONS, RIGHT? 'CAUSE THERE'S A LOT OF WORK THAT NEEDS TO BE DONE. I CAN HEAR IT RIGHT THERE IN THOSE CHARTS. AND THAT'S WHAT WE'RE HERE FROM POOR. THANK YOU FOR THOSE COMMENTS. MR. LEVINE. UH, MR. DAWKINS. SO WHAT I UNDERSTAND, JUST IN SOME, BASED ON YOUR PRESENTATIONS AND HOW CHAIRMAN JOHNSON HAS SUMMARIZED IT IS OUTREACH AND TRACKING. WELL, I THINK, I THINK THE MAIN ISSUE THAT HE TALKED ABOUT IS CRITERIA, UM, AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE. MAKING SURE THAT OUR PROCESS IS ONLINE. UH, MEANING THAT THE APPLICATION PROCESS AND A BASELINE CRITERIA FOR WHAT INDIVIDUALS NEED WHEN THEY APPLY FOR OUR GRANTS AND LOANS. SO THAT'S A VISIBILITY ISSUE, NOT NECESSARILY THE MATHEMATICS WITH REGARD TO UNDERWRITING. WELL, I CAN'T SPEAK TO UNDERWRITING BECAUSE THAT'S FAR BEYOND MY, MY SCOPE. SO WHEN I, WHEN I TALK ABOUT OUTREACH, LIKE, UM, I TALK ABOUT THE PUBLIC FACING PIECE OF IT. SO IF I'M GOING TO SPEAK FOR THIS GROUP HERE AND THEY'RE LIKE, HEY, HOW DO I APPLY FOR YOUR LOAN? I'M LIKE, YOU GOTTA GO TO THAT WEBSITE. YOU GOTTA GO ON ENTREPRENEURSHIP. YOU GOTTA CREATE SOUTH DALLAS FAIR PARK OPPORTUNITY FUND. THEN YOU GOTTA STORE ALL THE WAY TO THE BOTTOM, GO TO THE GRAY SQUARE, AND THEN YOU GOTTA PRESS THAT BUTTON. SOUTH DALLAS OPPORTUNITY FUND. AND THEN YOU GOTTA PRESS PRINT. AND THEN YOU GOTTA GIVE IT A MINUTE BECAUSE SOMETIME IT DON'T COME UP AS QUICK 'CAUSE IT'S A PDF DOCUMENT. AND SO IT'S GONNA COME UP IN A NEW TAB. SO DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT COMING UP YOUR OLD TAB. YOU'RE GONNA HAVE TO GO TO THE NEXT TAB AND THEN YOU HAVE TO SAVE THAT PDF TO YOUR COMPUTER. SO IF YOU'RE IN THE PUBLIC SPACE, YOU CAN'T SAVE IT. GOT IT. AND THEN YOU GOTTA PUT IT. GOT IT. SO, BUT NONE OF THAT IS BECAUSE I, IN THE BEGINNING, SOMEWHERE AT THE BEGINNING OF MR. BARWICK'S COMMENTS AND YOURS AND I, I MAY HAVE A MISPERCEPTION, BUT I UNDERSTOOD THAT BECAUSE OF THE TRADITIONALLY EGREGIOUS BANKING PROCESS, [01:10:01] IS IT THAT THE TRADITIONALLY EGREGIOUS BANKING PROCESSES AND THE DISCONTENT CAUSED BY THEM ARE EXACERBATED BY THE PROCESS APPLICATION? THE APPLICATION PROCESS? THAT'S EXACT. OR IS IT NO, YOU'RE RIGHT. OKAY. THAT'S EXACT, THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT I SAID. 'CAUSE THE REASON WHY WE MAKE LOANS IS SO THAT THEY CAN BE SUCCESSFUL. THAT'S EXACTLY TRUE. WE WANT PEOPLE PAYING US BACK. YES. BECAUSE IF WE ENCOUNTER AN UNDERWRITING PROCESS THAT, YOU KNOW, WHERE WE'VE LOOSENED THE CRITERIA OR, YOU KNOW, WE GET INTO THIS GIVING MONEY AWAY. IF WE THOUGHT WE HAD PROBLEMS, NOW WE'RE REALLY GONNA HAVE PROBLEMS THEN. YEP. RIGHT? AND IF, IF WE THINK THAT OUR, OUR NAME IS SULLIED IN THE COMMUNITY NOW WITH REGARD TO THE PAST TRANSGRESSIONS AND MISGIVINGS, IT'S GONNA BE REALLY BAD WHEN PEOPLE CAN'T PAY THE MONEY BACK