Winning a Community Benefit Agreement by Jennifer Epps-Addison, J.D. This presentation covers the nuts and bolts of developing and implementing a campaign to win a community benefits agreement. It's filled with real examples of winning campaigns, tons of best practices, and other helpful information.

1. Jennifer Epps-Addison
Executive Director, Wisconsin Jobs Now
Board Member, Partnership for Working Families
Owner, Synergy Consultants LLC
 www.forworkingfamilies.org
 www.wisconsinjobsnow.org
 www.synergyconsultantsllc.org
Winning Justice Through CBAs

2. Background on Community Benefit Agreements

3.  Legally binding contract between developer, broad-
based coalition and city/public authority
 Sets forth a range of community benefits regarding
a development project
 Result of substantial community involvement
 Coalition support for project and implementation
What is a CBA?

4. In some cases, the community benefits terms from a CBA
may be incorporated into an agreement between the local
government and the developer, such as a development
agreement or lease. That arrangement gives the local
government the power to enforce the community benefits
terms.
What is a CBA?

5. Rather than having all parties fight these battles on a
project-by-project basis, a CBP approach is to have local
governments establish a slate of community benefits
policies governing all large urban development projects, at
least when subsidies are being provided. Local hiring
policies, job quality requirements, environmental
mitigations, and provision of affordable housing should be
standard conditions of approval (or at least of subsidy) of
large, multi-use projects in low-income urban areas. Such
policies could set baseline standards while providing
flexibility for unusual circumstances.
What is a CBP?

6. CBAs allow a win-win approach to development:
meaningful, up-front communication between the
developer and a broad community coalition decreases
developers’ risk while maximizing the positive impact of
development on local residents and economies. The
developer benefits from active community support of the
project, and community members gain when the project
responds to their needs.
What is a CBA/CBP?

7. Without a CBA

8. With a CBA

9. What Can You Win?

10. Why the Community Benefits Model Works
1. Community benefits tools maximize returns on local government investment in
development.
2. Community benefits programs can transform regions through stronger, more
equitable economies.
3. Community benefits help generate public support for economic development
projects.
4. Delivering community benefits is smart business.
5. CBAs hold developers accountable for their promises to local governments and
residents.
6. Public input results in better projects that benefit the whole community and
attract local customers.
7. Community benefits are part of a smart growth agenda.
8. Time is money, and projects with CBAs often enjoy a faster, smoother
entitlement process.

11. Oakland Army Base
In 2012, the Revive Oakland coalition won job standards for the
$800 million redevelopment of the Oakland Army Base into a
modern goods movement and warehousing development:
Living wage
50% local hire, 25% hiring disadvantaged workers
West Oakland job and training center
Long-term community oversight board to oversee compliance
All new union apprenticeships reserved for Oakland residents
No pre-screening of job applicants for prior criminal records
Project labor agreement ensures safe conditions and quality jobs
Limits on use of temp agencies

12. Kingsbridge (Bronx) Armory
In April of 2013, the Kingsbridge Armory Redevelopment Alliance
reached a groundbreaking CBA for the development of the nation’s
largest ice sports center, including:
Living wage for all workers within the project;
At least 25% of construction employees be targeted workers;
At least 51% of non-construction workers are local with first priority
to underemployed residents of immediate neighborhood;
$8,000,000 initial contribution, plus ongoing contributions, to a
coalition-controlled fund for specified community needs;
Incentives for local businesses to employ local workers;
Local contracting, M/WBE utilization, and local procurement
requirements;
LEED certified green building standards;
Priority community access to the project’s athletic facilities;
Community-based oversight and enforcement of CBA
commitments.

13. Best Practices

14. CBA Best Practices
There is no one way to win a CBA campaign, but there are
a number of best practices that have emerged as common
themes throughout various community benefit campaigns

15. Best Practices – 4 Goals
1) Increase transparency and include South Chicago residents in the plan for the
Development
• Community Advisory Board
• Neighborhood Impact Study
• Community Driven Master Neighborhood Development Plan
2) Employ local residents in construction jobs as well as create opportunities for local
businesses to occupy retail space within the development once it’s completed
• Maximize Apprenticeships
• Create training programs in community colleges and high schools
• First source hiring
3) Create real affordable rental housing as well as home ownership opportunities for
local residents
• Priority given to displaced / long term residents
• Down payment assistance
• Tax credit for long term residents
4) Establish a science and technology program with local schools.
• Identify the beneficiaries early and get buy in
• Be specific
• Partner with community/tech colleges
• Secure a financial commitment and retain program flexibility

