Building Opportunities with Business Inner-City Society is a non-profit organization that has been active in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, Chinatown, Strathcona, Mt Pleasant, Gastown and Downtown South areas since October 2005. BOB's goal according to its website is "to support local business development and increase job opportunities for inner-city residents by championing an inclusive revitalization process".
Creating BOB
The creation of BOB came as a direct result of the Vancouver Agreement an urban development initiative between the governments of Canada, British Columbia, and the City of Vancouver. BOB's role as defined by the agreement is to promote business development, offer mentoring and employment training as well as administering a loans program to inner-city small businesses. In the time since its creation the organization has developed from being seen largely as an employment agency into being recognized as a credible and reliable source for a variety of information on the DTES. Separating itself from the legacy or failures of PEACH, the economic development and job creation organization that BOB was created to replace and distinguishing itself as a separate and unique entity has been a challenge to the organization. While some of the people and resources from PEACH were transferred to BOB the organization was created as a comprehensive new service to address the needs of business and employment. Fast Track to Employment another organization active in the DTES has remained its own agency working in tandem with BOB. With a mandate to create employment opportunities by working with employers and residents FTE operates within the BOB offices as an affiliated or sister charitable organization sharing the same board of directors as BOB. BOB as an organization has made efforts in the media to clarify its role in the DTES while addressing a diverse range of policy and planning issues relevant to Vancouver's inner-city such as STIR homelessness and economic development and industry clustering Though becoming more widely recognized in 2008 and 2009 the organization has struggled to overcome obscurity concerning its past and present work. Directly related to its support of clustering in Vancouver's inner-city, BOB has also been noted for its co-working space made available for bloggers, independent media/social media, as well as independent contractors and consultants working in Vancouver's DTES. The BOB co-working space is also utilized as an art gallery and presentation space and is an official host gallery of the 2010 Winter Olympics' Cultural Olympiad. The organization has also been noted for placing focus on social enterprise in the inner-city and was instrumental in the support and creation of the SOLEFood Inner City Farm Project along with Seann Dory of United We Can, and local property owners Gudy and Pal Sahota.
BOB and the Millennium CBA (Vancouver 2010 Olympic Village)
BOB was involved in the creation of Vancouver's first Community Benefits Agreement centred on the construction of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Village. While this development has been criticized for going over-budget the CBA may potentially serve as a valuable example of the emerging potential between investors, developers and social enterprise in urban planning. The CBA was a collective effort between the City ofVancouver, BOB, VANOC and Millennium Development Corporation focusing on job creation for local residents and encouraging direct procurement of goods and services from the Downtown Eastside as per the needs of the Olympic Village development. Other major partners included Bell, VanCity Credit Union, the Province of British Columbia and the Federal Government as well as the Canadian Housing and Mortgage Corporation and the Vancouver Regional Construction Association.
Criticism of BOB
BOB has been the recipient of criticism from both activists who view the organization as a potential agent of gentrification and from other individuals active in the DTES. The organization has made efforts to clarify its role in the DTES in response to these criticisms. PEACH having been proven largely ineffective in its approach was dismantled and its funding halted. BOB, though supporting a different development model and with different roles has also been viewed by some in Vancouver's DTES as not serving its primary purpose or being effective enough in job creation. Kim Kerr, executive director for the Downtown Eastside Residents Association and Vancouver employment councilor Ruth Meta are examples of vocal critics. Meta and BOB CEO Shirley Chan both commented on BOB's role and work in the DTES through a series of articles in the Vancouver Courier in 2009 It is rumored that Meta reconciled with BOB after this exchange.