BECAUSE WE'VE UNDERWRITTEN THEM POORLY. AND I USE THAT PHRASE, I'M JUST THROWING IT OUT. RIGHT. NO, YOU'RE RIGHT. SO NONE OF US WANNA DO THAT. SO I AGREE. IF WE CAN FIX, AND THAT'S A VERY GENEROUS TERM, RIGHT? IF WE CAN FIX OUTREACH AND PROCESS, AND THE PROCESS BY WHICH PEOPLE APPLY ONLINE, WHICH IS A USER EXPERIENCE ISSUE WITH REGARD TO THE WEBSITE, THEN WE WOULD GET A GREAT DEAL OF THE WAY THERE. MR. CHAIR, COULD I PLEASE ONE POINT OF CLARIFICATION. THE APPLICATION NOW IS, UM, YOU DON'T HAVE TO PRINT IT. IT'S REAL TIME. YOU CAN DO IT NOW. AND IT HAS BEEN FOR ABOUT A MONTH AND A HALF. I DON'T KNOW IF YOU GUYS KNEW THAT, BUT YOU CAN ACTUALLY CLICK AND FILL OUT THESE DAYS AND BEEN THAT WAY FOR ABOUT A MONTH AND A HALF. OKAY. OKAY. VERY GOOD. THANK YOU SO MUCH. SO I'M NOT SURE WHAT APPLICATION YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT, BECAUSE I, THE SOUTH DALLAS FAIR PARK OPPORTUNITY FUND APPLICATION IS NOT ELECTRONIC. I'M CONFIDENT. MAYBE THE NOFO, IS IT THE NOFO? I THOUGHT SHE UPDATED BOTH OF THEM. NO. OKAY. NO, IT'S NOT. BUT, BUT TO HER POINT IS, WE HAVE A WORDPRESS SYSTEM. WE HAVE A WORDPRESS WEBSITE, WHICH IS A DRAG AND DROP SYSTEM, WHICH MEANS I CAN SAY FIRST NAME, DRAG IT OVER TO A FORM, AND THEN CREATE AN APP. THAT'S HOW SIMPLE IT IS. SO IT COULD TAKE 10 MINUTES TO DO, UM, AND UPDATE THAT. IT'S NOT A LONG PROCESS AT ALL. IT'S A VERY SIMPLE PROCESS. OKAY. VERY GOOD. THANK YOU. BUT IT'S NOT THERE. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU FOR THAT, UH, DR. KING, AND THANK YOU FOR THAT QUE UH, THAT FEEDBACK, UH, MR. DAWKINS AND TO MR. DAWKINS' POINT, UH, HE BROUGHT UP A VERY IMPORTANT POINT. YOU KNOW, WE DON'T WANT TO SAY, HEY, YOU KNOW, LET'S QUALIFY PEOPLE WHO ARE UNQUALIFIED. RIGHT. THAT THAT'S WHAT WE DON'T WANNA DO. BUT WHAT WE DO NEED TO DO IS FIGURE OUT HOW TO MAKE IT EASIER FOR PEOPLE AND TELL THEM EXACTLY WHAT'S NEEDED, AND THEN PROVIDE THE RESOURCES FOR THEM TO BE ABLE TO GET FROM POINT A TO POINT B. YES. RIGHT. THAT, THAT, AND I THINK THAT'S THE POINT THAT MR. DAWKINS WAS MAKING. SO, UM, MR. MARQUEZ, I SAW YOUR HAND UP AND THEN WE'LL GO TO MR. LEVINE. OKAY. OKAY. UH, MR. LEVINE, GO AHEAD. IT'S MUTED. MR. LEVINE STILL MUTED. OKAY. SORRY. CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW? SORRY. WE CAN, I'M HAVING ISSUES TODAY. SORRY ABOUT THAT. BUT, UH, , THERE, THERE'S THIS EDUCATIONAL COMPONENT THAT I STILL THINK WE HAVE GOT TO NAIL THIS DOWN. AND I, WHEN I HEAR ABOUT WE'RE, UM, WE'RE HELPING PEOPLE TO UNDERSTAND THE PROCESS, TO ME THAT SOUNDS ALSO LIKE WE MIGHT HAVE TO HAVE THINGS LIKE A SIMPLE GLOSSARY OF TERMS OR SOMETHING. UM, YOU KNOW, TO GET PEOPLE ORIENTED TO WHAT THEY'RE LOOKING AT WHEN THEY APPLY TO, UM, YOU KNOW, THESE PROGRAMS. SO, I MEAN, IT, IT, THEY'RE, THEY'RE SIMPLE, I THINK LOW HANGING