The Five Points Business Association has helped businesses for 41 years but now finds itself in a dire financial predicament.
Staff members went unpaid for three months, and bills languished before a city grant advance brought brief respite recently.
“We’ve been hanging from a thread, and this year, the thread has broken,” said Isaac Points, president of the board.
Despite the recent advance from the city, the financial crisis will continue until additional funds are raised to sustain the $120,000 annual budget. Of the city’s $70,000 grant for 2005, $17,000 remains.
“This budget is bare bones; we’ve cut everything we can,” said Chalonie Craighead, deputy director of the association that helps businesses land loans for new ventures or expansion. “We’re talking salaries, light, telephone and insurance.”
The association even canceled the annual Juneteenth celebration it has hosted for years. A smaller version was held last month by another group.
Five Points executives blame a decrease in grant funds and a slack real estate market for bringing the association to its breaking point.
The association invested in a residential/commercial development but is still waiting for the final units to sell at The Point, at East 26th Avenue and Welton Street.
The organization’s mission shifted to include economic development in 1997, though the change is not reflected on tax forms that still show the goals as technical support for business and scholarships for minority students. Craighead said the forms would be reviewed.
Because of the change in focus and a drop in funding, no scholarships were given in 2004 and $1,200 in scholarships were awarded in 2003.
The association’s services are free, and it helps about 15 clients each year through the city’s loan process. The group has about 30 members.
Because the association’s budget is small, city officials agreed to help by changing the grant agreement last year to allow advances. Typically, grants are given on a receipt reimbursement basis, said Jacky Morales-Ferrand, city director of housing and neighborhood development.
“We don’t like doing it because it puts someone at risk in case they can’t document what they did with it, but we agreed,” she said.
In an effort to become more self-sufficient and to bring density to the area, the association opted to try real estate development.
“We put our money where our mouth is,” Points said. “We decided we would help develop the area around here.”
The experiment has been painful and slow, said Marva Coleman, executive director.
Once the remaining units at The Point sell, the association will receive about $250,000 in developer fees. Until then, the group hangs on.
The group also is waiting on the sale of a lot at Park Avenue West and Welton.
We will not drown,” Coleman said. “It is worth it (to invest in The Point) because we’ve created density for the future. Businesses that will come will be serviced by those housing units.”
Staff writer Elizabeth Aguilera can be reached at 303-820-1372 or eaguilera@denverpost.com.
