The Honorable Maria Cantwell
Chair
Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510
The Honorable Roger Wicker
Ranking Member
Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510
March 17, 2021
Re: Consumer, community and civil rights groups urge confirmation of Don Graves for Deputy Secretary, Department of Commerce
Dear Chair Cantwell, Ranking Member Wicker and members of the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation:
The undersigned consumer, community and civil rights organizations would like to express our strong support for Don Graves as the nominee for Deputy Secretary of the Department of Commerce. We urge you to approve his nomination and look forward to his confirmation by the Senate.
Mr. Graves is deeply aware of the challenges faced by communities across the country as they struggle to regain their foothold in the global economy. The Department of Commerce will be well-served by his public policy leadership and deep experience as a community development practitioner. Commerce and the entire administration face the important challenges of keeping the economy moving, and we are heartened by the nomination of Mr. Graves to this key position.
Mr. Graves has deep familial roots with the Department of Commerce, where his formerly enslaved ancestors owned a horse-and-buggy taxi service where the building now stands and, a generation later, a nearby hotel.[1] He continues this spirit of entrepreneurship and commitment to the country’s local economies. Mr. Graves has spearheaded economic recovery efforts in Detroit, served as the executive director of the President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness during the Obama Administration, and later served as an economic advisor to then Vice-President Joe Biden. Mr. Graves also served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Small Business, Community Development and Housing Policy at Treasury, where he oversaw the CDFI Fund, the Small Business Lending Fund and the State Small Business Credit Initiative-much-needed experience as the nation faces an urgent need to rethink and dramatically expand how we support small businesses, particularly those owned by people of color. He also served on the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s Advisory Committee on Economic Inclusion.
Mr. Graves’ also exemplified this same commitment to economic development in his work outside government. From 2017 to 2020, Mr. Graves headed corporate responsibility and community relations at the Cleveland, Ohio-based KeyBank, one of the nation’s largest banks serving customers in fifteen states, most recently as the bank’s Executive Vice President & Head of Corporate Responsibility and Community Relations.
While at KeyBank, Mr. Graves worked diligently to implement a strong community benefits agreement negotiated with community leaders throughout the bank’s footprint on the occasion of its acquisition of First Niagara Bank.[2] The agreement resulted from a collaborative process with community members and bank leaders after months of negotiation. The agreement included a substantive and detailed commitment of resources and services to communities throughout the KeyBank and First Niagara footprints. Mr. Graves worked to ensure that KeyBank’s commitments were implemented and that community organizations were engaged in the process.
In the coming months and years, the Department of Commerce will play a major role in leading the nation’s economic recovery. On the campaign trail, President Biden called for doubling the budget of the Economic Development Administration to promote economic development and connect underserved communities with much-needed federal aid.[3] Commerce will also play an important role in informing the nation’s response to the climate crisis, as part of the National Climate Task Force.[4] We need a leader like Don Graves to work with Secretary Raimondo to help move these initiatives forward.
Commerce also oversees the U.S. Census Bureau, which plays a critical role in providing the necessary information infrastructure to ensure that the communities get the resources they need. As consumer advocates and community development practitioners, we rely on the Bureau’s data to inform our work. Commerce will play an important role in maintaining and possibly extending or expanding the Small Business Pulse and Community Pulse surveys in the coming months and years.[5] These surveys have shined an important light on the challenges that small businesses face in weathering the economic fallout of the pandemic. These surveys also helped highlight the urgent need for a bold response to the eviction and foreclosure crisis facing renters and homeowners.
The country needs a champion for community economic development who understands the challenges local economies across the country are facing during the ongoing economic, public health and racial justice crisis. Don Graves is that champion. He brings the experience, commitment, vision that we need for this moment. We urge you to approve his nomination.
