Mayor's Office of Community Wealth Building

 "For we know now that it isn’t enough to integrate lunch counters. What does it profit a man to be able to eat at an integrated lunch counter if he doesn’t have enough money to buy a hamburger and a cup of coffee?” -- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. 

Supporting Entrepreneurs, Helping Families 

The Mayor's Office of Community Wealth Building was created to support local entrepreneurs in starting and growing their small businesses, and to help individual and families get beyond paying the bills to building wealth for their future.

Seeking Non-Profit Financial Counseling Providers 

The City is seeking proposals from qualified Non-Profit Counseling Providers to partner with the Mayor's Office of Community Wealth Building's Financial Empowerment Centers ("FEC") Replication Initiative. The FEC model provides free, professional, one-on-one financial counseling as a public service. Learn more>>

Business and Community Services Center

The Business and Community Services Center is a resource connecting residents to community partners who offer courses, coaching, and networking opportunities. The Center is located at 30 N. Fitzhugh St, between the Sister Cities Garage entrance and the Federal Credit Union. The Office of Community Wealth Building staff office is located down the street at 56 N. Fitzhugh St, at the corner of Church and Fitzhugh. 

Workshops and events at the Business and Community Services Center will provide residents the opportunity to learn about banking, budgeting, finance, home ownership, and investments. Entrepreneurs will gain crucial skills regarding marketing, social media, access to capital, or how to qualify as a Minority and Women Owned Business Enterprise (MWBE).

Workforce Wednesdays. Now through June, the OCWB will hold “Workforce Wednesdays” office hours from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. at the Business and Community Services Center, 56 N. Fitzhugh St. to assist residents in applying for the 2020 Census. Additionally, the OCWB will open its classroom space at 30 N. Fitzhugh St on three dates to provide service to several applicants at a time. These times and dates are: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday, April 16; 10 to 2 p.m. Thursday, May 23; and 3 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, June 18. Learn more>>

 Events Calendar

 Click the blue workshop titles to complete your registration 

 April

• Thursday, April 4: Military Money Management, 5 p.m. - 6 p.m. and 6:15 p.m. - 7:15 p.m: Participants will learn how to manage money and achieve financial stability throughout their service by following 12 practical financial steps. 
• Thursday, April 11: Payroll Deductions, 5 p.m. - 6 p.m. and 6:15 p.m. - 7:15 p.m.: This workshop focuses on making wise payroll deduction choices and presents options if those initial choices have already been made, but do not accurately reflect an participant's financial needs or goals.
• Thursday, April 18: College Funding Strategies for College Students, 5 p.m. -  6 p.m. and 6:15 p.m. - 7:15 p.m.: This workshop explores the process of tracking expenses and creating a budget that is realistic and serves individual goals. Participants will develop their financial skills so that they can focus on the successful completion of their college education. 
• Thursday, April 25: Let's Erase Debt for Retirees, 5 p.m. -  6 p.m. and 6:15 p.m. - 7:15 p.m.: This workshop is intended for adults who are thinking ahead to retirement when they will no longer have new income sources. The decisions they make about debt pre-retirement and during retirement will impact their retirement paycheck.

Community Events:

The Volunteer Legal Services Project of Monroe County (VSLP) is working with business attorneys at local law firms to hold a series of free workshops to help small businesses in the City of Rochester. Find more information here>>

The Office of Community Wealth Building is also involved in:

Improving the community’s access to credit based on the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s 2016 City of Rochester Credit Profile. Find the report here>>

Serving as the City’s liaison to OWN Rochester, which is helping to establish worker-owned cooperatives.

Confronting the issue of wage disparity as outlined in a recent report conducted by the City’s Office of Innovation, SEIU 1199 and the Rochester-Monroe Anti-Poverty Initiative, which found that unfair wages are causing many city residents to live in poverty even though they have full time jobs. Read the Report>>

Working Closely with the Office of Strategic Initiatives. This Office has implemented such successful programs as Kiva Rochester, Vanpool and Bikeshare and has brought in more than $6 million to support its initiatives.

Richmond  Model

The Office of Community Wealth Building  is conceptually modeled after Richmond, Va.'s Office of Community Wealth Building. 

 Contact

Lomax R. Campbell Director City Hall Room 221B 30 Church St. Rochester, N.Y. 14614 428-6139

Brad Willows Executive Staff Assistant City Hall Room 221B 30 Church St. Rochester, N.Y. 14614 428-6568