FRUIT THAT WE CAN START TRYING TO ADDRESS TO HELP THE TARGET. BECAUSE AS LONG AS WE'RE OUT OF ALIGNMENT WITH THE TARGET, WE'LL STILL HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM. WE, WE'VE GOT SOLVE THAT EDUCATION PIECE. THANK YOU MR. LEVINE. MR. MARQUEZ. YEAH. MY QUESTION WOULD BE TO THE STAFF. DO YOU GUYS FEEL LIKE MAYBE YOU GUYS, I KNOW IT'S CITY GOVERNMENT, SO YOU GUYS LIKE OVERWORKED, YOU FEEL LIKE MAYBE HAVING, I I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW, MARIO, THIS IS THE FIRST TIME I ACTUALLY MET YOU. AND LAST ONE WAS THE FIRST TIME I HEARD YOU EVEN EXISTED IN, IN THIS DEPARTMENT. SO, UM, SPEAKING ABOUT MAYBE HOW MUCH, UM, POWER OR RECOMMENDATION WE CAN HAVE TO MAYBE ADD SOME STAFF MEMBERS, JUST 'CAUSE I KNOW ANTHONY LAST YEAR WHEN HE JOINED, I KNOW HE WAS ONE OF MAYBE A COUPLE OR A HANDFUL OF PEOPLE WITHIN OUR STAFF. SO IS THERE ANY, AND I KNOW DIRECTOR WILLIAMS PROBABLY CAN ANSWER THAT QUESTION BASED OFF BUDGET AND, YOU KNOW, ADDING PEOPLE LIKE MARITZA, I, I'M GLAD TO SEE THAT IT'S, YOU KNOW, IT'S GROWING. DO WE SEE THAT IN THE PIPELINE TOWARDS MAYBE THE BEGINNING OF NEXT BUDGET YEAR OR WHAT'S GOING ON WITH THAT? I'LL BE HONEST WITH Y'ALL, I'M NOT OVERWORKED. UH, I DON'T, I DON'T, I'M NOT OVERWORKED. I, IT, THE WORK IS PASSIONATE. YOU KNOW, I, I BELIEVE THAT THAT'S A HIGH LEVEL QUESTION BECAUSE WHAT I DO IS OUTREACH. UM, AND WE'VE HAD EVENTS AND I'VE BEEN ABLE TO RECRUIT VOLUNTEERS, UH, ONE IN THE AUDIENCE NOW. UM, AND SO WHEN I HAVE EVENTS, I TRY TO UTILIZE [01:15:01] THE RESOURCES TO GIVE THE COMMUNITY SOME SKIN IN THE GAME. UM, SO THEY COULD BE A PART OF, FEEL A PART OF WHAT WE'RE DOING. AND SO, YOU KNOW, OUTREACH IS THE OPPORTUNITY TO BE CREATIVE. UH, I THINK WHEN WE ADD A LOT OF STAFF, UM, THIS AN, I KNOW ANTHONY HAS HIS OWN TAKE, BUT WHEN WE ADD LIKE A LOT OF STAFF, I THINK HE START LOSING MESSAGING. I'M REALLY ALSO REALLY SUPPORTIVE OF MR. DAWKINS TALKING POINT TOO. AGAIN, THERE'S NO ONE SIZE FIT ALL MODEL. WE CAN'T GIVE EVERYBODY THE MONEY. WE CAN'T SAY WE'RE GONNA ADD A HUNDRED STAFF, BUT I DO THINK FROM AN ANTHONY PERSPECTIVE, HE CAN TALK MORE TO A LOT OF THE OTHER ISSUES OF STAFFING. BUT FROM AN OUTREACH PERSPECTIVE, UM, I THINK THE FOUNDA, YOU, Y'ALL ARE LIKE BOTH HITTING IT ON THE HEAD. LIKE WE JUST NEED A CRITERIA TO BE ABLE TO TELL THEM. UM, I DO THINK WE CAN RELAX SOME THINGS, BUT I, I AGREE WITH MAYBE OFFER, UM, SMALLER GRANTS AND LOAN PRO PROGRAMS OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT. UM, ANTHONY ALWAYS TALK ABOUT MICRO LOANS INSTEAD OF GIVING OUT $2 MILLION, LET'S GIVE OUT 50,000, YOU KNOW, OR 20,000. UM, BUT I ALSO THINK WHEN WE, WE TALK ABOUT STAFF FOR ME AND OUTREACH, I DON'T REALLY KNOW WHAT THEY WOULD DO, YOU KNOW, UM, OUTSIDE OF THE SAME THING I DO, BUT HE WOULD BE ABLE TO