E-Newsletter | October 2007
Dear Colleague,
Welcome to our latest www.Community-Wealth.org
e-newsletter. This quarter we bring you the following new
developments:
- Our report on Linking
Colleges to Community: Engaging the University for Community
Development (PDF 728KB) has just been published. Copies
of the report are still available for free download on line,
but if you wish to request a complimentary printed copy,
please
(If you wish to order multiple copies, we request
$10 per copy to defray our printing, shipping, and handling
costs).
- The ninth in our continuing series of profiles of Community
Wealth Cities: Miami, Florida.
- The fourth of our continuing series of conversations
with community wealth building leaders: Tony
Brown of the Uptown Consortium a Cincinnati, Ohio nonprofit
association that is bringing together the area's zoo,
nonprofit hospitals, and the city university to promote
community economic revitalization in Cincinnati's
“Uptown” district.
- We published an article in this fall's issue of
Yes!
Magazine (PDF 4.1MB) that profiles seven model community
wealth building efforts, including a community-owned shopping
center in San Diego; California's state pension fund;
a food co-op in North Carolina; a social enterprise in Seattle;
a community development corporation in Washington, D.C.;
a community land trust in Vermont; and an employee-owned
firm of 8,000 workers based in Delaware.
- And last, but not least, we continue to add postings
to our C-W
Blog, where we feature items about up-to-the-moment
developments, breaking stories, new legislation, and more.
If you see something we should announce or feature, please
let us know!
As always, we have added dozens of new links, articles, reports,
and other materials to the site. Look for this symbol
to find the most recent additions.
 Ted
Howard
Executive Director, The Democracy Collaborative
 The
University & Urban Revival
Spurred in part by an unprecedented crime wave in 1996 in
the neighborhoods surrounding the University of Pennsylvania,
the University's President, Judith Rodin, helped set
a new community engagement course in West Philadelphia. The
result is widely seen as a national model of constructive
town-gown interaction and partnership. Rodin's book
narrates the challenges, frustrations, and successes of Penn's
campaign, and its prospects for long-term change and community
benefit. For more information or to purchase a copy for your
bookshelf, visit
www.upenn.edu.
 Asset
Policy Advocacy Group Releases Annual State Scorecard
CFED (formerly the Corporation for Enterprise Development)
released its annual Assets and Opportunity Scorecard last
month, which ranks the 50 states and the District of Columbia
on performance in 69 outcome and policy measures. The state-level
data highlight areas where individuals and families excel
or lag in building a sound financial foundation. The Scorecard
also describes what each state government is or is not doing
to further foster opportunities for its citizens to own and
keep assets, with a focus on five policy areas: Education,
Homeownership, Health Care, Business Development and Financial
Security.
report-cfed.pdf
(1.2MB)
 Burlington,
Vermont Rolls Out Publicly Owned Broadband System
As a recent publication from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance
details, since 2002 the city of Burlington, Vermont has been
gradually rolling out a high-speed, publicly-owned broadband
network. As of August 2007, the city's network had 1,800
subscribers and is adding 40 more every week, with 30 percent
of connected houses subscribing. By early 2008, it is anticipated
that all Burlington citizens will have access to the network
and the subscriber base is projected to exceed 5,000 homes.
paper-mitchell.pdf
(1.2MB)
 State
Pension Fund Economically Targeted Investments (ETIs) Come
of Age
According to an article in Community Development Investment
Review, a publication of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco,
state targeting of pension fund money to invest “in
urban revitalization, emerging domestic markets, or, more
broadly, economic development … seems to be picking
up.” Central to the success of the new ETIs is the growth
of intermediary organizations that accept pension fund money
and re-invest those dollars to meet community development
goals. By placing pension investments in these intermediaries,
trustees are able to access the expertise they need to earn
sound economic returns, while avoiding the political pressures
they would face if they were making individual investment
placement decisions.
article-hagerman-et-al.pdf
(364KB)
 Will
Community Land Trusts Join the Mainstream?
As affordable-housing advocate Tim McKenzie details in the
Fall 2007 issue of Shelterforce, the cost effectiveness of
traditional downpayment subsidy programs pales when compared
to programs that place families in community land trusts or
other forms of shared equity housing in which buyers ”agree
to pass the same deal they get - i.e., an affordable purchase
price … on to other eligible homebuyers.” Yet,
in a provocative essay, McKenzie cautions that this advantage
might not be enough. “[M]ost housing advocates, policymakers,
and funders still regard [shared equity] programs, their projects,
and the ownership structures they use as ‘models,'”
McKenzie writes. Getting beyond the model stage is critical,
McKenzie argues, for shared equity housing to truly become
a mainstream option.
article-mckenzie.pdf
(196KB)
Foundations
Pledge $100 Million for Detroit “New Economy”
Initiative
Detroit News columnist Daniel Howes reports that a group of
ten foundations have announced the formation of a $100 million
“New Economy” fund to assist Detroit to rebuild
its economy in the wake of the continued shrinkage of Big
Three automakers and associated parts suppliers. To support
the fund, the Ford, Kresge, and Kellogg foundations have each
pledged $25 million, which is matched with an additional $25
million raised from seven local foundations. How the money
will be spent, however, still needs to be worked out. As Howe
puts it, at this point, “They are stepping into the
breach with their own cash and big ideas but few specifics.”
