Economic Development Collaborative Ventura County
Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.
What it says it does
The EDC creates empowered business owners, connected community partners and informed civic leaders in the greater Ventura and Santa Barbara County region. Established in 1996, we are a 501(c)3 non-profit public/private partnership corporation, dedicated to growing the regions economy. Our vision is for stewarding a strong and healthy Ventura and Santa Barbara regional economy with a high quality of life and broadly shared opportunities.
- Income
- $8.6 million
- Spending
- $8.4 million
- Spent on programs
- 97%
- Reserves
- 5.6 months of spending
- Largest source of income
- government grants, 57%
- Employees
- 21
- Highest pay
- $269,279, president & ceo
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Financial health
Good: 70 out of 100. Higher than 45% of charities in its peer group (community improvement, $1m to $10m).
Reserves
20 of 35Spendable reserves would cover 5.6 months of spending.
Debt
5 of 20It owes 70% of what it owns.
Living within its means
15 of 15Income exceeded spending by 2% of income.
Income trend
15 of 15Income rose 11% on the year before.
Spending floor
15 of 1597% of spending went to programs and raising each dollar of donations cost 0 cents.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Governance
Strong: 100 out of 100. Higher than 68% of charities in its peer group (community improvement, $1m to $10m).
Independent board
25 of 2530 of 31 voting board members are independent.
Conflict of interest policy
15 of 15Has a written conflict of interest policy.
Whistleblower policy
8 of 8Has a written whistleblower policy.
Record keeping policy
7 of 7Has a written policy on keeping and destroying records.
Board minutes
5 of 5Keeps minutes of board meetings.
Board sees the tax return
10 of 10Gave the board a copy of this return before filing it.
Pay set independently
5 of 5Sets its chief executive's pay through independent review and comparison.
Independent check of accounts
15 of 15Its accounts were audited by an independent accountant.
No reported misuse
10 of 10Reports no diversion of assets, excess benefits or loans to insiders.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Impact evidence
Describes programs. Its tax return describes what it does but we have found no measurable results in it.
Programs described in its return (1)
- $8.1 million spent. The Economic Development Collaborative-Ventura County (EDC-VC) is a public/privatepartnership that provides businesses with professional consulting, training and lending services to help business thrive and add jobs. For 2024:"Continuing to serve as fiscal agent and co-convener of Uplift Central Coast. Shaping an equitable recovery from COVID-19, this partnership draws us into dialogue with all manner of stakeholders across the Central Coast. That dialogue provides guidance to our current distribution of $9 million in state "Catalyst" grants to promote an equitable regional economic recovery. "Our Ventura County Digital Upskilling Training Program continues on two main fronts: a partnership with the Ventura County Adult Schools Consortium, for computer basics training, and a "Get Your Small Business Online" curriculum for entrepreneurs and small business owners, in collaboration with Women's Economic Ventures. This Digital Upskilling initiative is a pilot project with online replication toolkits available to other workforce and economic development training organizations."Our collaboration and participation in FATHOMWERX continues, in partnership with commands at Navy Base Ventura County, the Port of Hueneme and MatterLabs, serving as a public/private laboratory, community , and resource for technological innovation, striving to fuse small and non-traditional companies, academic institutions and other Department of Defense stakeholders together to work on the most challenging problems in miliary, port and maritime domains."Continuing partnership in support of Early Child Education, promoting a broad and stable early care ecosystem, including technical assistance and lending contributing to vibrant and competitive home-based and child care center businesses, and, especially, the highest quality care for children and support networks for working parents. Key initiatives and partnerships include the Isabella project-involving a broad coalition of partners committed to a pilot project to make highest-quality early childhood education available to 100% of 0- to 5-year-olds in the community of Santa Paula-and `the "Shared Services Alliance," a partnership with First 5 Ventura County, the County Office of Education and Child Development Resources of Ventura County."Serving as fiscal agent and managing partner of the Broadband Consortium of the Pacific Coast, in partnership with the Ventura Council of Governments developed the Ventura County Regional Broadband Initiative and Last Mile Connections Framework and continue to partner with the County of Santa Barbara for its regional plan implementation. "Finally, we continue our collaboration with the California Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz):oThe GO-Biz Office of the Small Business Advocate designated EDC as an Accelerate CA: Inclusive Innovation Hub providing $1 million over four years to support technology-based firms and expanding opportunities for women and minority-owned businesses.oEDC was awarded some $900,000 to augment our federal U.S. Small Business Administration funding, helping to assure we maintain our high level of services as we recover from the pandemic.oOur lending programs and borrowers benefitted from nearly $3 million in loan guarantees from the GO-Biz Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank.oIn our role as the Ventura County Film Commission, we serve as an extension of the California Film Commission, also an office within GO-Biz.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Legitimacy checks
Is it registered with the IRS? Passed.
Listed in the IRS master file of tax-exempt organizations as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Has the IRS revoked its tax-exempt status? Passed.
Not on the IRS automatic revocation list.
Source: Automatic revocation of exemption list, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Are donations tax-deductible? Passed.
On the IRS list of organizations eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions.
Source: Publication 78 data: organizations eligible for tax-deductible contributions, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Is it keeping up with its IRS filings? Passed.
Most recent return on file covers the year ending December 2024.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
How long has it been tax-exempt? Passed.
Recognized by the IRS since March 1997.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Is it in good standing with state regulators? Passed.
Not on California's list of charities barred from soliciting. Other states are not yet checked.
Source: May Not Operate or Solicit for Charitable Purposes list, California Attorney General, Registry of Charities and Fundraisers, file dated October 21, 2026.
Ratings and checks are our reading of public records, using the published method. They are not a statement about anyone's honesty. If you work for this organization, you can send corrections or results, confirm you want gifts through Veridonate, or ask to be removed from giving.