By Lauren Williams on 09/15/2011 @ 11:00 AM

Tags: Housing and Homeownership

Check Out the Newest Resource Guide!

First Steps Toward a Resident Purchase Opportunity

CFED and our partners have developed a set of tools to help advocates educate policymakers, allied organizations and the general public about how public policy can improve the lives and financial security of owners of manufactured housing.

Our newest addition to the Manufactured Housing Toolkit is the First Steps Toward a Resident Purchase Opportunity Resource Guide. We know that nearly 2.9 million manufactured homes are placed in communities around the United States—this accounts for nearly 43% of all manufactured homes. When owners of manufactured homes place them in communities, they typically lease the land on which their homes sit and become vulnerable to rent increases, arbitrary rule enforcement and even community closure if the community owner decides to convert the land to some other use.

A state purchase opportunity policy that ensures manufactured home community residents have an opportunity to bid when their communities are for sale gives them equal rights with other potential buyers. Sometimes, however, advocates are unable to secure a full-fledged purchase opportunity policy. Whether to push for a less-than-comprehensive purchase opportunity policy presents a dilemma for advocates. If state policymakers adopt one of the suggested “first steps,” they may feel that they have solved the problem and may be unwilling to revisit the issue. Similarly, advocates may choose not to mount a policy campaign for a “first step” policy since it does not guarantee residents the full opportunity to purchase their communities. But a multi-step approach can be effective if advocates have a multi-year strategy, and if they make it clear to policymakers that the “first step” policies they are proposing are only that – first steps. This policy guide presents “first steps” – steps that do not amount to a comprehensive purchase opportunity policy but that may help move a state toward such a policy.

The Manufactured Housing Toolkit includes Policy Briefs, Resource Guides, Sample Local Level Policies and Communications Tools. Policy Briefs are intended to be broadly disseminated and shared with policymakers and allies, while the Resource Guides include legislative analysis, examples of states where certain policies have been adopted, and other detailed information to help advocates in making the case for manufactured housing. The Communications Tools include both concise messages to share with policymakers and community members, as well as tips for advocates in framing the discussion.

By Bill Schweke on 09/14/2011 @ 11:00 AM

Tags: Ideas in Development, Recommended Reading

Diana Mutz’s book, “Hearing the Other Side: Deliberative versus Participatory Democracy” (2006) is a bit of a well-written and thoughtful “wet blanket.” The author delves into an extremely important topic – the effects of increased political discussion and involvement. Her original empirical research discovers a paradox: “participating in politics can bring modest increases in the tolerance of diverse views. But exposure to a diversity of views decreases participation in politics.”

Only about 23 percent of Americans recall having political conversations with those that disagreed with their views. Our citizens appear to have also less exposure to differing views than our counterparts in some countries, but are more talkative about politics. Moreover, civility and tolerance appear to be fostered by awareness of other views and friendship networks that are characterized by diversity of opinions. These factors affect propositions on civil liberties as well.

On the other hand, cross-cutting dialogue increases ambivalence and reduces the propensity to vote and get involved in other forms of political participation. (Ouch!)

The author hesitantly draws two conclusions – the old adage that “religion and politics should never be discussed in mixed company” appears to be true, discouraging lively exchanges by the conflict adverse. And, when forced to choose between democratic ideals, Professor Mutz comes down on more diversity, including more exposure to diverse media messages. (Change is not too likely on this front – too many ways for viewers and listeners to practice “cerebral hygiene” and avoid what they don’t want to experience. And, the erosion of the fairness doctrine is a bummer of a trend too.)

Finally, Mutz’s work shows how creative survey research can be brought to bear on philosophic debates, falsifying some ideas and raising new questions about the efficacy and realism of our political visions.

Read it!

By Katherine Lucas-Smith on 09/13/2011 @ 04:46 PM

Tags: Policy Alerts, Federal Policy, Entrepreneurship, Financial Empowerment

Ask your legislators to support the American Jobs Act!

Last week, President Obama delivered a $447 billion package of job creation proposals to a joint session of Congress. The proposals have been packaged into legislation, called the American Jobs Act, that Congressional leaders will consider in the coming weeks. Details of the proposed legislation are below.

The proposals will not only spur job creation and economic growth, they will also deliver substantial benefits to low-income working families, microenterprises and new entrepreneurs. CFED is thrilled that one key element is the expansion of the Self-Employment Assistance Program (SEA), which enables aspiring entrepreneurs to utilize unemployment insurance money to fund their businesses for up to 26 weeks, providing roughly $10,000-$13,000 in assistance. Currently only seven states provide this benefit. The proposal makes the program available to all states. In addition to expanding SEA, the President's proposals reflect several other CFED priorities for job creation and new business formation.

The economic research firm Macroeconomic Advisers says that the American Jobs Act would boost GDP by 1.3% and increase employment by 1.3 million jobs by the end of 2012. The legislation would achieve this through a combination of new spending to support cash-strapped state and local governments and invest in infrastructure improvements as well as $250 billion in tax cuts to employers and employees.