ANSWER IS THAT ENTREPRENEURSHIP CAN, CAN I SAY THIS? I'LL SAY THIS. I CAN, I, UM, I'M NOT PROUD OF THAT NUMBER OF THE 1 51 I HATE, YOU KNOW, TO EVEN MENTION IT, WHEN YOU HAVE BUSINESSES COMING IN WITH ALL OF THE THOUGHTS AND DREAMS, WHETHER IRRESPECTIVE OF THE LEVEL, WHETHER THEY'RE PRE VENTURE STARTUP, EXISTING OR MATURE FIRMS, AND THEY NEED TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE, AND I'D BE HAPPY TO PROVIDE THAT, BUT IT'S JUST ME. AND THEN THEY'RE WANTING TO CLEAN. ANTHONY, CAN I CALL YOU? CAN I, AND WE DON'T HAVE A BENCH TO, TO ASSIST THEM INTERNALLY. AND MARIZA EVEN GETS ON ME, TO BE HONEST WITH YOU, YOU KNOW, BECAUSE I HAVE HER SIT IN WITH ME. I CAN TALK TO BUSINESSES IRRESPECTIVE OF THE LEVELS, BUT I CAN'T PROVIDE THAT CONTINUOUS TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE WITH IN-HOUSE. AND THEN I ALWAYS TRY TO USE THE, IT'S NOT A NO, IT'S JUST A NOT YET. BUT THEN I HAVE TO THEN REFER THEM TO OUR EXTERNAL RESOURCE PARTNERS, LIKE THE DECK, LIKE SBDC SCORE, TYLER STATION, AND THE LIKE. BUT THERE'S A DISCONNECT THAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU HAVE TO AFFORD THESE BUSINESSES ON. WE CAN'T WORK WITH THEM TO DEVELOP THEM TO, TO GET THEM IN THE PIPELINE. AND THAT'S WHERE THAT DISCONNECT BECAUSE WE ARE SEVERELY UNDERSTAFFED. THANK YOU FOR THAT. UH, MR. BARWICK, UM, MR. , I, I SEE YOUR HAND. WE'LL TRY TO WRAP IT AT 7 45. I KNOW WE'RE GONNA LOSE SOME PEOPLE HERE PRETTY QUICK, BUT, UH, MR. KUAH, GO AHEAD. WELL, MS. SIMS HAD HER HAND UP FIRST. I'LL LET HER GO FIRST. SAY THAT AGAIN, MR. KUAH. MS. SIMS HAD HER HAND UP FIRST. I'LL LET HER GO. I JUST, OKAY. OKAY, MS. SIMS, UH, AND THEN MR. . YES. THANK YOU. I JUST WANNA, UM, PIGGYBACK ON THE BUILDING OF CAPACITY THAT I THINK WE NEED TO DO WITH SOME OF THESE APPLICANTS. I SOMETIMES YOU HAVE A PASSION AND A DREAM AND YOU CAN MAKE IT, YOU FEEL LIKE YOU CAN, YOU CAN MAKE IT WORK, BUT THERE'RE JUST SOME THINGS THAT YOU DON'T HAVE, UM, EDUCATION WISE, EXPERIENCE WISE TO, TO HELP YOU KEEP GOING. SO, COUPLE OF THINGS. YOU KNOW, WE HELP THEM ON THE FRONT END TO UNDERSTAND THE PROCESS AND IF THEY GET APPROVED, YOU KNOW, YOU GIVE THEM THE MONEY, BUT WHAT DO WE DO ON THE BACK END TO MAKE SURE, AGAIN, AND I KNOW I'M REPEATING WHAT SOMEBODY ELSE SAID, BUT HOW DO WE MAKE SURE THAT THAT IS A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS? UM, YOU KNOW, WE DON'T WANNA COLLATERALIZE THEM TO DEATH. WE DON'T WANT TO, YOU KNOW, PUT ALL OF THESE OTHER, UM, UNNECESSARY RESTRAINTS. BUT IT'S, I'M SURE IT'S HARD WHEN YOU JUST HAVE SUCH A DREAM AND A PASSION, UM, BUT EITHER YOU, YOU DON'T QUALIFY OR THE PROCESS IS JUST TOO DAUNTING FOR YOU. SO I WOULD LIKE, UM, IF WE COULD FIND ADDITIONAL RESOURCES FOR CAPACITY BUILDING. UM, I KNOW WE HAVE A SMALL BUSINESS CENTER, HAVE OTHER