CO+HOOTS Foundation receives $75,000 grant
CO+HOOTS Foundation, the nonprofit arm of CO+HOOTS downtown Phoenix coworking community, was awarded a $75,000 grant from the Phoenix Industrial Development Authority Community Development Fund. The IDA board of directors met Thursday, Feb. 12 for a public meeting in Phoenix City Hall where it discussed and approved the $75,000 grant award.
CO+HOOTS Foundation is currently working on an expansion of CO+HOOTS’ coworking space model to impact both local nonprofits as well as small business scaling for economic development. The award will be put toward CO+HOOTS Foundation staff salaries to implement economic development programs for small business and nonprofits, the purchase of technology and the expansion into and furnishing of a larger space to accommodate CO+HOOTS’ growth.
“We have operated off a very lean budget over the past year and now that our pilot programs have been proven successful, we were in need of community support to expand upon our growth,” said Kristin Romaine, CO+HOOTS Foundation Co-Founder and Executive Director. “We are extremely grateful to have the support and endorsement of the IDA and their board of our vision for Phoenix as they represent some of the most talented leaders in our community.”
“We have never received outside support so this is really meaningful for us,” said Jenny Poon, CO+HOOTS Founder. “We created the foundation so that we could have more of a community focus and impact. This funding is going to help generate sustainability for the organizations and businesses served by it.”
The second location will be announced at a later time, but it will be in downtown Phoenix and within the economic redevelopment zone identified by the City of Phoenix. The second location will be built for small businesses who are growing into teams of two employees or more and on local nonprofits with fewer than five employees that are looking to scale their effectiveness and grow their teams for greater impact.
ABOUT IDA COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT FUND: Established in 2011, the Community Development Fund (“CDF”) is supported by revenue generated from non-Arizona bond transactions. The Phoenix IDA is proud to use this dedicated stream of revenue to support Phoenix-based, charitable, nonprofit organizations that support education, health innovation, and provide community and economic development to benefit Phoenix residents.
ABOUT CO+HOOTS FOUNDATION: Founded in 2014 by Jenny Poon, Odeen Domingo and Kristin Romaine, the CO+HOOTS Foundation is an Arizona non-profit whose mission is to influence and support community growth by engaging the power of coworkers, independent contractors and small business. We provide pro bono service, education and leadership to CO+WORK, CO+BUILD and CO+CHANGE the world.