How Retail Can Be a Key Economic Development Driver (&Access)

In this episode of Main Street Business Insights, Matt sits down with Bobby Boone, founder and Chief Strategist of &Access. Based in New Orleans, &Access creates data-driven and design-centric retail real estate solutions for historically excluded entrepreneurs and under-invested neighborhoods.  Bobby has a strong background in economic development and real estate. Prior to founding &Access, Bobby led an effort to attract and maintain small businesses in Detroit and tackled wide-ranging retail challenges as a senior strategist at Streetsense.  In this conversation, they discuss how retail can be a key economic development driver, ways small businesses add social capital to communities, challenges facing retailers and the solutions offered by &Access. They touch on anti-displacement solutions for business owners, how digital commerce is impacting local retailers, and how business owners can acquire properties in ways that meet their own unique goals.