STAFF, YOU KNOW, PERHAPS THERE ARE OTHERS THAT COULD, THAT COULD HELP WITH THAT. THANK YOU FOR THAT. MS. SIMS. MR. VO, GO AHEAD. YES. UH, I JUST WANNA THANK EVERYBODY FOR THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS TONIGHT. I THINK THIS IS A VERY IMPACTFUL CONVERSATION, BUT I DO THINK THAT WE PROBABLY NEED TO CONTINUE THIS CONVERSATION OUTSIDE OF, UH, WEBEX. AND WE PROBABLY DO NEED TO FIGURE OUT WHEN OUR NEXT RETREAT IS SO WE CAN REALLY HAMMER OUT SOME OF THESE THINGS. LIKE WE ALL JOIN THE BOARD WITH, UH, FANTASTIC INTENTIONS. AND NOW THAT WE HAVE THIS DATA, HOW DO WE APPLY IT? SO IF WE DON'T HAVE A DATE IN MIND ALREADY, UM, COULD WE GET A DATE [01:20:01] SOONER RATHER THAN LATER TO HAVE A BOARD RETREAT? THANK YOU FOR THAT SEGUE, MR. KUAH. WE DO HAVE THAT AS THE NEXT ITEM ON OUR AGENDA. SO WHAT THE PLAN IS, ANYBODY WHO'S INTERESTED IN PARTICIPATING IN ONE OF THE TWO SUBCOMMITTEES THAT I OUTLINED, UM, PLEASE LET ME KNOW AND WE'LL BEGIN THE CONVERSATION RIGHT AWAY ONCE WE FORM, UH, COMMITTEES AND GET GUIDANCE ON, ON HOW TO NOT, UH, UH, BREAK ANY RULES THERE. AND THEN WE WILL DEFINITELY HAVE BREAKOUT SESSIONS IN OUR BOARD RETREAT TO REALLY DRILL DOWN AND NAIL SOME OF, HAMMER SOME OF THESE THINGS OUT. SO, UH, YOU HAVE IN FRONT OF YOU PROPOSED DATES, MR. CHAIR, I'M SORRY, JOYCE HAD HER HAND UP. OH, I'M SORRY. I DUNNO IF YOU, THERE'S ALSO QUESTIONS IN THE CHAT. DI DIRECTOR WILLIAMS, WE'RE NOT GONNA BE ABLE TO DO ALL THAT THIS EVENING. THANK DIRECTOR WILLIAMS. I, I SEE YOUR HAND NOW. GO AHEAD, MR. DIRECTOR WILLIAMS. THANK YOU. THANK YOU, MR. CHAIR. THANK YOU BOARD. UH, I APPRECIATE ALL THE CONVERSATIONS YOU ALL HAD, YOU HAVE HAD. AND PLEASE KNOW THAT I'LL BE PROVIDING YOU WRITTEN RESPONSES BASED ON SOME OF THE QUESTIONS SO THAT THERE'S A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT THE STAFFING LOOKS LIKE. UM, WITHIN SPC AND THE VISION OF SPC. YOU'RE COMING IN AND OUT, JOYCE, YOU'RE COMING IN AND OUT ABOUT THE, ABOUT THE CLIENTS THAT WE, UH, ACTUALLY OFF, UH, ARE ACTUALLY SCHEDULED TO OFFER ASSIST TO, I'M SORRY, I AM AT A MEETING AT THAT EVENT, SO I APOLOGIZE FOR NOT BEING ABLE TO BE THERE. BUT I WILL RESPOND TO ADVISE INFORMATION IN DETAILS. I THINK ALSO, UM, THE MEMBERS HAVE STATED THAT, THAT WE HAVE A DISCUSSION AT A RETREAT SO THE BOARD CAN BETTER UNDERSTAND THE REQUIREMENTS AND POLICIES ON THE CHAPTER THREE 80 IN WHICH THE CITY IS, UH, ABLE TO ACTUALLY GIVE LOANS AND GRANTS. IT IS NOT ABOUT, THE PROGRAM STATEMENT IS ACTUALLY THE LAW OF TEXAS THAT ALLOWS US TO DO THAT. AND THAT IS THE CRITERIA. SO THE BOARD, WE CAN'T REALLY HEAR YOU. TROY, DIRECTOR WILLIAMS. EXCUSE ME. I HATE TO INTERRUPT YOU, DIRECTOR WILLIAMS, BUT, UH, YOUR FEED IS, IS CUTTING. YEAH. YOUR, YOUR, YOUR FEED IS CUTTING IN AND OUT. DIRECTOR WILLIAMS COUNCIL HAS THE RIGHT