For years, the folks at the Clarence Darrow Community Center complained about the lousy lunches being served by their day-care program.

“Well, next thing you know, word gets out that our food is better. And soon we started catering for Henry Booth House, and the Parkway Community House. That’s when we started our business. I got six more contracts. Suddenly we weren’t a little community venture anymore. We became a business.”

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“We hope to learn from our mistakes, and use them to make sure they are not repeated,” says Carlson. “You can’t just say ‘Well, we’re going to start an economic enterprise.’ You have to assess your organization’s mission and capacity. Businesses are not ends in themselves. Business activity is a means to an end. That means you have to set your goals: are they profit, jobs, or training? Do you need a consultant? Many times a consultant ends up running the program, which doesn’t give community people experience.

“You even have to consider whether the business should be located in the community. There was this group in Oakland, California, that ended up buying a Thrifty rent-a-car franchise at the San Francisco airport. That’s 50 miles away from Oakland. But the group saw tourism as a major part of the area’s economy, and so that’s where they got involved. The point is they created jobs for people who live in Oakland.”

When Carlson took control of CWED in 1984, his main assignment was to build a network of organizations that could pool their resources. By working the phones and attending night meetings, Carlson managed to swell CWED’s ranks to 49 organizations.

“You hear many sad stories of frustration,” adds the Darrow Center’s Stanley Horn. “But, in a way, it’s refreshing. You learn that you’re not the only group in the world with problems. You realize that you’re not alone.”

“Peoples Housing has been rehabbing housing for low-income people in the area north of Howard Street since 1981,” according to Digging In. “It has rehabbed 123 low-to-moderate-rent apartments, has another 25-plus housing units in progress, and manages these units.”