In March of this year, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) released its Territorial Review of the Chicago Tri-State Metro Region.1 The first time a U.S. region has been reviewed by the OECD, the findings gave perspective to challenges familiar to the region's leaders and residents. The Review area includes 21 counties stretching from Wisconsin into Indiana (M... Read More
Chicago Fed President Charles Evans recently delivered the keynote address at the Lakeshore Chamber of Commerce 8th Annual Business Expo and Luncheon in Hammond, Indiana. The audience included more than 300 local chamber members, mayors of several Northwest Indiana cities, businessmen, academics and local residents. President Evans and several of the Fed's senior staff also toured projec... Read More
The Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund of the U.S. Department of the Treasury recently announced the largest set of awards in total to CDFIs in its history—over $185 million to 210 organizations in more than 40 states and the District of Columbia. Through the CDFI Program's Financial Assistance, Technical Assistance, and Native American CDFI Assistance (NAC... Read More
On Tuesday, July 24, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago's CDPS division took a bus tour with LISC New Communities Program director Chris Brown to several projects under the New Communities Program. The tour started in South Chicago, moved into Englewood, and ended in Woodlawn. The group toured a private residential home, viewed two affordable housing complexes, an assisted living communi... Read More
Community-based lenders and other nonbank entities saw a steep rise in demand when bank lending to small businesses dropped by more than 50% between 2007 and 2010.1 A recent article in ProfitWise News and Views, “Small Business Credit: Alternative Resources Bridging the Gap,” reviews some current trends in demand for credit at nonbank lenders and profiles some of the resources available ... Read More
While the main purpose of our blog is to promote new projects and research we in CDPS are working on at all stages, we also want to highlight existing community development resources on our website, such as the Chicago Fed Income-Based Economic Index (IBEX), which may be of value to our readers. The Chicago Fed IBEX is a set of indicators intended to help understan... Read More
Fort Wayne, Indiana, is the county seat of Allen County. Located less than 20 miles west of Ohio border and 50 miles south of the Michigan border, Fort Wayne is the second largest city in Indiana after Indianapolis. Work Force and Labor Development Fort Wayne experienced a significant economic impact with the departure of Navistar International (formerly International Harv... Read More
At the Industrial Cities Initiative (ICI) Symposium in Chicago on February 28, 2012, participants expressed an interest in more comparative analysis of similar cities on a broader geographic basis. An upcoming audio conference titled, “Smaller Cities that Think Big: Lessons from Resurgent and Transforming Cities,” may help address that interest. The Community Development Departmen... Read More
Background Grand Rapids, the county seat of Kent County, is located in western Michigan. Grand Rapids is the center of a metropolitan statistical area that includes Kent, Ottawa, Muskegon, and Allegan counties. History Grand Rapids was incorporated in 18501 and, at that time, the city had a main furniture factory and many smaller furniture factories. Wood furnitu... Read More
The Industrial Cities Initiative Symposium was held at the Chicago Fed on Tuesday, February 28, 2012. All 10 of the ICI subject cities-Cedar Rapids, IA, Waterloo, IA, Aurora, IL, Joliet, IL, Fort Wayne, IN, Gary, IN, Grand Rapids, MI, Pontiac, MI, Green Bay, WI, and Racine, WI— have a profile posted on the blog site. The views expressed in this post are our own an... Read More
