Stories

Economic Development

  • Protect the Community Reinvestment Act

    UPDATE: The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation have extended the deadline for public comment to April 8.

    The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation are proposing drastic changes to Community Reinvestment Act regulations that would weaken CRA’s ability to target...

    Durham, NC, redlining map
  • Charging into 2020 with Momentum

    Everyone who seeks to advance social and economic justice in the South is gearing up for a monumental year. Major elections and the census will determine government policies and resource allocations for years to come. Advocates will spend much of the year educating their communities about the importance of both. Achieving representative levels of participation will strain organizations’ time...

    Southerners on New Ground
  • Community Economic Development in South Carolina: Our History, Our Progress, Our Future

    In 1994, the South Carolina Association of Community Development Corporations was established by four local community development corporations to advance the interests of their industry. But the state’s community economic development industry truly got its start when residents rallied to help each other rebuild after devastation. The organization has since renamed itself South Carolina...

    Bernie Mazyck
  • Community Economic Development is Social Justice at Work

    All too often, economic development excludes community members from the decisions affecting where they live, strains local resources and siphons financial returns to outside developers with no accountability to the community. There is a better way, one that provides communities with the infrastructure and support they need to access capital, address their needs, grow thriving businesses, build...

  • Creating new opportunity for communities with innovative lending

    This article originally appeared as a blog post by Virginia Community Capital.

    In 2016, Fahe, a regional Network, financial intermediary, and CDFI, received $50 million in loan awards from the USDA Community Facilities Relending Program to pursue its mission: ending persistent poverty in Appalachia. Among its numerous initiatives, Fahe sought to build several...

    Fahe