Sincerely,
National Community Reinvestment Coalition
727 Mgt. LLC
Beacon Development Group
Black Legacy Advancement Coalition
California Reinvestment Coalition
CASA of Oregon
CCDC/ dba Ophelia Steen Center
CDC Small Business Finance
Center for NYC Neighborhoods, Inc.
Chester Community Improvement Project
Chicanos Por La Causa
City of Toledo
Cleveland Neighborhood Progress
Coalition for Non-Profit Housing and Economic Development
Coastal Enterprises, Inc.
Community Reinvestment Alliance of South Florida
Community Service Programs of West Alabama, Inc.
Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Maryland and Delaware, Inc.
County Corp
Dayton Chamber
Delaware Community Reinvestment Action Council, Inc.
DESA
Empire Justice Center
Fahe
Fair Housing Center of Northern Alabama
Far South CDC
Financial Haven, Inc
Georgia Advancing Communities Together, Inc.
Henderson and Company
Home Repair Resource Center
Homes on the Hill, CDC
Housing Education and Economic Development
Housing on Merit
Housing Oregon
HousingWorks RI
Jane Place Neighborhood Sustainability Initiative
Jewish Community Action
Johnson Consulting Group
Legacy Foundation
Low Income Housing Institute
MA Affordable Housing Alliance
Maryland Consumer Rights Coalition
Metro North Community Development Corp.
Metropolitan St. Louis Equal Housing and Opportunity Council
Montana Fair Housing
Mustard Seed Development Center
MY Project USA
National Association of American Veterans, Inc.
National Fair Housing Alliance
New Jersey Citizen Action
New Urban Development LLC
New Village Corporation
Northwest Indiana Reinvestment Alliance
Ohio CDC Association
Olive Hill Community Economic Development Corporation, Inc
PathStone Enterprise Center
People’s Self-Help Housing
PFC Black Chamber Of Commerce
Pittsburgh Community Reinvestment Group
Project PLASE, Inc.
Real Estate Education And Community Housing Inc
REBOUND, Inc.
Rehman Consulting Services
River Cities Development Services
Sister to Sister 2
South Dallas Fair Park Innercity Community Development Corporation
Southern Dallas Progress Community Development Corporation
Southwest Economic Solutions
St. Petersburg Neighborhood Housing Services, Inc. dba Neighborhood Home Solutions
Stark County Minority Business Association
TCH Development, Inc
Tennessee Human Rights Commission
The Enterprise Center
The Financial Compass Foundation
The Pride Through Empowerment Foundation, Inc
The Twenty Inc
Universal Housing Solutions CDC – UHS CDC
Vermont Slauson EDC
Village Capital Corporation
We Help Communities “2” Develop Corp
Working In Neighborhoods Beekman Corridor
[1] Milloy, Courtland. “Perspective | A Commerce Nominee’s Formerly Enslaved Ancestors Ran a Taxi Service Where the Department Is Now Headquartered.” Washington Post. www.washingtonpost.com, https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/commerce-don-graves-family-history/2021/02/23/c4c47218-75e8-11eb-8115-9ad5e9c02117_story.html.
[2] NCRC. NCRC and KeyBank Announce Landmark $16.5 Billion Community Benefits Agreement?» NCRC. https://ncrc.org/ncrc-and-keybank-announce-landmark-165-billion-community-benefits-agreement/.
[3] “The Biden Plan to Invest in Middle Class Competitiveness.” Joe Biden for President: Official Campaign Website, https://joebiden.com/infrastructure-plan/.
[4] “Executive Order on Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad.” The White House, 27 Jan. 2021, https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/01/27/executive-order-on-tackling-the-climate-crisis-at-home-and-abroad/.
[5] See Bureau, US Census. “Small Business Pulse Survey: Tracking Changes During The Coronavirus Pandemic.” Census.Gov, https://www.census.gov/businesspulsedata. and Bureau, US Census. “Measuring Household Experiences during the Coronavirus Pandemic.” Census.Gov, https://www.census.gov/householdpulsedata.
