DES MOINES, Iowa — Des Moines officials have launched a new development they hope will provide a jumpstart for local Black and brown business owners.
The "Center @ 6th" is named after Des Moines's historic Center Street — a predominantly-Black commercial district that was lost due to highway construction. Now, backers are hoping this new development can carry that legacy into the next generation.
For Marquas Ashworth, the "Center @ 6th" is a passion project more than two years in the making.
"In comparison to any state like ours, our community here can compete anywhere. It just hasn't been invested into. So for me, it was a common sense thing to take a couple of years, set myself aside and invest into my community," said Ashworth, the development's president.
On June 18, Ashworth's vision came one step closer to reality as he joined Polk County leaders to break ground on the development on the corner of 6th Avenue and Jefferson Avenue. The center will combine affordable apartments with space for local entrepreneurs.
"We surveyed the community many times and said, 'What do folks want to see on Sixth Avenue in the future?' Number one priority — spaces for more for more diverse small businesses," said Breann Bye, Executive Director of 6th Avenue Corridor.
And those small businesses will be getting a helping hand, too. The center will host a business incubator program, providing business owners of color with the resources they need to thrive.
"What we're trying to do is create the opportunity, the access, and the ability for black entrepreneurs to seize their future and control their reality through hard work, access training and everything they need to take the next step," Ashworth said.
According to Ashworth, 15 businesses have already gone through that program, even before the center has opened its doors. He hopes that work continues to pay dividends in Des Moines for a long time to come.
"The work is just beginning. We won't know what the true impact of this will be generationally for 40, 50 years. I won't be alive to see what generational impact this is going to be, but I know it'll be here," Ashworth said.
So, the big question — when will the center be open for business? Ashworth said he's aiming for a ribbon-cutting sometime in fall 2024.