Office of Community Wealth Building, City of Rochester, New York

The Office of Community Wealth Building in the City of Rochester, New York, is an example of a local government acting as a convener and backbone organisation for an anchor institution collaborative.

The Mayor of the City of Rochester, New York, sought new models for equitable economic development to address the city’s growing poverty and inequality, caused by rapid deindustrialisation. Fifty percent of Rochester’s children were living below the poverty line.

In 2018, the Mayor created the Rochester Office of Community Wealth Building (OCWB). Its mission is to “facilitate cross-sector collaboration between government, non-profits, the private sector, anchor institutions, and the community, with the goal of advancing Community Wealth Building policies, programmes, systems, and initiatives in the Rochester community.”

The OCWB serves the needs of residents and small businesses through:

• assisting residents with attaining pay equity and building personal wealth
• building and maintaining an entrepreneurial and small business eco-system
• supporting small businesses across all stages of the development life-cycle.