Key tax measures include:

• Cut in half the payroll taxes that businesses pay on their first $5 million in employee wages and salaries. As 98% of U.S. firms have payroll expenses under $5 million, this tax cut will provide significant, targeted assistance to the small firms that drive job creation. This cut applies to all employers including nonprofit organizations, which employ 11 million workers.
• Provide a 100% payroll tax holiday for employers for newly added workers and increased wages paid to current employees.
• Extend and increase the current payroll tax holiday by cutting payroll taxes by 50% for 160 million workers in 2012. The average American household will receive a $1,500 tax cut.
• Offer a $4,000 tax credit to employers that hire long-term unemployed workers. We are unsure if this credit applies to nonprofits, which do not have a federal tax liability.

The American Jobs Act also includes key provisions to help small business owners better access capital and finance investments in their businesses. Two in particular will deliver benefits to microenterprise owners:

• Allow firms to raise capital through crowd-funded investments (numerous small-dollar investments up to as much as $1 million solicited and bundled through websites such as Kickstarter). Currently, money raised through crowd-funding is counted as donations; allowing supporters to invest instead could greatly expand the amount of funding that entrepreneurs can raise.
• Extend through 2012 firms' ability to deduct 100% of business expenses.

The Act also includes support for unemployed workers who are seeking new jobs and those who are starting their own businesses:

• Extend emergency unemployment compensation to prevent 5 million Americans who are looking for work from losing their benefits.
• Allow states to implement wage insurance to help reemploy older workers and programs that make it easier for unemployed workers to start their own businesses--including expansion of the Self-Employment Assistance Program (SEA) and changes to the Workforce Investment Act. The plan proposes increasing the number of states that have programs including a one-stop mechanism to enable states to connect entrepreneuers with mentoring and access to capital through the SBA and other resources.
• Prohibit employers from discriminating against unemployed workers when hiring.
• Encourage Work-Sharing by permitting workers whose employers choose work-sharing over layoffs to receive unemployment compensation.
• Create a new “Bridge to Work” employment retraining program based on a controversial Georgia state program.
• Establish a fund to support for successful approaches for subsidized employment, innovative training programs and jobs for low-income youth.

Finally, the American Jobs Act also supports job-creating infrastructure and facilities investments:

• Provides $15 billion in investments to rehabilitate and refurbish hundreds of thousands of vacant and foreclosed homes. We will work with the HUD Secretary to ensure that replacing outdated mobile homes with ENERGY STAR manufactured homes could be an eligible use.
• Support salaries of up to 280,000 teachers as well as police and firefighters to prevent layoffs that would harm our children and diminish public safety.
• Modernize and renovate 35,000 public schools across the country, including community colleges. 40 percent of these funds will be directed toward the 100 largest high-need public school districts.
• Establish a National Infrastructure Bank to ensure that America's future infrastructure investment needs will be met and our nation can support the activities of a competitive, growing economy.
• Make immediate investments in U.S. roads, railways, airports and waterways while putting hundreds of thousands of unemployed construction workers back on the job.
• Support public-private partnerships to rehabilitate homes and communities.

Ask your Senators and Representative to support the American Jobs Act!

• Click the "Take Action" link to send an email to your legislators.
• Follow up with a call to their offices. Call the Capitol Switchboard at 202.224.3121 and ask to be connected.
• Say that you want them to support the American Jobs Act because it will support job creation and economic growth while strengthening supports for low-income working households, new entrepreneurs, and microenterprises and should be paid for by tax increases as proposed.
• Share this alert with your colleagues and friends.

By Cäzilia Loibl, Guest Contributor on 09/13/2011 @ 11:00 AM

Tags: Behavioral Economics, Individual Development Accounts, Matched Savings

Can a savings program really foster savings habits? Yes!

Findings from a study on savings habit development in IDAs

Cäzilia Loibl is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Consumer Sciences at The Ohio State University. For more information about Cäzilia's other papers on the IDA program and savings behavior in general, please visit her publications page.

Savings habits are a topic covered in every financial education workshop, and play a particularly important role in Individual Development Account (IDA) programs. IDA participants have both the time and the structure to foster good savings behavior during financial education classes and meetings with case managers. I was interested in finding out whether we could, in fact, quantify the impact of the IDA program on savings habit development. We captured our findings in the study, Accounting for the Role of Habit in Regular Savings.

Background: For the purpose of this study, savings habits were defined as frequently practiced behaviors, done without a particular sense of awareness, with the goal of freeing up funds for saving or debt reduction. Automatically packing lunch for work, browsing supermarket shelves for discounted products and calling friends after 9 p.m. are thrifty money-saving behaviors that should be habitual for many people. Our “treatment” group consisted of current participants in the IDA program of the Assets Ohio network, a statewide IDA program managed by the Ohio CDC Association. The “treatment” group received a paper survey distributed to them by their case managers. The “comparison” group comprised low-income individuals of the general population who lived in counties served by the IDA network, but who were not savings program participants. We collected and analyzed survey data to:

1. Validate the role of habit in regular saving
2. Test whether participation in a savings program (i.e., an Individual Development Account program) facilitates habit formation
3. Examine the role of habit in individual’s perception of financial strain

The results showed that habit mattered for regular saving. Habit strength increased over time during program participation and savings habits reduced the stress of financially difficult situations.

Result #1: Habit influences savings
Habit emerged as a significant predictor of savings deposits, confirming its role as an independent factor in explaining saving.

Result #2: Savings program participation supports habit formation
Compared to non-participants, the savings habit of IDA program participants increased over time, peaked at 19-24 months, and then flattened. There was no difference in savings habit between non-participants and new enrollees, thus supporting successful habit formation during savings program participation.