TO BE ABLE TO DIRECT DIRECTOR WILLIAMS CHANGE CRITERIA. DI DIRECTOR WILLIAMS, IF IT'S OUTSIDE, I THINK SHE CAN HEAR US OF THE FRONT OF CHAPTER DIRECTOR WILLIAMS THREE. SO, JESSE, CAN YOU, OKAY. DIRECTOR WILLIAMS, WE APOLOGIZE, BUT YOU WERE CUTTING IN AND OUT. UH, THE FEED WAS BAD, SOME SORT OF WAY, BUT I PROMISE I'LL GIVE YOU AN OPPORTUNITY TO, TO, UH, ADDRESS AND FOLLOW UP WITH FEEDBACK, UH, THAT YOU MENTIONED. WE CAUGHT THE FIRST PART OF THAT. PLEASE FEEL FREE TO, I THINK THAT WILL BE TEACH TEACHABLE AND EDUCATIONAL MOMENTS. DI DIRECTOR WILLIAMS, DIRECTOR WILLIAMS, UH, AS MANY OF THE BOARDS HAVE. OKAY. SARAH, I'LL, I'LL FOLLOW UP WITH THE BOARD. YES? YES. OKAY. CAN YOU HEAR ME? YEAH. YEAH. DIRECTOR WILLIAMS. WE'LL LET, WE'LL LET YOU FOLLOW UP WITH THE BOARD. UH, WE'RE, WE'RE HAVING A HARD TIME WITH THE FEED, BUT THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THAT. I HEARD YOU, I, I, OKAY. ALL RIGHT. AT MEETING AND AT AN EVENT AND I WANTED TO LISTEN IN, SO, YEAH, NO PROBLEM. NO PROBLEM. PROBLEM. THANK, THANK YOU DIRECTOR WILLIAMS. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THAT. UM, OKAY, NEXT AGENDA ITEM, BRANDON, WE'RE GONNA WRAP THIS UP. WE'RE GONNA TALK ABOUT THE BOARD RETREAT. UH, AND COULD WE PUT THE SLIDE UP WITH THE, UH, PROPOSED DATES AGAIN, AND THEN WE'LL WRAP THIS UP. SO IN FRONT OF YOU, OR THE PROPOSED DATES, UH, FOR THE BOARD RETREAT. I KNOW MAY IS PROBABLY GONNA BE A QUICK TURNAROUND, UH, BUT, UH, THESE ARE THE DATES THAT HAVE BEEN PROPOSED. SO, UM, IN FACT, WHAT WE'LL DO IS, WE'LL, WE'LL, [01:25:01] WE'LL LAND ON A DATE IN OUR NEXT MEETING, SO EVERYBODY PLEASE LOOK AT YOUR CALENDARS. AND SO THAT MEANS WE WON'T DO IT IN MAY. UH, YEAH, I DON'T THINK, I DON'T THINK MAY, I MEAN, WE'RE ALREADY IN MAY RIGHT NOW, SO, UH, I'LL SAY WAITING ANOTHER MONTH TO LAND ON A, ANYWAYS. OKAY. YEAH. IF, IF, IF EVERYBODY IS CLEAR ABOUT WHAT DATE THAT THEY WANT AND WE CAN COME TO A CONSENSUS, THEN WE CAN LAND ON A DATE THIS EVENING. I JUST KNOW THAT WE'RE GONNA LOSE SOME FOLKS, AND I WANNA MAKE SURE I'VE GOT EVERYBODY'S INPUT. PLEASE KNOW THIS IS NOT, WE WILL JUST BE, UM, TALKING ABOUT THE DATES. 'CAUSE I NEED TO TALK WITH, UM, GET A LOCATION AND ALL THAT AND MAKE SURE THE DATE WORKS FOR WHEREVER WE'RE GOING TO DO THIS AS WELL. OKAY. IS THERE A PROPOSAL, SINCE WE HAVE EVERYBODY HERE NOW, IS THERE A PROPOSAL FOR THE DATE MAY 18? THIS IS BILL DAWKINS, DISTRICT 10. WE HAVE MAY 18TH. IS THERE ANOTHER SUGGESTION? MAY 25TH. WE HAVE MAY 25TH. I SECOND MAY 25TH. MAY 25TH. I SECOND MAY 18TH. MAY 25TH IS MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND. IS IT NOT? UH, IS IT? IT IS. AND THAT WAS ONE OTHER THING. WANTED TO KNOW IF WE WERE GONNA HAVE OUR MAY MEETING. YEAH, AND ACTUALLY I THINK I, I THINK I'LL BE OUT ON MAY 25TH. SO, UH, WE, WE