Community Economic Development

Black and Brown-led brick-and-mortar businesses that create jobs and build community along the Broad Street corridor.

Our Impact
Since 2011, Propeller has incubated and accelerated 263 ventures through the Impact Accelerator and Social Venture Fund. Collectively, they have generated over $162 million in external financing and revenue and created 485+ full- and part-time jobs. Our businesses and nonprofits overall have an 84 percent survival rate, compared to the national average of 56 percent.

Community Economic Development (CED) Focus Area
Propeller addresses the disparities faced within our neighborhood and New Orleans as a whole by supporting local economic development through the CED focus area of the Impact Accelerator by supporting the Black and Brown-owned businesses located in the Broad Street corridor. Additionally, we work to address disparities at the New Orleans-ecosystem level by supporting Black and Brown-led organizations working to create a more equitable entrepreneur ecosystem for entrepreneurs of color and also support the development of affordable housing within the Broad Street corridor.

Entrepreneurs working to impact and improve localized economic development, to develop affordable housing, and to create jobs and build community especially for the benefit of people of color (specifically on the Broad Street corridor) make up the ventures in the CED focus area accelerator. Propeller prioritizes solutions that specifically address the following issues in the CED focus area:

Development of affordable housing along the South Broad corridor by Black, Indigenous, or Latinx developers
For-profit brick and mortar businesses owned by Black entrepreneurs on the North Broad or South Broad Corridor
BIPOC-led nonprofit or for-profit organizations improving the operating environment for BIPOC entrepreneurs.

To date, Propeller has accelerated 21+ ventures in the CED focus area by providing access to contacts, contracts, community, capital, mentors, and subject matter experts (financial modeling, graphic design, customer pipeline, marketing, fundraising, etc.). This support has resulted in notable success for these entrepreneurs.