Community Development Corporation
1267 N. Mount Auburn Road
Cape Girardeau, MO 63701
573.335.3312


Cape Girardeau Area Community Development Corporation


In December 2008 the Cape Girardeau Area Community Development Corporation, a for-profit multi-bank CDC, was created by ten area financial institutions. 

The CDC will focus primarily on the following purposes:

• Redevelopment of economically underserved areas in and around the Cape GIrardeau area,
• Support the creation of employment and additional earnings,
• Provide "Gap Financing" for new and expanding enterprises, and
• Creatively utilze innovative financing to improve economic conditions

For CDC specific questions please contact Tim Arbeiter, VP for community development at the Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce, 573-335-3312 or tarbeiter@capechamber.com

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What is a CDC?

The term CDC refers to a type of non-profit entity known as a "community development corporation".  Although there is no established legal definition for CDC's, they are characterized by their community-based leadership and their work primarily in housing production and/or job creation.  This is what differentiates them from other types of non-profit groups.

CDC's are formed by residents, small business owners, congregations and other local stakeholders to revitalize a community.  Jobs are often created through small or micro business lending or commercial development projects.  Some CDC's also provide a variety of social services to their target area.

According to a national census of CDC's conducted by NCCED in 1998, there are an estimated 3,600 such groups across the United States.  Data from this census noted that since the emergence of the first CDC's in the late 1960's, they have produced 247,000 private sector jobs and 550,000 units of affordable housing.

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Lastly, community development is the economic, physical, and social revitalization of a community, led by the people who live in and around designated geographic areas of that community.  Community development emerged as a field about forty years ago, as a grassroots movement to improve the quality of life for residents who most often live in low-income communities. 

Community development has an unusual and challenging three-pronged mission. 

1.  Improve the economy of a community by increasing the income and wealth of the residents and stimulating private investments.  Usually, there is significant emphasis on placing the assets and the economic fate of the community within the control of the residents.

2.  Enhance the physical nature of the neighborhood, from its housing to its shopping areas, transportation, public spaces, and environment.

3.  Strengthen the social bonds among the people in the neighborhood - their neighborliness; their readiness to collaborate; their willingness to support initiatives that would increase job opportunities; and to socialize with one another.

 CDC Application.pdf