In Part II of our interview with Trenda Loftin.We continued our conversation focused on creating meaningful housing and employmnet opportunities for marginalized members of our cites and towns.

Trenda is a real estate professional and co-founder of the compost coop.

Find Compost Coop on Facebook

Trenda has a deep passion for community building.  This informs the work she does in real estate as she advocates for the right of individuals to reside in a place of dignity and sanctuary while building the foundation for a neighborhood.

Her professional roots are steeped in the theatre.  She is also an award-winning consultant to theatrical companies with a focus on arts integrated social justice facilitation.  The those of us who hail from an arts background, it’s no surprise Trenda has placed a high priority on inclusion and integration of solutions to address multiple challenges. 

The Compost Cooperative is a worker-owned business model serving under-resourced individuals including those recently incarcerated.

In part I of our conversation we focused on the roots of our neighborhoods worse challenges. Our free-flowing conversation is inspiring and loaded with the kind of energy necessary for identifying and then addressing issues of race, class, gender inherent in our system.

Connect with Trenda on LinkedIn

We spoke together both about the challenges and also on concrete solutions being implemented throughout our neighborhoods both within and outside of Massachusetts own Pioneer Valley.

Welcome to the home of SMG’s ‘Are We Here Yet?’ Podcast.  We seek to produce vibrant storytelling from the entrepreneurs, creative-class warriors and dynamic citizens that collectively tell the story of modern-day America.

Add to that special tidbits like our Essays, The JazzRoom, Special Features and more.  We hope you find enlightenment and entertainment in each episode we present.

About our Hosts:

Scott M. Graves is the founder of SMGraves Creative Enterprises.  Most recently he was executive director of the Wachusett Business Incubator where the SMG team experimented with various programming to overcome the meaningless ‘ribbon cutting’ experiences so synonymous with much of our nation’s  well-intentioned economic development.   He is known for a steadfast resolve for intellectual rigor and business strategy.  Nothing makes Scott feel more fulfilled than to help other develop their own unique creativity which leads to fulfillment in work and life.  His team is currently partnering with The Worcshop, the east coasts largest industrial makerspace to develop the Worc-It Business Lab for incubating new business.  

An entrepreneur in his own right, Scott previously operated the former Smash Music. Along with ImageIdentity’s David Lubelczyk their team developed Leadership Candidates Program for immersive support of new enterprise and Business Triage, a direct response to the issues now exacerbated for small businesses since the spread of Covid-19.