The four groups in Austin's Diversity and Ethnic Chamber Alliance, or DECA, will receive millions of city dollars over the next few years to support local hiring, job creation, marketing and other economic activity.

What happened

A group of three-year contracts approved Nov. 7 builds on a previous city commitment to send a total of $2.52 million to the DECA organizations. Approved funding includes:With the city support, the chambers are expected to pursue ways to make Austin a destination for minority and LGBTQ+ businesses and to diversify the area workforce. The funding also comes as the participants are nearing the release of their recently developed Regional Economic Equity Development, or REED, plan intended to guide some of that work.

Mark Duval, president and CEO of the Greater Austin Asian Chamber of Commerce, said the groups' collaborative and the new regional plan are "critical additions" in the Central Texas business community.

"Even with the explosive growth and prosperity enjoyed in our region in recent decades, that prosperity is unevenly distributed, and many communities are left behind," Duval said in a statement. "The REED plan creates structural change to improve access to the capital, resources, expert support and community necessary for minority small-business owners to create success."


Zooming in

The regional plan is meant to address topics like housing, mobility, child care and small-business support in the minority and LGBTQ+ economic community across Bastrop, Caldwell, Hays, Travis and Williamson counties. Tina Cannon, president and CEO of the Austin LGBT Chamber of Commerce, said the outlook for that work is promising for participants across Central Texas.

"We are excited to advance the REED Plan as a powerful mechanism to uplift minority communities and create equal access to prosperity throughout the region," Cannon said in an email. "This year, we are committed to building inclusive growth pathways that empower historically underserved communities, ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to thrive."

Council member Alison Alter, who sits on the REED plan advisory board, said the initiative is progressing after DECA leaders and city economic development officials moved to "reimagine" how Austin supports local business opportunities. The partnership is allowing the groups to pool resources while each maximizing their own capacity and impact, she said, and the results are already gaining national attention.


One piece of the process so far saw Business & Community Lender of Texas and the Wells Fargo Foundation partner on a $1 million loan fund. It offers DECA chamber members $10,000 to $50,000 loans to help with business-related expenses, representing one piece of the plan to support communities with history of underinvestment and where loans have traditionally been harder to secure.

"Austin is an entrepreneurial town, and there’s a lot of people who want to and can have the potential to start business, but there are particular barriers that the community represented by these chambers face," Alter told Community Impact. "We would want to be removing some of those barriers and creating those opportunities."