Result #3: Habit eases financially stressful experiences
Results support the independent role of habit for reducing the perception of financial strain above the influence of household income and savings. This analysis parallels earlier findings on the influence of mental habits on self-esteem (Hilton and Devall 1997).

Admittedly, the idea that long-term savings may be achieved by habitualizing behavior is controversial in the world of behavioral economics. Behavioral economics favors commitment devices that reduce the behavioral component to a minimum – in other words, the less action required, the more successful the saver will be. Examples include auto-enrollment in retirement plans (Madrian and Shea 2001), the use of life-cycle investment funds, and employer-sponsored matched savings (Choi et al. 2006).

However, our analysis focuses on the financial behaviors in everyday life, the ideal scenario for building savings habits. Many of these decisions tend to occur frequently (packing a sack lunch, brewing your own coffee, parking in a cheaper parking lot), tend to affect small amounts of money in the “peanuts” range (Prelec and Loewenstein 1991; Markowitz 1952), and are targeted toward the greater goal of freeing up money for saving or debt reduction. These savings habits may funnel funding toward an institutionalized commitment mechanism (e.g. a checking account balance that is invested automatically) or develop independently, but both help achieve the greater goal of asset building for the purposes of short-term and long-term savings.

Reference:
Loibl, Cäzilia, David S. Kraybill, and Sara Wackler DeMay. 2011. Accounting for the role of habit in regular saving. Journal of Economic Psychology, Volume 32, Issue 4, August 2011, Pages 581-592. Accessible here: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.joep.2011.04.004

By Anne Li on 09/12/2011 @ 11:00 AM

Tags: Innovation, Innovators

CFED Innovative Idea Champion Sherri Rice

Sherri Rice's work with Access to Healthcare Network continues to grow. AHN has already provided affordable health care with dignity to 10,000 Nevada residents who have limited incomes but who are not covered by Medicaid or other programs. They pay affordable monthly premiums and in return they receive the care they need at highly discounted rates offered by hospitals, doctors and other health care providers under a "shared responsibility model" where government, providers, employers and employees ("the working poor") share responsibility.

AHN is now beginning to expand from northern Nevada into the Las Vegas metropolitan area and continues to offer a limited number of Health Individual Development Accounts (IDAs) in which the member's savings toward health expenses are matched by philanthropic dollars. In another demonstration of innovation, Sherri is working with a local community college to develop a new degree program targeting lower-income Hispanic and other young people that will lead directly to real jobs with local employers as Patient Navigators or Care Coordinators. The new credential will qualify graduates for living-wage jobs with bilingual requirements. Financial education and asset building will be incorporated into the curriculum.

Listen to Sherri on her weekly radio program by searching podcasts at KTHX 100.1 FM, Reno, NV.

By Bill Schweke on 09/09/2011 @ 03:15 PM

Tags: Economic Development, Ideas in Development

The latest projections by the US Congressional Budget Office brought more bad news about the economy: low rates of employment creation and high rates of joblessness through 2014. Then, and only then, will we see a bit of a visible turn-around.

The future could be even bleaker if the Eurozone is dragged down by its weakest members. Or, a double-dip recession could occur, if deficit cutters at the federal level slash too much, too soon.

Throw into the mix the philosophical and policy divisions between the Republicans and Democrats and it all seems pretty hopeless – not necessarily an apocalypse, but a continuation of slow growth and stagnant living standards for those already struggling financially.

Given this picture, what can we do? In the long run, it’s pretty clear – put in place a concerted, agreed-upon plan to cut the budget deficit over the next decade-plus. Follow Keynes’s advice and make the status of economists akin to dentists – dull, professional, practical and non-dogmatic.

Not a likely scenario for now. Although, let’s guess that 70% of the economics profession would agree on their respective policy diagnoses and prescription. Many still would not agree. Moreover, economics has become more pluralist, as varied schools of thought have emerged since the sixties – some leaning toward conservative and some lefty.

Then there is the fact that many debates start out with a clear focus on a topic, such as free trade, and then turn into a veiled controversy about underlying value premises or a heated clash about related factual issues.

Furthermore, efforts underway to increase economics literacy among the populace are largely funded by the business community, giving its work a definite right-wing tilt.

Depressing, huh?

But, this doesn’t mean nothing can be done. If we want a more deliberative democracy, we can encourage the following:
• More civility in debate
• A stronger focus on identifying and discussing common interests, rather than the varied (and often hardened) positions
• Creating a “better” and more solvable problem by reframing the issues and problem statement
• Searching for more inclusive solutions
• Keeping an open mind

By Kim Pate on 09/09/2011 @ 11:30 AM

Tags: Economic Inclusion, Rural

EDITOR'S NOTE: This blog is a repost of a press release issued by the U.S. Department of the Treasury's CDFI Fund.

Honolulu, HI – Director Donna J. Gambrell of the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) traveled to Honolulu to join U.S. Senator Daniel K. Inouye and U.S. Representative Colleen Hanabusa to announce awards totaling $11,847,579 for 35 Native Community Development Financial Institutions (Native CDFIs) and organizations serving economically distressed Native American, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian communities (Native communities) across the nation. The organizations awarded are headquartered in 17 states and serve mostly rural communities.

