Pico Roots Marketplace: Increasing Economic Resiliency Of Santa Monica’s Diverse Pico Community

Income inequality

Expand existing project, program, or initiative (expanding and continuing ongoing, successful work)

Although Santa Monica is a high-opportunity, affluent city, the Pico neighborhood is lower-income and more racially and culturally diverse. Historically, the neighborhood has been disenfranchised from the opportunities families in other parts of the city are afforded. This is rooted in history; African American and Latinx homeowners who were displaced from the Belmont neighborhood to build the Civic Auditorium in the 1950s moved east and were further displaced when the 10 Freeway was built in the 1960s. Today, the neighborhood is 50% BIPOC and the neighborhood school is 75% BIPOC and Asian. The school is Title 1 and median household income is $51,000, compared to $93,000 citywide. Pico Roots grew out of our involvement with activists who recognize the systemic factors underlying the neighborhood economic challenges including unaffordable retail space and housing. We are active in the Pico Wellbeing Project, which is working to remove barriers towards increasing resident resiliency.

In meetings with residents, business opportunities, not just jobs were the priority. While the affluence of surrounding high resource communities (HRC) creates potential opportunities for small business, the exorbitant cost of commercial space in Santa Monica prohibits local people lacking major investment capital from implementing their business ideas; we seek to leverage the ground-level retail space in a planned new mixed-use affordable building on behalf of Pico residents who are starting, or who own, small businesses. Within the under resourced communities (URC) of Pico, we will provide an affordable marketplace where businesses can lease small spaces to provide services including affordable and culturally relevant meals and goods. We anticipate creating space for 6 anchor businesses along with incubation space to test products. No other organization in our community offers assistance in small business development and this will be the first small business incubator space in Santa Monica. Our staff will work with community stakeholders to implement a program to enhance the skills of Marketplace tenants with the goal of establishing viable businesses that can expand and flourish in the greater Los Angeles area. The marketplace will be operated by Janae Smith, who will offer small business training, incubation, promotion, and technical assistance; will oversee sale of products; and curate weekly and pop-up markets and events to support the Pico Roots marketplace.

Pico is like other URC's embedded in HRCs: formed from eminent domain; BIPOC working poor residents; policies reinforce financial, employment, policing-criminal justice systems’ systemic racism; rising rate of gentrification. (1) We recognize systemic factors and underlying challenges; through this work we monitor community needs and strengths. Success: URCs experience the positive impact of an incubator through producing: a vibrant business cluster in a welcoming space; mentorships to increase youth roles in the local economy; best practices enhancing incubator model. Success will produce a scalable model for future projects including 2 street-level commercial spaces located in Venice and Westchester URCs. We will support other URCs through TA for replication. [1] Initiative for a Competitive Inner City. (2020, October 1). The New Face of Under-Resourced Communities. https://icic.org/. https://icic.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/The-New-Face-of_Under-Resourced-Communities.pdf

Opened in Spring 2024, Pico Roots Market provides a place for emerging businesses to participate in a supportive grass-roots business incubator program. The first cohort of businesses has been supported by a wide range of business education and hands-on mentorships. Due to its location in the heart of the Pico business district and across from Santa Monica Community College Pico Market has been able to easily draw natural foot traffic as well as conduct planned community engagement activities. Measuring program impact is done through objective data related to market sales, number of patrons and visitors, social media engagement, number of vendors supported, number of offsite market opportunities vendors have access to.
Program feedback is continuously gathered through vendor and customer surveys conducted on multiple formats. On a monthly basis CCSM staff assess objective and subjective feedback to enhance program best practice.