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News : REDA-NeDA Merger (Back to News)

  • Posted Tuesday September 13th @ 12am

    Dear Friends, Neighbors and Supporters,

    We are writing today with some very exciting news that will have a positive impact on our West Side community. REDA and NeDA are merging! This will consolidate administrative functions and reduce operating costs while providing more funds for programming. The merged organization will continue to be a strong community development corporation.

    REDA will be merging into NeDA and will operate under its current name as a program of the Neighborhood Development Alliance. For the past five months, NeDA and REDA board members have been meeting to explore the feasibility of merging and how it would benefit the West Side. During this exploration it became very clear that both organizations share similar vision, values and mission. We have now completed our due diligence and both boards have voted to move forward to a final merger.

    The REDA program will continue to nurture, grow and maintain a strong business association that will facilitate developments within West Side commercial districts with strong street level business opportunities. The REDA program will also manage the loan program, offer the micro-entrepreneur training, provide technical assistance to business owners, and conduct other activities that foster a strong, vibrant West Side community. The new organization will create a stronger commercial core that attracts more customers for all by redeveloping vacant and underutilized property and continuing to ensure affordable, safe housing for all income levels. In the late Fall, we will hire professional staff to manage the REDA program.

    Along with WSCO, the City of St. Paul and other key allies, we will continue our work to strengthen community and build on our past successes.

    We are grateful to the McKnight Foundation, the Otto Bremer Foundation and The St. Paul Foundation for their financial support of this endeavor and their encouragement to consolidate our efforts for a greater impact in the community. We expect the legal merger to be completed by the end of the year. Thank you for your support. We will keep you informed about our progress.

    Sincerely,

    Jim Gilbert
    President
    REDA Board of Directors

    Karen Thompson
    President
    NeDA Board of Directors