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Our Commitment to Public/Private Partnerships

Pacific Community Ventures (PCV), a nonprofit investment organization founded in late 1998, provides private equity, business advice, and critical business resources to high potential businesses and their employees to bring significant economic gain to under-served communities in California. As a double bottom line investor, PCV targets businesses that have the potential to provide market rates of return in addition to providing &8220;social return on investment&8221; that comes from providing good jobs with marketable skills to residents of low income communities. Founded with philanthropic dollars from some of the Bay Area's leading venture capitalists and business executives, PCV today relies on the continued support of its founders as well as strong public/private partnerships for its investment and operating capital.

PCV is the managing member of two double bottom line, for-profit funds, Pacific Community Ventures Investment Partners I and II, LLC. These two funds contain $20 million of capital invested by leading public and private financial institutions, including, Wells Fargo Bank, Citibank, the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (U.S. Treasury) and the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS). A third, larger fund (target $30 MM+) is currently being raised from both public and private sources, and is scheduled for first close in Summer 2006. PCV's funds are structured with a traditional management fee structure and carry, with carry returned to the parent 501(c)3. PCV's nonprofit activities are funded through earned income streams, as well as by foundation grants, government contracts, and individual donations. Since our founding, PCV has raised more than $12 MM in support of its non-profit activity, nearly 90% of which has come from private sources.

Each of PCV's public partnerships – for either investment capital or in support of non-profit business development activity – is the result of success in an open competitive process, including:

Investment Capital

  • CalPERS (2001) – After extensive due diligence, PCV was selected as one of the ten inaugural funds in the $475 MM California Initiative portfolio, with a commitment of $10 MM to LLCII;
  • U.S. Treasury Dept., CDFI Fund (2003) – PCV competed for and received a CDFI Fund Financial Assistance Award of $1 MM in investment capital to LLCII;
  • City of San Jose (2006) – In response to an RFP, PCV was selected as the Fund Manager to the newly formed $3 MM San Jose Economic Development Catalyst Fund.

Grants/Contracts

  • California Pollution Control Financing Authority (2004) – PCV was awarded a 3-year/$1.5 MM fee-for-service contract (with a 1:1 match requirement from non-State sources) to provide no cost Business Advisory Services to small businesses in California's lower-income communities;
  • CalPERS (2005) – PCV was awarded a $200K fee-for-service consulting sub-contract to apply its Social Return on Investment expertise to the California Initiative portfolio;
  • City of San Jose, Office of Economic Development (2006) – PCV was awarded a $28K contract to provide Business Advisory Services to small businesses in San Jose's lower-income communities.

Built on a strong foundation of rigorous due diligence on all sides, PCV is committed to expanding its public/private partnerships in order to better serve California's lower-income communities.