The awards are being made through the fiscal year 2011 round of the CDFI Fund’s Native Initiatives Financial Assistance and Technical Assistance component, the Native American CDFI Assistance Program (NACA Program). The awards will assist financial institutions with a primary mission of serving Native communities to increase their lending services and financial products, as well as to build their own internal capacity to serve their target markets.

Director Gambrell made the announcement at the 10th Annual Native Hawaiian Convention, a yearly gathering of community members, organizations, policy makers, legislative representatives, and federal agencies interested in Native Hawaiian community development. Seven Hawaiian organizations received awards this year, the most of any state in the 2011 round.

"The awards announced today clearly demonstrate the successful growth of the Native CDFI movement across the country," said CDFI Fund Director Donna J. Gambrell. "We're here in Hawaii to celebrate this success and the seven awardees dedicated to economically empowering underserved Native Hawaiian communities."

Senator Inouye praised the awards granted to organizations in Hawaii, saying that he was “very pleased that these financial institutions are receiving the much needed support. The Native Hawaiian community was hit especially hard by the recession and these funds will help small business secure credit and create new jobs. The money will also help families find a home. I am very grateful that the President continues to help the Native people of his home state who are working hard to find stable financial footing.”

Congresswoman Hanabusa agreed on the local impact of the awards, saying that “our country’s economic situation has been difficult for many of Hawaii’s families, especially those in our Native Hawaiian communities. I am pleased to join Donna J. Gambrell, director of the U.S. Treasury Department’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund in announcing more than $1.5 million in awards to help community-based financial institutions provide affordable loans and financial services to Native Hawaiian families, while promoting the growth of our local economy.”

The Financial Assistance and Technical Assistance awardees were selected after a competitive review of 88 applications received by the CDFI Fund from organizations across the nation that requested, in total, nearly $35 million in funding under the FY 2011 round of the NACA Program.

2011 NACA Program Awards
• 2011 NACA Program Awards Book
• 2011 NACA Program Awards List
• 2011 NACA Program Awards Highlights
• 2011 NACA Program Awardee Profiles

About the Native American CDFI Assistance Program (NACA Program)
Through the NACA Program, the CDFI Fund invests in and builds the capacity of existing and developing private, for-profit and non-profit community-based lending organizations known as Native Community Development Financial Institutions. These organizations serve low-income Native American, Alaskan Native, and Native Hawaiian people and communities across the nation that lack adequate access to affordable financial products and services. The CDFI Fund receives applications on an annual basis and awards funds through a competitive process. The NACA Program is one component of the CDFI Fund’s greater Native Initiatives program, which has been actively assisting Native financial institutions through financial and technical assistance and training for nearly a decade.

For more information on the NACA Program, please visit www.cdfifund.gov.

By Donna V.S. Ortega, Guest Contributor on 09/09/2011 @ 10:22 AM

Tags: innovation, financial empowerment, economic inclusion

Letter of Intent Deadline October 3: AARP Foundation Seeks Innovative Ideas on Income

Donna Ortega, AARP Foundation

A recent AARP Public Policy Institute fact sheet highlights the murky employment situation for older Americans. The unemployment rate for persons aged 55 and older dipped to 6.9 percent from 7.0 percent between June and July 2011; while the average duration of unemployment for jobseekers aged 55 and older remained above one year. As of July, nearly 54 percent of older jobseekers had been out of work for 27 or more weeks. Faced with job loss and long-term unemployment, 50+ working families are drawing down savings and increasing debt, and with fewer years between them and retirement (whatever that may look like), they have less time to rebuild these lost assets.

To hasten older Americans’ recovery from the Great Recession, and to reverse the downward spiral facing these vulnerable families, AARP Foundation’s Income Impact Area will be investing over $1 million in nonprofit organizations through its Recession Recovery grants. The purpose of this grant opportunity is to identify and fund innovative and strategic business models that begin to build a national network of employment and income support services that address the specific needs of unemployed workers age 50 and older as they recover from the recession and the effects of long-term unemployment.

AARP Foundation seeks to work in partnership with selected grantees to create a new paradigm for delivering meaningful services to older adult workers and to reduce the length and negative impact of long-term unemployment. While helping people obtain jobs offering good wages and benefits is the most critical element of recovery, given the circumstances noted above, obtaining a job is not enough. While dealing with long-term unemployment and with the potential reduction of unemployment benefits, older workers also need access to income supports and social services necessary to meet their basic needs and protect their families’ financial security. The full RFP is now available on our website at http://www.aarp.org/incomegrants. This is a two-step RFP process: Letters of Intent under this grant program are due on October 3, full proposal submissions are by invitation only and will be due on October 17.

This open call for Recession Recovery proposals (as well as our Sustainable Solutions to Hunger Innovation Grants, also open now) represents a new channel and intervention under AARP Foundation’s new mission: The Foundation is dedicated to serving vulnerable people 50+ by creating solutions that help them secure the essentials and achieve their best life. Through thought leadership, direct services, legal advocacy, grantmaking and raising awareness about the particular needs faced by the low-income 50+, we are working to serve the nearly 20 million older Americans who are at risk of not meeting one or more of their basic needs.

Please review and respond to the RFP, share it with your colleagues and help AARP Foundation find those innovative solutions at the national, regional, state and local levels that can help older Americans regain their economic stability. For more information about our grantmaking work, please visit www.aarp.org/foundationgrants.

