Marva Smith Battle-Bey is president and CEO of the Vermont Slauson Economic Development Corporation, a nonprofit entity that specializes in retail development and job training programs in South-Central Los Angeles. Vermont Slauson 's latest project is a 60,000 square-foot retail center featuring one of the first Los Angeles-area markets operated by Gigante Supermarkets, a major chain from Mexico. The center broke ground on April 29, the 10th anniversary of the Los Angeles civil unrest.
Marva Smith Battle-Bey grew up in Detroit and graduated from planning school at the University of Southern California. She worked for Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley before joining the Vermont Slauson EDC in 1981. CP&DR Publisher William Fulton interviewed Battle-Bey in her office at the organization's Business Enterprise Center near the intersection of Slauson and Western avenues in Los Angeles.
CP&DR How did your organization get started?
BATTLE-BEY We got started through the Mayor's Office of Economic Development, where I worked at the time. The old Sears store had closed down and the merchants were concerned. They went …
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