16. Best Practices – Construction Careers
Developing real construction career opportunities in urban
areas requires work on two levels. On the one hand, public
policy has to support a high-road construction industry,
where family-supporting wages, benefits, and skills and
safety training are the norm. On the other hand, public
policy must create demand for targeted workers and
establish the workforce and training system that ensures
qualified workers are ready to fill new jobs. Construction
careers policies and policy approaches find innovative
ways to work on both levels at once.

17. Best Practices – Construction Careers
After years of often-contentious experience, a consensus is
emerging that the strongest approach to achieving quality jobs
and new opportunities is a signed project labor agreement,
combining job quality standards with targeted hiring
requirements. These agreements, sometimes called
Community Workforce Agreements, set the terms for the
project, providing a comprehensive framework for ensuring that
construction creates high quality jobs and provides
opportunities for new workers to get into construction careers.

18. Best Practices – Construction Careers
1. Require apprentice maximization based on the Journeyman to
Apprentice ratio guidelines
2. Build partnerships with local community colleges to hire students and
graduates into skilled positions. Students are prepared for the work
because they receive job training and career placement through the
partnership agreement
3. Build partnerships that train high school students in the skilled trades.
Require a certain number of high school students be trained as part of
the educational process each year funded by the developer.
4. Require the developer(s) fund a program to help open up access to
real estate development opportunities by creating an internship
program for neighborhood residents with real job opportunities or
opportunities to work on other development projects in their
community. (Acre program/MKE)

19. Best Practices – Targeted Hiring
Both local government policies and Community Benefits
Agreements have included measures designed to ensure
that local residents and disadvantaged individuals have
employment opportunities in the retail, transportation,
entertainment, food service and other sectors. These
measures have resulted in thousands of jobs for the
communities that need them most, and are sometimes
paired with job training and other skills development
programs that help individuals build a career.

20. Best Practices – Targeted Hiring
One concrete way to ensure that public investment in private development
benefits low-income communities is to establish targeted hire requirements.
Targeted hire requirements create opportunities for low-income people to get
jobs – they create demand.
Good first source referral systems create the pipeline of qualified workers
from low-income areas prepared to meet that demand.
Community benefits coalitions advocate for targeted hire requirements in
order to target opportunities to low-income residents and people of color who
might otherwise not benefit from new development. Targeted hiring programs
are on the strongest legal footing, and are likely to produce the most
meaningful outcomes, when they are rooted in efforts to reduce poverty
rather than merely to hire city residents.

21. Best Practices – Targeted Hiring
Across the country, targeted hire programs have developed
effective mechanisms for helping low-income local residents find
jobs at new development sites and have created job opportunities
with existing employers that had previously been unavailable to
many low-income workers.
Best Practices for Targeted Hiring Include:
•Strong policy language which sets the stage for success by clearly
defining the responsibilities of all stakeholders: developers,
employers, contractors and the first source referral system.
•Implementation insights and anecdotes that provide some
guideposts for creating and maintaining a first source referral
system.
•Jobs and hiring outcomes that are tangible and accountable.

22. Best Practices – Affordable Housing
Affordable Housing - Housing that costs no more than 30% of
a household's income is considered to be “affordable” for that
household. More specifically, “affordable housing” meets this
30% standard for low-income households (i.e., households
earning below 80% of the area median income). For owners,
housing costs include principal, interest, property taxes, and
hazard insurance. For renters, costs include rent and tenant-
paid utilities (except telephone and cable).

