Sorenson: I think there have been some great policy wins, that have the potential to really motivate impact investing, both in the country and internationally. The Opportunity Zone legislation that I was involved in, the Build Act which creates a development finance corporation out of OPIC and USAID, and the super legislation that creates a real role for the federal government in pay-for-success initiatives. Doherty: There's been a lot of critical reporting on the Opportunity Zone legislation, but there are also examples of groups like yours (Catalyst) seeking to deliver on the intention of the legislation - to uplift the communities inside them. Sorenson speaking at the Opportunity Zone Senate Hearing. Sorenson speaking at the Opportunity Zone Senate Hearing. CSPAN Sorenson: Well, we’ve made four investments in mixed-use projects in fairly blighted areas. The ones in Salt Lake have really been focused on an adaptive reuse of a turn-of-the-century Foundry with a very innovative development team. That's a big part of our success, finding the development teams that share our ethos in terms of transforming these communities. These communities ultimately need to develop a new ecosystem for economic vibrancy. And it's not just housing - it's jobs, access to services, nonprofits in the area, education. We try to put these pieces together in a thoughtful way and we look for developers who see that vision. We also have a very deliberate way of assessing investments as part of a scorecard process Catalyst developed, where we assess the needs for impact, and then how the uses over time address those needs and move the needle. That way we can report on the impact of the investments that are made. Doherty: Amid the pandemic, have some of the programmatic uses of those buildings changed? Did you have to dial back on retail or office, or adapt to make these investments more future proof? Sorenson: We’ve looked at every project in the pipeline and we have a dozen behind them. We start with the baseline geography and ask what are the needs within that area because the pandemic has hit people unevenly; in Salt Lake, we're experiencing a little less than a 10% unemployment rate. That sounds really high... but when you look at other parts of the country, like California, that's really on the low-end. Then we look at what the most immediate needs in a community and many relate to housing. Housing is probably one of the areas that is less risky. And some of our projects have had to pivot, they've said, "Well, we're not going to put up office right now, it's probably not the time,” or, "the healthcare clinic we really do need, and the charter school is very viable, so that's going to go forward.” So that’s how we’re approaching it today. Doherty: Thanks for taking the time to speak with me today
| Types | Organization |
| Start date | 2019 |