Investing in the heart of a neighborhood

In the mid-1980s, St. Paul’s Rice Street neighborhood was suffering. The community was once a vibrant commercial corridor with proud working class roots and countless mom and pop businesses. One by one the shops along the corridor closed—gone with the rise of giant big-box stores in neighboring suburban communities.

After years of working to bring outside businesses to struggling commercial corridors throughout the Twin Cities, Mihailo Temali remembers a key lightbulb moment in his career.

What if the mechanics and daycare providers and beauticians working out of their homes could fill local commercial vacancies? The best way to support a neighborhood is investing in the energy and talent of its residents.

Residents had endless skills and ideas for business activities, and often used them out of their back door for some extra income. Plus, they embodied the culture and personality of their neighborhood and liked where they lived. What would it take to bring this local “underground economy” into vacant storefronts?

-Mihailo Temali, Founder of NDC & BFWA

We help build strong entrepreneurs

And entrepreneurs build strong neighborhoods

Launched in 1993, Temali founded The Neighborhood Development Center, a non-profit addressing the most urgent needs in the community by harnessing the power of what was already there.

Now 30 years old, the Neighborhood Development Center is a thriving organization providing ever-expanding services to more communities.

NDC is also a nationally recognized model of community development done right. The opportunity for a national alliance grew out of the success of this model. Now 16 members strong, Build from Within Alliance support resident entrepreneurship in over 50 neighborhoods across the country.