23. CBA coalitions address affordable housing
based on community needs
Bay view/Hunter’s Point in San Francisco:
Ensure that 32% of housing units built within the project are
affordable, at a range of income levels;
Provide over $27 million in housing assistance funds
targeted to neighborhood residents, including down payment
assistance enabling additional units to be sold below market
rates;
Gates/Cherokee in Denver:
250 affordable rental units
150 affordable sale units
Oak to 9th
in Oakland:
465 units for very low income (between 30%-60% AMI)
1/2 will be family size
1/4 senior housing

24. The Atlanta BeltLine Affordable
Housing Program
 Make city living financially
attainable for renters and
homeowners
 Create 5,600 units of affordable
housing over 25 years
 Retain 15% of net bond proceeds
for an affordable housing trust fund
 Provide down payment assistance
to homebuyers
 Provide incentives to developers

25. How Other Communities Have Won Power

26. A Framework For Success
Step 1 is to Build the Coalition.
Building a coalition is an ongoing effort. Ideally, coalition
building starts long before engaging a developer in
response to project plans and it extends beyond signing a
CBA. However, some coalitions can grow organically in
response to a specific development. Either way, it is highly
recommended that coalitions be broad, representing a
variety of community interests. It is important that agendas
are negotiated within the coalition so that the developer and
city are not forced to deal with various groups, which can
weaken the advantage of negotiating with a coalition.

27. Coalition Best Practices
Community benefits coalitions are long-term, broad-based groups with deep roots
in the community.
Coalitions typically represent a broad array of stakeholders, such as local residents
across the income spectrum, people of all colors, representatives from labor,
environmental and faith groups, and affordable housing advocates.
Community benefits coalitions recognize that high-quality new development is
critical for expanding prosperity. Coalitions seek a role in shaping that
development, and know that no one wins if the project fails.
Coalition members are willing to “lay on the table” their stake or interest in the
project
There is an explicit internal governance agreements that all members are
accountable to
The Coalition outlines bottom lines quickly in an open and transparent manor

28. A Framework For Success
Step 2 is Issue Education. Like coalition building, it is an
ongoing process. Issue education can start before a
particular project or campaign is in place, or it can begin at
the start of negotiations. It’s an important part of the CBA
process because it encourage groups within a coalition to
speak the same language. It also builds trust and a
common agenda. In addition to educating coalition staff
members, issue education can also involve training
grassroots community members and/or neighborhood
residents to act as advocates for the issues.

29. A Framework For Success
Step 3 is Research. Research is an important precursor to
negotiations. Some key research goals include
understanding the development process, locating the
leverage points, and highlighting existing and alternate
regulations.
Questions to Ask:
1. How much $$ will be spent on the development?
2. How much is federal, state or local public $$?
3. Are there already any standards that must be met, because of TIF money?
4. What kinds of tenants are anticipated?
5. Timeline for groundbreaking and construction?
6. Any additional city approvals that are needed?
7. How much housing is planned?
8. Any HUD money? Is there already a stated mix of market based or
affordable housing?

30. Step 4 is to do Community Assessment. This is the
process of discovering what is important to the
community. Often that process begins with a large
community meeting. Top concerns are usually related to
jobs, housing, neighborhood services, and environmental
issues. This is a particularly important step for coalitions,
because it ensures that they accurately represent the
interests of their community.
A Framework For Success

31. Step 5 is to Identify Community Priorities. In this stage,
importance is placed on moving from a laundry list of
demands to a prioritized needs assessment for the specific
neighborhood. This assessment will be the basis of
negotiations and can be a difficult process.
Imagine that a coalition identifies an environmental issue as
the highest priority, but community assessment reveals that
the neighborhood is far more concerned with jobs. This is
where issue education and community assessment is
useful, because it will help the coalition determine which
issues to fight for, and which they can—and possibly should
—make concessions on.
A Framework For Success

32. Step 6 is to Apply Leverage. There will be times when
the coalition needs to “flex its muscle.” The power of the
coalition must be apparent before the development
approval process is complete, which allows meaningful
opportunities to make a lasting impact. Negotiations
should not begin until the coalition has achieved sufficient
power and visibility. This lends the coalition credibility and
forms the basis by which they will win any of their
negotiating points.
A Framework For Success

33. Step 7 is to Form a Negotiating Team. The negotiating
team should include experienced negotiators, people well-
versed in the issues being discussed, and those who may
be able to anticipate the developer’s responses. If legal
counsel has not been involved up to this point, now is the
time to seek legal advice, and possibly even hire an
attorney to be present during negotiations. Remember, it
is important to account for the good-will of coalition
members, to make sure people feel that they are well-
represented, and to protect their interests.
A Framework For Success

34. Step 8 is Negotiations. Negotiations work best “when
[they’re] community-driven and reflective of an honest
assessment of what that project means for the local
people and what they themselves would like to see occur
at that site. Coalitions should enter negotiations knowing
which issues they plan to fight for and where they will
make concessions, and be prepared with alternatives and
“creative solutions” to counteract objections the developer
or the city might have
A Framework For Success

