The Coalition for Responsible Community Development (CRCD) Enterprises is on a mission to improve the lives of people who live in South Los Angeles and other areas throughout Los Angeles County. As a social enterprise, it offers a wide range of construction services, construction management, facilities management, neighborhood beautification, sidewalk repair, and other vital community services. The organization does this while also collaborating with workforce development programs that provide on-the-job training for youth and adults.
The Coalition for Responsible Community Development (CRCD) Enterprises is on a mission to improve the lives of people who live in South Los Angeles and other areas throughout Los Angeles County. As a social enterprise, it offers a wide range of construction services, construction management, facilities management, neighborhood beautification, sidewalk repair, and other vital community services. The organization does this while also collaborating with workforce development programs that provide on-the-job training for youth and adults.
To carry out some of its significant projects, CRCD Enterprises needs assistance. In 2015, it learned about the Los Angeles Regional Contractor Development and Bonding Program (CDABP), which Merriwether & Williams Insurance Services (MWIS), a Hub International company, administers on behalf of the County of Los Angeles, LA Metro, and the City of Los Angeles. They also learned that CDABP enrollment and services are provided to participating contractors at no cost.
Since CRCD Enterprises enrolled in the CDABP, the program has helped it in a number of ways, most notably in assisting it in obtaining bonding for various projects. For example, in 2020, the enterprise wanted to work on a $1,500,000 sidewalk repair project in the City of LA, but it could not get the required bonding. “We could not get a bond. We needed someone to help us,” said Mark A. Wilson, the president and CEO of CRCD Enterprises. “We talked to the MWIS team, and they put up $250,000 in collateral on our behalf, which enabled us to obtain the necessary bond. Without them, we would not have gotten the project.”
Similarly, CRCD Enterprises needed a bond to embark on a $9,400,000 renovation of a 51-unit affordable housing project. The CDABP provided $250,000 in collateral, which enabled the Amistad project in South LA to obtain the required bonding in 2023. Also, in 2023, the CDABP provided $250,000 in collateral to help the organization obtain a $2,000,000 bond for the Ramona HomeKey project, a 19-unit affordable housing project funded by the County of Los Angeles and the City of LA.
“As CRCD Enterprises envisions other projects, we know that the CDABP is there to provide the collateral needed to help us obtain the required bonding,” said Mark, who was raised in South LA. “The CDABP is instrumental in helping us carry out our community mission. We thank the CDABP and MWIS team.”
The LA Regional Contractor Development and Bonding Program can help other small, local, and diverse contractors – at no cost — like CRCD Enterprises. For more information on the CDABP and upcoming contracting opportunities with the City of Los Angeles, LA Metro, and the County of Los Angeles, visit the LA Regional CDABP website at www.LAConDev.com.