By Jennifer Brooks on 09/08/2011 @ 11:00 AM

Tags: Assets & Opportunity Initiative

CFED is excited to announce that we have selected our first set of lead organizations to help begin building the Assets & Opportunity Network.

The Network builds on, leverages and respects the strong relationships that already exist in the assets field. We have selected organizations in 27 states and 26 local areas that will serve as inaugural Lead State and Lead Local Organizations for the Network. There is tremendous excitement in the field about participating in this national Network, which we only expect will grow.

As we build out Network resources, we hope to engage lead organizations in additional states and localities. The Request for Letters of Interest in Serving as a Lead State or Local Organization will reopen in January 2012.

By Johanna Barrero on 09/08/2011 @ 11:00 AM

Tags: Children's Savings Accounts

CFED is pleased to announce the launch of the Mississippi College Savings Account Program in Jackson, MS, on September 8, 2011 at 10 a.m. at Jones Early Childhood Development Center. Three leading nonprofit organizations dedicated to promoting economic development in Mississippi, the Center for Community and Economic Development (CCED) at Delta State University, the Mississippi Community Financial Access Coalition (MCFAC) and Hope Credit Union, have partnered with the City of Jackson, Department of Human and Cultural Services to bring incentivized college savings accounts to children enrolled at Virden, Jones and Westside Early Childhood Development Centers in Jackson, MS.

With support from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the program will establish an account for each participating child at Hope Credit Union with a seed deposit of $50 and will offer match deposits and other incentives as funds are available throughout the life of the program. Accounts will be built with program contributions as well as participant and family savings over time to be used for higher education related expenses. Participating children will also receive at least 5 hours of in-classroom financial education while their parents will be offered up to the 10 hours of training.

The MS College Savings Account program seeks to address the gap in higher educational attainment affecting low income students in Mississippi, where less than 15% of 9th graders end up transitioning to and completing college. The program will help children create a financial nest egg, increase economic opportunity, and transform their aspirations for their own futures, including plans for college.

By Carl Rist on 09/07/2011 @ 12:15 PM

Tags: Children's Savings Accounts, Financial Empowerment, Recommended Reading

This morning, the Chicago Tribune published my letter-to-the-editor, which responded to this story on children’s savings. I’ve copied my response below, and I hope you’ll leave your thoughts by using the comments section at the bottom of this page.

"New Lessons Behind Kids' Allowances" (News, Aug. 28) is interesting fodder for parents considering how best to use allowances to teach their children about budgeting and saving.

But for the most part, this is about parents who have the luxury to consider different options.

For low-income families, such options are rarely feasible. Most don't have the money to spare for their kids' allowances and few consider the importance of saving when they are struggling to pay the rent or put enough food on the table.

Yet, in our increasingly complex financial services marketplace, teaching all children, including those from low-income households, the importance of saving is critical to helping them create a more secure financial future.

One way to teach these critical financial lessons to low-income children is to provide them with real incentives to save while they are learning about thrift. Creating Children's Saving Accounts is one proven approach.

CSAs are seeded with an initial deposit as early as birth and built by contributions from family, friends and the children themselves. The accounts are augmented by savings matches and/or other incentives, and include age-appropriate financial education. At age 18, the savings in CSAs can be used for financing higher education, starting a small business, buying a home or funding retirement.

Savings give kids the fuel they need to aim higher in life.

Among students who initially share the same aspirations for college, those with college savings accounts in their name — regardless of how much money they save — are seven times more likely to attend and stay in college than their peers without savings, according to research conducted by the Center for Social Development at Washington University in St. Louis.

Posted on 09/07/2011 @ 10:50 AM

Tags: Entrepreneurship, Events

The Virginia Microenterprise Network cordially invites you to Strategies for Change: Innovations in Microenterprise and Community Economic Development. This two-day conference, September 15-16 at Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, will feature innovations and emerging issues within the microenterprise industry.

The conference specifically aims to bring together organizations that assist entrepreneurs seeking business training and capital to exchange ideas and new strategies for improving access to credit for qualified businesses. Partners for the event include the Association for Enterprise Opportunity, the Maryland Microenterprise Network, the North Carolina Rural Center, the Latino Economic Development Center, the Center for Economic Options and the Charleston (SC) Local Development Corporation.

To register for this exciting opportunity, visit vamirco.org/2011conference. If you have questions or would like more information, call Amanda Gibson at 804.697.8107.

By Andrea Levere on 09/06/2011 @ 03:00 PM

Tags: Events

Last month, I had the privilege of speaking on a Net Impact Call entitled “Closing the Wealth Gap.” The conversation was joined by about 35 highly engaged participants and I truly enjoyed the opportunity to interact with such an energized group.

I wanted to share the recording of the Net Impact Call on our blog and to thank Net Impact for providing the recording to our readers. To access the recording, click here. You’ll need a codec to view the file. To download the codec, click here.

I look forward to hearing your feedback on this lively discussion. To let us know what you think of “Closing the Wealth Gap,” use the comments feature below.

By Kristin Lawton on 09/06/2011 @ 09:28 AM

Tags: Recommended Reading, Economic Inclusion, Financial Empowerment

Forbes' Rahim Kanani recently interviewed CFED founder and general counsel Bob Friedman for his column that focuses on leadership in the social sector. The interview was published today and posted on the homepage of Forbes.com.

Below are excerpts from the interview. Please go to Forbes.com to read the full article.

Forbes.com - CFED: Expanding Economic Opportunity for Low-income Families

Interview with Bob Friedman
By Rahim Kanani, September 6, 2011

Recently, I interviewed Robert Friedman, founder, general counsel and Chair of the Board of CFED—the Corporation for Enterprise Development—a national nonprofit based in Washington, DC dedicated to expanding economic opportunity for low-income families and communities. CFED uses a “think-do-invest” approach grounded in community practice, public policy and private markets.

Bob Friedman, CFED Founder, General Counsel and Chair of the Board

Rahim Kanani: Describe a little bit about the founding and motivation behind The Corporation for Enterprise Development (CFED).

Robert Friedman: When I asked my mentor at the time what I should do, he suggested, “Hold out for a powerful job in the new Carter Administration or do what you want.” I was never offered a powerful job, so I did what I wanted: I started an institution devoted to finding new ways to create jobs and economic futures for low-income people with more capacity than opportunity. In 1978, at the suggestion of John Naisbitt, author of Megatrends, I organized a conference that unveiled innovative job creation efforts occurring at the community and global levels. On the strength of that conference, and the innovative power of common people, I founded CFED. John also counseled that, especially if the effort was fledgling, it was important to appear solid, and that a good logo was crucial; that logo, intended to show a third sector arising from the public and private and described as “copulating blue and green snakes” was later retired, but it did it’s job.

Rahim Kanani: Dig a little deeper into the current situation of low-income families and communities with respect to access to economic opportunity.

Robert Friedman: The twentieth century approach to reducing poverty, in the US and much of the developed world, focused on providing income supports (a safety net) and social services to needy people. It mitigated the pain and hunger of poverty, but often at the cost of undermining the self-esteem, aspirations and work of low-income people. The promise of the 21st Century is to build the ladder – to insure that every American (eventually, every citizen of the world) has a reasonable opportunity to go to college, start a business, buy and keep a home, and create a viable economic future for themselves and their families.

I believe that the vast majority of low-income and even very poor families have great strengths and productive capacity, and that the promise of America has always been that they would have a reasonable chance to earn their way in the world. We have proven over the past 30 years that having some savings provides “hope in concrete form,” and the confidence and wherewithal to move ahead. Most Americans, especially the poorer 60% of Americans lack the liquid savings to claim the future and move ahead.

Rahim Kanani: Looking ahead, paint a portrait of CFED’s activities and efforts 5 years from now.

Robert Friedman: I am generally optimistic, but I would probably have to admit that we will probably not have reached our goal of insuring that every American have a reasonable opportunity (and a few hundred or thousand dollars in savings) to unlock the American Dream of economic independence by then. I do hope, and think it is not unreasonable that as part of deficit reducing tax reform we will enact a refundable Saver’s Credit and savings platform which will provide a match to 50 million working families, a universal system of Child Savings Accounts, a reduction if not elimination of penalties in our income maintenance system for recipients who go to school, start businesses, save and work, and that we can increase recognition of the role of self-employed in entrepreneurship and job creation and ease their path forward.

But the work will have to go on to build the ladder. I expect we will have spawned several social enterprises by then – including but not limited to ROC USA which enables residents of mobile home parks to buy the land underneath them, and the 1:1 Fund that can match individual donors and low-income savers – which can yield revenues and impact simultaneously and enable us to fund and prove innovations before outside funders can see their merit. I hope that we will be able to speak to the common aspirations of this country, and show the potential of a savings-based investment in the genius of common Americans. I hope in my lifetime to see the America that Langston Hughes envisioned, “the America that never was yet still must be,” and the extension of real economic opportunity around the world.

Rahim Kanani is a writer, advocate, strategist and entrepreneur for global social change. His articles, opinions, and interviews with global leaders can be found at www.rahimkanani.com. Follow Rahim on Twitter @rahimkanani.

By Kim Pate on 09/02/2011 @ 11:30 AM

Tags: Events, Housing and Homeownership

EDITOR'S NOTE: This blog is a repost of a press release issued by the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement during their 10th Annual Native Hawaiian Convention last week.

Honolulu, Hawaii – Department of Hawaiian Home Lands Director and Hawaiian Homes Commission Chairman, Alapaki Nahale-a, spoke to a crowd of over 550 at the Annual Housing Luncheon Tuesday, August 23, 2011 at the 10th Annual Native Hawaiian Convention. The luncheon, hosted by Hawaiian Community Assets (HCA), brought community stakeholders, government agencies, and HCA project participants together to highlight stories of families that have been touched by HCA financial literacy and asset building services. Chairman Nahale-a applauded HCA’s success and highlighted the Hawaiian Homes Commission’s focus on working with its beneficiaries.

HCA Executive Director, Jeff Gilbreath, emphasized the importance of financial literacy skills for the entire ohana, including the youth, in order to grow and sustain economic self-sufficiency. “We’re at a place where every family member is being asked to contribute to the well being of the ohana,” said Gilbreath, “HCA’s place is to provide the education and tools so our next generation and the entire family can learn together and build strong healthy communities.” Mr. Gilbreath also shared the organization’s plans for the next year. HCA, in partnership with the Sovereign Councils for Hawaiian Home Lands Assembly (SCHHA), plans on deepening their youth financial literacy program, working specifically with youth residing in Hawaiian homestead communities.

Oweesta First Nations Corporation, a Native Community Development Fund Initiative (CDFI) also presented a check for $200,000 to the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement to continue its current energy program which provides grants or loans to eligible homestead beneficiaries to complete energy efficient retrofits. Poncho’s Solar Service was awarded the 2011 Native Hawaiian Housing Award for the company’s work to install solar water heaters in homestead communities.

The Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement (CNHA) is a national, member-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to capacity building and providing support services to agencies and organizations focused primarily on Native communities in Hawaii and the Pacific. Its mission is to enhance the well-being of Hawaii through the cultural, economic, and community development of Native Hawaiians. They are a strong voice on public policy in addition to operating a community loan fund, delivering capacity building and leadership development services, and promoting community-owned enterprises.

By Stephanie Halligan on 09/01/2011 @ 10:30 AM

Tags: Children's Savings Accounts, Matched Savings

A new report from the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce finds that a person’s earning power is increasingly linked to a college degree. The report, The College Payoff: Education, Occupations, Lifetime Earnings, analyzes lifetime earnings for all education levels and earnings by occupation, age, race/ethnicity, and gender. The report finds that those with a bachelor's degree now make on average 84 percent more over a lifetime than those with only a high school diploma.

Post-secondary education is a critical component of an individual’s economic security. We also know that assets and savings play a key role in increasing college success for low-income, first-generation students. Recent research shows that young adults with school savings as adolescents are approximately two times more likely to be in college or have earned a degree. Similarly, when children have a savings account in their name, they are seven times more likely to attend and complete college than similar youth who do not have an account. This is regardless of race or socioeconomic status.

Through initiatives like the Partnership for College Completion and partnerships with school districts and municipalities, CFED is dedicated to closing the college completion gap for low-income families by promoting the availability of children’s savings accounts. For more information on CFED’s current children’s savings account initiatives, please visit our Asset Building for Children Initiatives page.

By Kim Pate on 08/31/2011 @ 02:30 PM

Tags: Events

2011 Poverty Summit, September 18-19, 2011, Fort Worth, TX

Join the first annual national poverty summit bringing together national leaders, local experts, practitioners, volunteers, advocates, academics and others to advance the work that needs to be done to reduce poverty in America and in our world.

The Poverty Summit strives to:

• Inspire active participation in a national movement to reduce poverty in America.
• Re-imagine the way America addresses poverty.
• Strategically identify, design and implement innovative and measureable tactics towards the common goal of reducing poverty in America.

Register Today

Visit www.NationalPovertySummit.com to see the full schedule and register.

By Bill Schweke on 08/31/2011 @ 01:45 PM

Tags: Economic Development, Ideas in Development

Below is a copy of my commentary, Why Misguided ‘Common Knowledge’ Holds Back our Economic Recovery, which was featured on the front page of NC Policy Watch’s website yesterday. To read the article on the NC Policy Watch website, click here.

The American economic picture remains very grim. The recovery from the Great Recession can only be called “tepid” – especially on the job creation front. New cuts in government spending resulting from budget shortfalls are only making matters worse by eliminating more jobs in the short run.

At the same time, the nation is experiencing divided government – both electorally and philosophically – with little consensus on what should be done for the economy and jobs.

Given these facts, the parameters for action are quite narrow – particularly for those that wish to see public action to create significant job growth.

To break through this logjam will not be easy.

Whereas most Americans would have happily supported strong public action to create jobs a few decades ago, attitudes and perceptions of joblessness in the U.S. have shifted. Today, sadly, Americans are not as accommodating of serious government interventions to expand employment opportunities as they were a few decades ago.

Indeed, much of this economic pain and woe of the last few years has been self-inflicted, even unnecessary. The debt ceiling debate was the classic example. It did nothing about our most pressing problem – unemployment.

Unfortunately, several decades of well-funded conservative propaganda has taken its toll. Today, a collection of widely-held, conservative myths are at the root of these failures of understanding and action. (This is not to say that there aren’t economic myths on the left as well. Some people, for instance, still cling to the myth that government can solve all problems.)

Right now, however, it is not an overreliance on government that is at the heart of our problems; it is rather a series of conservative illusions about macroeconomics.

First and foremost, is the failure to comprehend the differences between household and public finance. For ordinary families, assets are good and liabilities are bad. This is an easy-to-grasp concept and it’s perhaps understandable that so many want to apply it directly to the public sphere. But it is a mistake to apply such an idea simplistically on a large scale.

At the national economy level, assets and liabilities simply reflect different ownership groups — bond sellers and buyers.

In other words, analogies can mislead. Household common sense is not always right. The world is often paradoxical.

Here’s another illusion – the notion that the widespread pursuit of “self-interest” always promotes the common good. In fact, collective failures in the marketplace frequently occur when individual households act “rationally” in the near term for the good of their family but ultimately, despite their good intentions, lower productivity or magnify inequities.

Think about household savers and home builders, for instance. When conditions lead to more saving and less buying, these events will only slow the economy further. At such points, the seemingly rational act of more household saving is akin to hoarding, not building a nest egg for the future.

And, of course, economy-wide failures, such as various “bubbles” abound. Stock buyers can get too excited and overreach, thereby sending stock values to unrealistic prices, or act, like an escaping herd, selling at the same time.

Pejorative wording and dogmatic doctrines can harm too. Too often, politicians and policy makers fall back on simplistic ideas they think sound good or bad – terms like “sound finance,” “gold standard,” “free enterprise,” “balanced budget,” “wasteful spending,” “budget deficit” and “property rights.”

The upshot of all this is that the American economy would be much better off if more leaders and citizens understood and promoted the pragmatic and flexible, but activist, prescriptions of the great economist John Maynard Keynes. Indeed, reliance upon a consistent Keynesian position on all these issues is more likely to promote economic health during periods of both deflation and inflation.

Though frequently blasted by those on the far right, Keynes was no leftist. He was very open to changing his mind and disagreed with many orthodox left ideas. In addition, Keynes wrote a great deal on probability and did not believe that economics could escape from risk. He would not be surprised by the recent financial crisis.

He would have also conceded that even if we act appropriately in the current situation by designing and executing a strong stimulus package, many key decisions (things like magnitude, timing, implementation/administration, the mix of tax and spending measures) will be more akin to an art than a science.

Ultimately, though, he would have agreed with one overriding fact: More must be tried to help the jobless and speed the recovery. Mere reliance upon hoary clichés and simplistic bits of “common knowledge” is a recipe for continued economic stagnation.

Use the comments section below to share your thoughts on this piece.

By Matthew Brian Hersh, Guest Contributor on 08/30/2011 @ 12:00 PM

Tags: Federal Policy, Housing and Homeownership

Contributor: Matthew Brian Hersh

This blog is a re-post from Rooflines, Matthew Brian Hersh’s blog published by the National Housing Institute. To add Rooflines to your RSS feed, click here.

Early in 2010, the Congressional Oversight Panel for the Troubled Asset Relief Program released a report indicating that half of the $1.4 trillion in short-term commercial real estate loans coming due in the next four years were underwater. Half.

What’s more, commercial real estate has devalued by 42 percent since 2007, according to Marcus Weiss, president of the Boston-based Economic Development Assistance Consortium, in his article published in the latest issue of Shelterforce.

Weiss, who is also a consultant to federal agencies, financial entities, foundations, CDFIs, and CDCs, writes in his article that private sector entrepreneurs and real estate developers “have been stunned” as banks have backtracked on commitments, and in some cases ignoring long-term relationships with successful borrowers. “Even government guarantees and subsidies haven’t been enough to bring the big banks back into the game,” Weiss writes, pointing to Wisconsin’s Housing and Economic Development Authority or WHEDA, an independent agency created by the state legislature:

“WHEDA provides capital for economic development through its small business guarantee and related programs. WHEDA regularly furnishes 80 percent loan guarantees and enhances projects with subordinated debt, a percentage of which (often 10 percent) frequently can be converted to equity or forgiven entirely. And yet, WHEDA’s participation doesn’t generally bring financing down to the 60 percent loan-to-value level that national banks have been demanding.”

The article quotes WHEDA’s director, Farshad Maltes, who says that national banks have virtually left the equation in WHEDA deals, leaving local CDCs and CDFIs to fill in the gap:

“CDCs and CDFIs have long played critical roles in targeting capital for commercial projects to underserved commercial areas, but now many CDCs and CDFIs have found themselves called upon to step into a wider range of deals to keep important economic development projects on track.”

Weiss goes on to list several examples, including those in Los Angeles and Milwaukee. And despite these positive advancements, the future is less than certain with the possibility of less foundation and federal money. Read more here.

Matthew Brian Hersh is Senior Editor at Shelterforce Magazing, the journal of affordable housing and community development published by the National Housing Institute.

By Sean Luechtefeld on 08/30/2011 @ 11:15 AM

Tags: Economic Inclusion, Financial Empowerment

Our partners at the San Francisco Office of Financial Empowerment sent us an announcement about Payday Plus SF, an alternative, low-interest payday loan. This is just one of many examples of how the San Francisco Office of Financial Empowerment is working to ensure Bay Area residents get to keep the money they work hard to earn.

The Office of Financial Empowerment has partnered with five credit unions to offer an alternative payday loan at interest rates far below what commercial payday lenders charge. Now clients can borrow up to $500 and pay it back over 6-12 months at a maximum APR of 18%.

Our aim is to reduce the practice of payday lending in San Francisco by offering a healthy alternative that will help payday loan customers get out of -or avoid -the debt trap. Payday lending, sometimes known as a cash advance, is a short-term, usually high interest loan that is intended to bridge the borrower's cash flow gap between pay periods. At for-profit payday lenders, interest rates can run as high as 400% APR - usually $15 per $100 borrowed. The majority of borrowers are unable to pay off their loan within the two-week loan term and there is often no option to pay the loan in installments. The typical payday customer will repay $793 on a $325 loan (Center for Responsible Lending). The volume of Payday Lending businesses in the United States is estimated at $28 billion a year, and has grown by over 100% in the past five years.

Payday Plus SF is available at Community Trust - a division of Self-Help Federal Credit Union, Northeast Community Federal Credit Union, Redwood Credit Union, San Francisco Federal Credit Union, Spectrum Federal Credit Union.

Clients can call 2-1-1 for more information.