article-howes.pdf
(100KB)
 City
of San Jose Invests in Local Business
If you can't fight City Hall, can you get it to provide
you equity capital? If you operate a business in San Jose,
California, like Matt Pitchon of Bentek (pictured left), the
answer may be “yes,” provided you pay decent wages
and bring employment opportunities to low-income areas. According
to Jeff Ruster, deputy director for economic development for
San Jose, the city shifted earlier this year from making loans
and grants to local companies “to investments that bring
the disciplines and rigors of venture capital to a business
and require a financial return as well as a social return
in terms of expanded employment and good wages and benefits.”
article-flanigan07.pdf
(484KB)
Nonprofit-Owned
St. Petersburg Times Eyed as Media Model
Many city daily papers were sold off years ago to out-of-town
buyers. But Florida's St. Petersburg Times, with a daily
circulation of over 300,000, not only remains independent
and local, but also provides an intriguing model of nonprofit
social enterprise. Nelson Poynter, former owner of the paper,
bequeathed ownership when he died in 1978 to a nonprofit educational
organization (now called the Poynter Institute), which has
run the paper ever since. As a New York Times writer noted,
“For newspaper publishing — an industry awash
in uncertainty as it tries to adapt to the Internet —
The St. Petersburg Times offers one possible model for salvaging
enterprises that must, as all businesses do, respond to financial
reality.”
article-krauss.pdf
(720KB)
 CEOs
for Cities Highlights Role of Anchor Institutions in Urban
Development
In a paper commissioned by CEOs for Cities, David Maurrasse
of Marga, Inc. examines the critical role played by “sticky
capital” or “anchor institutions” in community
development. Maurrasse uses a broad definition of anchor institutions
to encompass universities, community colleges, museums, libraries,
municipal enterprises, hospitals, parks, performing arts centers,
and sports arenas. The report contains case studies of current
efforts, while also laying out a number of areas for future
research and policy development.
paper-maurasse.pdf
(820KB)
Foundation
Highlights Growth of University “Engagement” Movement
The 2007 Education issue of the Wingspread Journal, published
by the Johnson Foundation of Racine, Wisconsin, contains a
range of essays that both assess the current stage of community-campus
partnership efforts and their future potential. Contributors
include national organization leaders, community leaders in
Tallahassee and Miami, and local university leaders at Johnson
C. Smith (Charlotte), Penn, and the Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
report-dower.pdf
(2.3MB)
C-W.ORG INTERVIEWS WITH COMMUNITY
BUILDERS: |
 Tony
Brown, President/CEO, Uptown Consortium, Cincinnati, OH
Founded in 2003 as an alliance of the University of Cincinnati,
three nonprofit health care organizations, and the city zoo,
the Uptown Consortium has employed a mixed-use (commercial,
retail, and residential) approach to community development
in the Uptown neighborhoods where the anchors are located.
To date, the University of Cincinnati alone has allocated
$100 million from its $1 billion endowment to support the
effort, helping leverage over $400 million for community revitalization
work.
interview-brown.pdf
(164KB)
 C-W
City, Fall 2007: Miami, FL
(ninth in our continuing series of city profiles)
Widely regarded as the gateway city to Latin America for trade
and business, Miami nonetheless suffers from some unique challenges;
in stark contrast with neighboring Miami Beach, the city of
Miami ranked as the nation's fifth poorest city; more
than 60 percent of its population is foreign born. These challenges,
however, have led to many innovative community-wealth building
efforts. For instance, the Prosperity Campaign, an earned
income tax credit outreach effort led by the Human Services
Coalition of Dade County generated an additional $62 million
in EITC refunds in its first year. The group estimates that
these refunds helped generate $250 million in new spending
for the local economy.
 National
Vacant Properties Coalition Conference Sets Attendance Record
Close to 650 people from around the country came together
in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on September 24 and 25 to share
their experiences and strategies for combating vacant properties
and building wealth in their communities. The National Vacant
Properties Campaign is a joint program of Smart Growth America,
the Local Initiatives Support Corporation, and the Metropolitan
Institute at Virginia Tech. The Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland
provided planning support for the conference.
article-nvpc.pdf
(416KB)
 diversitydata.org
Sponsored by the Harvard School of Public Health and supported
by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the DiversityData project
provides metropolitan-area level data regarding a number of
indicators of diversity, opportunity, quality of life and
health for various racial and ethnic population groups. The
indicators provide a scorecard on diversity and opportunity,
and allow researchers, policymakers and community advocates
to compare metro areas and to help them advocate for policy
action and social change.
www.diversitydata.org
 inclusivehousing.info
Organized by the Kulshan Community Land Trust of Bellingham,
Washington, inclusivehousing.info includes a wide range of
press clippings on affordable housing, links to inclusionary
housing resource groups, and links to a sampling of inclusionary
zoning ordinances in effect across the country.
www.inclusivehousing.info
 PolicyLink
Founded in 1999, PolicyLink is a national nonprofit research,
media, capacity building, and advocacy group that seeks to
bridge the traditional divide between local communities and
policymaking. PolicyLink aims to center what it labels its
“regional equity” approach on four principles:
the integration of people and place; reduction of local and
regional disparities; promotion of “double bottom line”
investments; and ensuring meaningful voice, participation,
and leadership from community members.
www.policylink.org
 University
Park Alliance
Established in 2001, the University Park Alliance is an anchor
institution-based community partnership that has focused its
efforts on a 40-block area surrounding the University of Akron.
Alliance members include the University of Akron, City of
Akron, Summa Health System, Akron Metropolitan Housing Authority,
Akron Public Schools, Akron Beacon Journal, the Greater Akron
Chamber, and the University Park Development Corporation.
A 2001 Knight Foundation grant of $3 million is credited with
leveraging more than $150 million in public and private investments
in University Park. Knight has since pledged an additional
$10 million to support the Alliance's further development.
www.upakron.com
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