Interview: Victor Carstarphen

Victor Carstarphen

Mayor City of Camden

What makes Camden an attractive location for business expansions and relocations?

Camden is blessed with an incredible location, tremendous access and all forms of transit. We’re encouraging our corporate partners to urge their employees to buy and live in Camden. With increasing economic development and growth in the city, we’re planning for new opportunities for residents and stakeholders. When speaking with our corporate partners, we take pride in the momentum we are building in Camden. Our partners are all in too. The biggest thing about partnerships is that the corporations have done a good job in engaging with the community and have helped play a role to empower our residents and youth.

How is the city expanding affordable housing?

We’re knocking down 300 abandoned homes, with a $15 million grant. These are unsafe structures that blight our city and have been a public safety concern for far too long. We now have the ability to prepare our residents for the homebuying process and to engage with potential development partners as we plan for new housing opportunities. We have some strong CDCs and nonprofit developers in Camden, and we want to help build their capacity so they can create affordable housing options within our neighborhoods. Along with the nonprofit partners, we are working with The Michaels Organization to rehabilitate existing complexes and even offer newly constructed quality affordable units.

What is your near-term outlook for the city?

We want to build upon our efforts and have Camden continue to trend in the right direction in terms of public safety, education and economic growth. Increasing local sourcing and promoting employment opportunities for our residents is crucial. In the near future, I want people to be able to say that Camden is back and excelling to new heights. As Mayor, I intend to bring unity through partnerships and take a team approach. This is all about team Camden.

The Camden County Park System consists of 21 parks and over 4,000 acres of natural settings and open space.

( ) Pandemic response Buoyed by robust vaccination efforts, support for businesses has been an integral part of the county’s pandemic response. More than 3,000 county businesses have received grants totaling approximately $30 million since the onset of the pandemic thanks to CARES Act funding, with portions of the American Rescue Plan earmarked for business support as well, county leaders tolds Invest:. “We’ve done our best to keep businesses in business during the pandemic,” County Commission Director Louis Cappelli Jr. told Invest:. Additionally, the county has awarded approximately $3.2 million to municipalities, $28.7 million to its three major healthcare providers and $4 million to support centers, the county reported.

Since the rollout of the vaccines, the county has placed a keen focus on making the jobs available to hard-to-reach populations. From door-to-door information campaigns to busing senior citizens to vaccination sites to even erecting pop-up sites in shopping malls and concerts, the county has not relaxed the pandemic response as the situation improves and businesses resume in-person operations.

General economy Camden County was not immune to unprecedented changes to the socioeconomic landscape ushered in by COVID-19. More than a year into the pandemic, the local unemployment rate has largely stabilized as the