35. Step 9 is to Sign the CBA. At this step, there may
considerable back-and-forth between the coalition’s legal
counsel (if counsel has been retained) and that of the
developer as both sides work on the creation of the legal
document. Signers of a CBA can include coalitions or
groups within the coalition, the developer, and possibly
the city.
A Framework For Success

36. Step 10 is Coalition Support. Remember, the primary
incentive for the developer to sign a CBA is for the
coalition to show support for the project. This is the step in
which the developer expects YOU to hold up your end of
the deal. After—and sometimes even before—signing the
CBA, the coalition will be required to demonstrate support
for the project. Support may include agreeing to not
oppose the project, appearing at press events, and
appearing before the city council.
A Framework For Success

37. Step 11 is Implementation, Monitoring, and Enforcement. It is essential for
the coalition to maintain a continuing oversight body to ensure that the terms
of the agreement are being upheld. Ongoing communications between the
community and developer, and ongoing communication between members of
the coalition, is also critical.
Implementation of the CBA can begin on the date of signing and may extend
for years, during which time the terms—such as selecting contractors and
tenants, putting in place training programs and first source hiring systems,
and building and renting affordable housing—begin coming to fruition. Often,
the terms of a signed CBA will need to be renegotiated as the project moves
forward and new issues or difficulties arise. Coalitions should be prepared to
continue acting as watchdogs for community interests long after the
agreement is signed.
A Framework For Success

38. What is Power?
Organized People and/or Organized Money
We build power by organizing people into
COALITIONS
Questions to ask: Who is at the table? What does
each organization have to contribute? How many
people care about this? What is my capacity to
mobilize?
What is Power

39. Challenges with CoalitionsCoalition Challenges

40. Build the Project Narrative
Why are you involved?
How are you connected to the community?
How long has your family lived here?
What are your aspirations for the
neighborhood?
Build the Program Narrative

41. Sphere of Influence
Each of us has a circle around us, a
networked system of friends,
family and co-workers each with
unique relationships that could
be leveraged in support of our
goals. This is called your sphere
of influence.
Map your sphere of influence:
(1) Local elected officials that have decision
making power
(1) Who do you know personally
(2) Who do you know that has influence over an
elected
(2) Map members of the business community.
Think of small businesses that may be affected
by this policy for example.
(3) Map who if anyone needs to be brought into
the coalition
Local
Elected
Business
Community
Community
Coalition
Sphere of Influence

42. Resources

43. Jennifer Epps-Addison
Executive Director Wisconsin Jobs Now
414-213-7574
jenniferlepps@gmail.com

44. Policy & Tools: Housing and poverty data sources
Area Median Income: http://www.huduser.org/portal/datasets/il.html
Individual Income Limits: http://www.huduser.org/portal/datasets/il.html
Fair Market Rent: http://huduser.org/datasets/fmr.html
American Fact Finder:
http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/nav/jsf/pages/index.xhtml
The US Census Bureau's data site. Data are available for the 1990 and 2000
Censuses of Population and Housing as well as the annual American
Community Survey.

45. State of the Cities Data System (SOCDS): http://socds.huduser.org/
HUD User data source. Includes data from the 1970, 1980, 1990 and 2000
Census; building permit data by jurisdiction; the latest available
unemployment statistics; crime data; and 1990 and 2000 Comprehensive
Housing Affordability Strategy (CHAS) data.
Windows on Urban Poverty: www.urbanpoverty.net
An interactive mapping site that documents the geographic dimension of
poverty in the United States.

46. Dataplace by Knowledgeplex: http://www.dataplace.org/
Provides access to data from the 1990 and 2000 Censuses (demographic,
economic, housing, and social characteristics), Home Mortgage
Disclosure Act (home mortgage applications and loans), Section 8
Expiring Use database (neighborhood- and property-level data on
federally assisted housing at risk of loss), and Consolidated Plan special
tabulations (data on housing needs by household income level).
DataPlace's data library will expand in the coming months to include
information on topics such as business establishments from the Census
Bureau's ZIP Business Patterns database and Low-Income Housing Tax
Credit developments from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development. DataPlace also has a mapping tool and a chart tool as well
as area profiles (quick statistical snapshots of any geographic area).