CAN'T DO THAT. UH, WHAT TIME ARE WE IN THE MORNING ISH? IS IT THE SAME FROM LAST YEAR? YEAH, WE'RE LOOKING NINE TO 12, SOMETHING LIKE THAT. OKAY. I CAN, THE EIGHT 18TH WOULD BE FINE. THE 18TH IS GOOD FOR ME. ANY OTHER EITHER. ARE THERE ANY OBJECTIONS TO MAY 18TH FOR ANYBODY? A ACTUALLY, YOU KNOW WHAT? 1, 1, 1 SECOND. UH, I THINK I MAY BE OUTTA TOWN THAT DAY AS WELL. UH, GIMME ONE MOMENT. I'LL, I'LL TELL YOU, UM, MR. CHAIR, WHY ARE YOU LOOKING, CAPTAIN? WE HAVE ON THE DOCKET MAY 27TH, WHICH IS MEMORIAL DAY. ARE WE JUST GOING TO CHANGE THE DATE OR ARE WE GOING TO SKIP MAY FOR A MEETING? I'M, I'M ACTUALLY OUT OF TOWN ON THE 18TH AND THE 25TH, SO IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE THAT WORKS FOR THE GROUP? I WOULD, I WOULD LIKE TO PROPOSE JUNE 8TH. I'M ACTUALLY, MAY IS JUST BAD FOR ME. ARE THERE ANY OBJECTIONS TO JUNE 8TH? I'M IN DC I PROPOSE JUNE 15TH. ANY CONFLICTS ON JUNE 15TH? JUNE 15TH IS IDEAL FOR ME. REAL QUICK. SAY THAT AGAIN. I, WHO SAID THAT? SHE SAID DESTINY SAID IT'S IDEAL FOR HER. RIGHT. OKAY. OKAY. I WAS IN PROPOSED JUNE 22ND. OKAY. WE HAVE JUNE 15TH AND JUNE 22ND. I'M OUT JUNE 22ND TOO. I'M TAKING MY JUNE CALENDAR, YOU KNOW, . OKAY. I THINK, I THINK JUNE 15TH MAY BE THE, UH, UH, DO WE HAVE, AND WILL WE HAVE CAPABILITIES FOR, UH, MR. ENRIQUE AS THE PATCH IN? UH, I'LL BE PRESENT. IT, IT DEPENDS ON OUR LOCATION, WHERE WE'RE WE'RE GOING, WHERE WE'RE GOING TO BE, AND IF WE, WE NEED TO HAVE GOOD, REMEMBER LAST YEAR WAS KIND OF A NIGHTMARE, UM, WHERE WE WERE AT CULTURE CENTER. SO A NIGHTMARE TO HAVE VIRTUAL. OKAY. SO, SO FIF. SO, SO I'M HEARING THE 15TH IS PROBABLY GONNA BE THE BEST DATE, MR. KINS. OKAY. OKAY. ALL RIGHT. SO JUNE 15TH IT IS. AND, UH, MS. REGINA, I GUESS YOU'LL FOLLOW UP WITH SOME POTENTIAL LOCATIONS TO SEE IF THAT AND, AND TO SEE IF THAT YES. OKAY. ALL RIGHT. SO WE GOT THAT ON THE CALENDAR. OKAY. THE REST OF THE AGENDA ITEMS, WE'LL, WE'LL PUSH TO THE NEXT MEETING 'CAUSE I KNOW WE GOTTA WRAP UP. IT'S SEVEN 50 AND WE GOT STARTED A LITTLE LATE, SO, UH, I APPRECIATE EVERYBODY HANGING IN THERE AND HANGING ON. AND, UH, I WANNA THANK AGAIN, UH, MR. CHAIR, WE NEED TO DECIDE IF WE'RE GOING TO HAVE A MEETING IN MAY. WE, WE ARE SCHEDULED FOR MAY 27TH, WHICH IS THE HOLIDAY. WE NEED TO DETERMINE TONIGHT IF WE ARE HAVING A MAY MEETING. IS EVERYONE GONNA BE AVAILABLE? UH, I KNOW IT'S OR IS. OKAY. NO. LOOKS LIKE THAT'S OUT THE 27TH. YEAH, THE 27TH IS NOT GOING TO WORK. BUT I WAS JUST SAYING, IS THERE ANOTHER DAY IN MAY THAT EVERYONE WOULD LIKE TO MEET? YEAH, JUNE, UH, 15TH WOULD WORK REALLY GREAT FOR ME. NO, WE'RE WE'RE TALKING ABOUT BOARD MEETING. OKAY. WE'RE, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT JUST THE REGULAR BOARD MEETING. OKAY. AARON, WE'RE, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT JUST THE