In places where labor markets are tight, many policymakers and economic development practitioners are increasingly focused on growing the workforce and improving access to opportunities for populations that have long faced barriers to economic inclusion. In this post, we take a closer look at one place with very little slack in the labor market, Des Moines, Iowa. The data suggest linkages between... Read More

CDFIs (Community Development Finance Institutions) are private, mission driven financing entities that provide capital to low-income, low-wealth, and other disadvantaged people and communities. Their mission compels them to serve customers who cannot meet conventional underwriting requirements by providing innovative, targeted financial products complemented by development and/or technical assis... Read More

Community Development and Policy Studies (CDPS) recently welcomed three new economists to the Policy Studies team: Nathan Anderson, Jonathan Lanning, and Jung Sakong. The growing team, led by Jane Dokko, expands the Fed's research on promoting the economic resilience and mobility of low- and moderate-income households and communities. The economists bring diverse experiences, as well as a shared ... Read More

The recent Cleveland Fed Policy Summit focused on “Connecting People and Places to Opportunity.” This blog summarizes key points made during a panel entitled Inclusive Economic Growth: Tools for Smaller Communities, featuring Alkeyna Aldridge from the city of South Bend, Indiana;1 Alisa Costa from Pittsfield, Massachusetts,2 and Dedrick Asante-Muhammed from the NCRC.3 The discussion demonstra... Read More

The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago's Community Development Division regularly holds economic development forums around the Seventh District that provide both a general economic overview and focus on topics of interest to stakeholders. On May 23, the topic was “Updates on the Midwest Economy & What Bankers Need to Know Regarding Recent Fair Lending Discrimination Settlements.” Updates on the... Read More

Neighborhoods can profoundly impact an individual's health1, quality of life2, and prospects for upward economic mobility3. Generally speaking, access to economic opportunity is not evenly distributed4, thus making opportunity-rich neighborhoods often prohibitively expensive for low- and moderate-income (LMI) households. Programs that aim to protect access to affordable housing in high opportun... Read More

Thank you to the over 900 businesses across Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan and Wisconsin1 that participated in the latest round of the nationwide Small Business Credit Survey (SBCS).2 Your participation provided fresh information about the economic trends affecting small businesses in the area served by the Federal Reserve Seventh District. While only the second year that the survey has bee... Read More

The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System ("Board") has issued CA 19-11 to inform financial institutions that it recently considered the requirements of the Department of the Treasury's New Markets Tax Credit ("NMTC") Program2 and determined that a NMTC-eligible investment, directly or indirectly, as defined by Section 45D(c)(1) of the IRS Code, fits within the meaning of the Public ... Read More

The Federal Reserve Board of Governors (the Board) announced on April 5, 2019 that it is accepting applications from individuals for membership on the Community Advisory Council (CAC). Community Development and Policies Studies, a division of the Economic Research Department of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, is working with the Board to source candidates for the CAC from the 7th District, w... Read More

Juan Salgado, Chancellor of the City Colleges of Chicago, will be the closing keynote speaker at the May 2019 Federal Reserve System Community Development Research conference. The theme of this year's conference is “Renewing the Promise of the Middle Class.” Recently, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago staff, Susan Longworth and Mike Berry met with Chancellor Salgado to discuss what the theme mea... Read More