A street vendor program that moves Latino immigrants into Los Angeles's mainstream economy

Program: VEND (Vital Economic Neighborhood Development) at MacArthur Park

Organization: The Institute for Urban Research and Development & Cathedral Center of St. Paul, Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA

Why V.E.N.D. was selected as a Promising Practice: The program uses a familiar form of entrepreneurship in Latin America to help immigrant Latinos enter Los Angeles's mainstream economy. A product of public/private collaboration, VEND was initiated in the City's religious community. Its leaders demonstrated extraordinary skill in working with public officials to create a program that provides economic development in once-drug-plagued MacArthur Park.

The MacArthur Park Sidewalk Vending Project was inaugurated in June 1999, operating within the first legal sidewalk-vending district in the Los Angeles's history.

Now called VEND (Vital Economic Neighborhood Development) at MacArthur Park, the project is intended to promote sidewalk vending as a means of facilitating neighborhood revitalization through entrepreneurial training and small business development for community residents.

During the initial phase of VEND's development, the goal has been to place twenty vending carts along the southern and eastern edges of historic MacArthur Park. The ultimate goal is to deploy up to fifty carts.

In April 1999, fifteen vendors were selected for the program and began submitting permit applications to the city of Los Angeles.

Then, in May 1999, business training commenced for these vendors. Workshops were provided by the USC Marshall School of Business, the USC Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, New Economics for Women, and the Los Angeles Police Department. The curriculum for building the capacity of vendors included: Business Management Skills (Business Planning, Budgeting and Accounting, Financial Planning, Taxes, Inventory, Marketing and Promotion); Understanding City and County Regulations; Health and Sanitation; Basic Mathematics, (including kitchen math); English as a Second Language; Skills Training (Culinary, Sales, and Other Skills); Vendor Cart Cleaning and Storage; Safety; Street Wisdom; (Dealing with police, Gangs, Aggressive Customers, Harassment).

The products sold by each vendor have been carefully selected to assure that the vendors do not compete with one another, with surrounding merchants, or with Olvera Street's Mexican Marketplace. The vendors market a variety of foods, beverages and general merchandise (e.g., jewelry, crafts and artwork).

The Episcopal-related Institute for Urban Research and Development manages the district's operations in partnership with the Episcopal Cathedral Center of St. Paul.

As stipulated in the Ordinance, a Community Advisory Council has been formed to represent the interests of all stakeholders in the neighborhood. The Council is empowered to make recommendations on boundaries of the district, density and location of vendors, goods sold, design of carts, and hours of operation.

The Council's membership includes representatives from city, the Association of Salvadorans of Los Angeles, New Economics for Women, two vendor representatives elected by the street vendors, local merchants, local residents, representatives from East Los Angeles City College, the University of Southern California, and representatives from the area's faith community.

City Officials hope that the district will one day become a tourist attraction similar to Los Angeles's Olvera Street, helping to revitalize the once-drug-plagued MacArthur Park as a city landmark.

The Los Angeles City Council approved the creation of legal vending districts in January 1994. The ordinance was the product of a collaborative community effort, initiated by former Councilman Mike Hernandez, the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles, the Association of Salvadorans of Los Angeles, and the Institute for Urban Research and Development. The ordinance was not implemented by the city, however, until 1999.

In 1999, the Right Reverend J. Jon Bruno, the Bishop of the Episcopal Church's Diocese of Los Angeles, proposed to the city's elected officials and staff that the diocese would create the first sidewalk vending program with the support of the Institute for Urban Research and Development. Bishop Bruno had been the founder of this institute.

City officials accepted Bishop Bruno's proposal.

Using funds available in a $235,000 grant from the Community Development Department of the City of Los Angeles, Bruno asked the Executive Director of the Institute for Urban Research and Development, Joe Coletti, to assume leadership in shaping what has become the VEND at MacArthur Park program. Organizational details were developed with help the Association of Salvadorans of Los Angeles and the Community Development Department's sidewalk vending administrator.

The Institute for Urban Research and Development secured a sub-contract from the region's Community Development Block Grant, administered through the City of Los Angeles Community Development Department, for its overall administration of the project.

The Cathedral Center Grants Program has also provided funds.

Many of the vendors themselves have been able to secure loans through two credit unions, Comunidades Federal Credit Union and the Episcopal Community Federal Credit Union, to help defray the costs of licensing, merchandise and mandatory cart rentals. Licenses cost about $700 per year and cart rental runs around $250 a month.

The faith community is an essential element in VEND. It has been a source of comfort and hope. Religious institutions, especially Episcopalian institutions, along with other nonprofits and educational institutions, continue to provide valuable resources. They have stayed close to the street vendors. The continue to provide advice and training. They continue to provide an important interface with often-frustrating city zoning laws and zoning enforcement agencies.

Revenue Source: Community Development Department, City of Los Angeles
Community Development Block Grants (CDBG)

Contract Holder: Cathedral Center of St. Paul

Funding Amount $235,000.00
& Funding Period: 1999-2000

Collaborators: City of Los Angeles, Office of the Mayor
City of Los Angeles, Council Office of Ed Reyes
City of Los Angeles, Community Development Department
City of Los Angeles, Police Department, Rampart Division
City of Los Angeles, Department of Health and Vehicle
Inspection
City of Los Angeles, Department of Transportation
City of Los Angeles, Department of Public Works
City of Los Angeles, Department of Parks and Recreation
City of Los Angeles, Department of Building and Safety
ASOSAL (Association of Salvadorans of Los Angeles)
Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles
East Los Angeles College
Center for Religion and Civic Culture, The University of
Southern California
Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, University of Southern
California Marshall School of Business,
New Economics for Women

Resources Offered to Clients:
Entrepreneurial Training
Small Business Development Support
Capacity Building for Vendors:
Business Management Skills
Business Planning
Budgeting and Accounting
Financial Planning
Taxes
Inventory
Marketing and Promotion
Understanding City and County Regulations
Health and Sanitation
Basic Mathematics, (including Kitchen Math)
English as a Second Language
Skills Training (Culinary, Sales, and Other Skills)
Vendor Cart Cleaning and Storage
Safety
Street Wisdom; (Dealing with Police, Gangs, Aggressive
Customers, Harassment).

Contact Information

Joe Coletti, Executive Director
Institute for Urban Research and Development
2122 W. Seventh Street
Los Angeles, CA 90057
Telephone: (213) 487-4300
Fax: (213) 487-8475

Email: joecolletti@earthlink.net

Web Address: http://www.iurd.org/

Sandra Romero-Placentia, Director of Cultural Education
V.E.N.D. at MacArthur Park
2122 W. Seventh Street
Los Angeles, California 90057
Telephone 213-487-4300

Email Address: sandi@sidewalkvending.com

Web Address: http://www.sidewalkvending.com/

The Cathedral Center of St. Paul
840 Echo Park Avenue
Los Angeles, California, 90026
Telephone: 213.482.2040
Fax: 213.482.5304

Email: communications@ladiocese.org

Web Address: http://cathedralcenter.com/