Cinnaire’s Jumpstart Wilmington gets a $40K boost to train local developers

Cinnaire, a community development financial institution with a Wilmington location, is working to revitalize neighborhoods by empowering its residents to become its property owners, developers and renovators with a new program.

Called Jumpstart Wilmington, it’s modeled after the original Jumpstart Germantown program in Philadelphia created by Ken Weinstein. The program recently received a $40,000 grant from the TD Charitable Foundation at launch.

“Jumpstart Wilmington creates the opportunity for residents to gain industry knowledge and access to capital to successfully break into the real estate development industry,” said Dionna Sargent, Cinnaire’s VP of Community Development, in a statement. “This generous grant from the TD Charitable Foundation will strengthen our program, increasing local developer capacity in Wilmington while encouraging residents to revitalize their own neighborhoods. Our Jumpstart Wilmington team is honored to receive this grant and we look forward to working with the TD Charitable Foundation to support healthy, diverse communities.”

The program offers aspiring developers who live in Wilmington the skills and support they need to rehabilitate properties via a 12-hour training program that includes mentoring and covers topics such as how to find development opportunities, assessing the economics of a deal and how to put together financing.

The current Jumpstart Wilmington cohort launched the first week of October. Future cohorts are scheduled for February, May and August 2021. To apply, go to jumpstartwilmington.org.