Urban Ecological Entrepreneur Program

For decades, Cleveland’s Upper East Side neighborhoods suffered from chronic underinvestment despite being home to nearly 100,000 residents. Compared with the rest of the region, these communities faced significantly higher poverty and unemployment rates and substantially lower per capita incomes, limiting opportunities for economic growth and neighborhood revitalization.

To address these challenges, the Urban Ecological Entrepreneur Program was developed through a partnership among Shorebank Enterprise Group (now Rockland Trust), the City of Cleveland, local community development corporations, and TerrAqua. The program introduced a community-driven approach to economic development that integrated environmental stewardship with entrepreneurship, empowering residents to shape the future of their neighborhoods while reconnecting redevelopment efforts with the area's natural and environmental assets.

The initiative promoted environmentally sustainable businesses that could create jobs, generate new commercial activity, and build long-term community capacity. Program activities included providing environmental information, identifying neighborhood priorities, reclaiming vacant and abandoned land, promoting pollution prevention, and improving neighborhood safety. Its goals were to: (1) identify and evaluate sustainable business and entrepreneurial opportunities; (2) develop business plans for the most promising ventures; and (3) establish a lasting local capacity to support environmentally and economically sustainable development.

Founded in 1994 as the community development arm of Shorebank Corporation, Shorebank Enterprise Group invested hundreds of millions of dollars in underserved urban and rural communities, including more than $55 million in Cleveland’s Upper East Side, while supporting small businesses and affordable housing through its Enterprise Centers. Today, Rockland Trust continues that mission by financing brownfield redevelopment and adaptive reuse projects in partnership with municipalities, community development corporations, and regional agencies, transforming contaminated and underutilized properties into commercial, mixed-use, and affordable housing developments.

Client: Shorebank Enterprise Group

TerrAqua’s role: Grant writing and program development.