REGULAR BOARD MEETING. SO IT'S POSSIBLE TO PUSH TO MAY 28TH, TUESDAY BEING PLAYFUL AND YES, I UNDERSTAND THAT'S WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT. WOULD MAY 20TH WORK THE MONDAY BEFORE, UH, MAY 20TH. AND I'LL HAVE TO SEE IF THE ROOM IS AVAILABLE TOO. SO MAY 20TH. ARE THERE ANY OBJECTIONS TO MAY 20TH AND GOOD? MAY 20TH? ANY OBJECTIONS? I THINK MAY 20TH LOOKS GOOD FOR EVERYBODY. OKAY. AND I'LL, LET ME JUST, I'LL HAVE TO MAY 20TH, JUST SEE IF IT'S OKAY. SO WE CAN'T FIGURE OUT A TOUR DATE FOR TODAY? NO, NOT TODAY. [01:30:02] NOT, NOT TODAY. OKAY. I THINK THE PRIORITY RIGHT NOW IS TO, NUMBER ONE, MAKE SURE WE KEEP THE MOMENTUM GOING BY HAVING ANOTHER MEETING NEXT MONTH, AND THEN MAKING SURE WE GOT THE BOARD RETREAT ON THE BOOKS. OKAY. SO WE CAN DRIVE HOME SOME OF THESE THINGS AND THEN WE CAN TALK ABOUT THE TOUR. I MEAN, THAT WILL BE SOMETHING GREAT TO TALK ABOUT AT THE RETREAT. OKAY. I THINK THAT FURTHER IN NICELY, SO, SO MAY, MAY, MAY 20TH, EVERYBODY HAVE TO MAKE SURE THE ROOM IS AVAILABLE, BUT YES. OKAY. YEAH, YOU'LL CONFIRM THAT. ANY OBJECTIONS TO THAT? OKAY. I'M HEARING NONE. SO, UH, WE'LL SCHEDULE MAY 20TH, UH, TENTATIVELY YOU PROVIDED THAT, THAT, THAT WE GOT FOLKS AVAILABLE AND THE ROOM AVAILABLE. CITY ATTORNEYS AVAILABLE. THANKS AGAIN. . THANK SIR MR. POWELL. THANK CITY ATTORNEY FOR SITTING IN AND, AND HANGING IN HERE. I KNOW IT'S LATE AND SO WE'LL WRAP UP. ARE THERE ANY COMMENTS, QUESTIONS, UH, FEEDBACK BEFORE WE WRAP UP? YES. UH, THE EMAIL WE RECEIVED TODAY, UH, OTHER BOARD MEMBERS PROBABLY RECEIVE THE MOVIE FROM THE COMMUNITY. HOW ARE WE GONNA ADDRESS THAT? WE'LL TALK ABOUT THAT. UH, WE'LL TALK ABOUT THAT OFFLINE. WE'LL TALK ABOUT THAT OFFLINE. SO WE'LL, WE'LL, . GREAT. GREAT POINT, MR. DAWKINS. WE'LL, WE'LL TALK ABOUT THAT. I THINK SOME OF THOSE THINGS WERE TOUCHED ON THIS EVENING, SO WE'LL TALK ABOUT THAT AT OUR NEXT MEETING. HOW ABOUT THAT? WE'LL, WE'LL HAVE SOME FOLLOW UP DISCUSSION ABOUT THAT. I DIDN'T HEAR THE QUESTION, SO I CAN PUT IT IN THE MINUTES. SO THERE, THERE WAS A COMMENT ABOUT, UH, SOME CORRESPONDENCE THAT WENT OUT TO THE BOARD EARLIER THIS AFTERNOON. UH, AND SO THE QUESTION WAS, UH, WHEN WILL WE HAVE TIME TO HAVE A DISCUSSION ABOUT SOME OF THAT FEEDBACK THAT CAME IN? AND SO WE'LL TALK ABOUT THAT, UH, IN OUR NEXT BOARD MEETING. OKAY. ALL RIGHT. NOT FROM US, CORRESPONDENCE FROM SOMEONE ELSE CAME. COMMUNITY. THAT'S, THAT'S RIGHT. OKAY. THAT'S RIGHT. OKAY. ALL RIGHT. ARE THERE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, OR FEEDBACK FROM ANYBODY? IF NOT, UH, IS THERE A MOTION TO ADJOURN? MR. DAWKINS? IS THERE A SECOND? I SECOND MS. MARQUEZ. ALL IN FAVOR? ANY OPPOSED MEETING ADJOURNED. 7 52. THANK YOU VERY MUCH EVERYBODY. SEE YOU NEXT MONTH. * This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting.