Search Results
Journal Article
Engines of growth: why low-income communities need small business
Small businesses and microenterprises have an important role to play in low- and moderate-income communities. Often they are the engines of growth in these neighborhoods.
Journal Article
The New Markets Tax Credit Program: will it live up to its potential?
Because many small businesses in isolated inner-city or rural locations are cut off from mainstream capital networks, a new conduit for channeling equity capital is needed?patient capital that can be used to grow a business and manage risks in less diversified economies. Many believe the New Markets Tax Credit Program, which aims to stimulate $15 billion in private equity investment in low-income communities, can provide such a conduit. While the program has many strengths, it is still too early to tell whether it will live up to its promise because the initial investments are just beginning ...
Journal Article
Exploring Appalachia: burgeoning region uses eco-heritage tourism as a tool for economic development
Although the onset of the economic slowdown sparked a slight decline in tourism in Ohio during 1999-2000, the industry's growth potential in the state and nationwide remains substantial.
Journal Article
Strategies for banking the unbanked: are they working?
Banks are looking at new approaches to serving the unbanked, but many barriers exist. KeyBank is a pioneer in offering banking services to the unbanked.
Journal Article
Bridging the economic divide: Cincinnati's crisis presents new opportunities
This issue of CR Forum is a special edition highlighting one Fourth District city: Cincinnati, Ohio, and the civil unrest experienced there this year.
Journal Article
Policy summit keeps spotlight on poverty
There are no simple answers to the persistent problem of poverty. But keeping a spotlight on the issue is critical to moving toward solutions. To that end, the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland examined the challenges of concentrated poverty at its annual community development policy summit in June 2006.
Journal Article
Fourth District community affairs outlook: regional legacy paves the way for new initiatives
The Fourth District faced a number of economic challenges in 2001, including a national economic recession, a downturn in manufacturing, and the aftershocks of September 11. Today, many of our local economies are under pressure to transform their older industrial and agricultural roots with new economic engines.
Journal Article
The Community Reinvestment Act: a growing tool for brownfield redevelopment
It is no accident that financial institutions in the Fourth Federal Reserve District are taking a more active role in financing the redevelopment of former industrial sites, known as brownfields. Increasing demand for vacant urban land, high suburban real estate costs, concerns about sprawl, and private-market incentives are encouraging greater financial institution participation in brownfield developments. Until recently, government-funded programs drove brownfield redevelopment. That changed in 1995, when the Community Reinvestment Act was overhauled, transforming the way financial ...
Journal Article
Leadership: the unifying force behind community development
Leadership is one of the most widely covered topics of our day. This is especially true in the world of community development, where our leaders successfully pull resources and people together to help shape the future for underserved neighborhoods.
Journal Article
Investing in our communities: \\"new markets\\" programs offer financial incentives to encourage investment
Late last year Congress produced two pieces of legislation focusing on economic development in low-income communities. Both aim to encourage investment in America's economically distressed communities.