A few months ago, we featured a story about how the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has created a $100 million impact investing initiative redirecting funds into investment products that will not only provide monetary return, but support affordable housing, small businesses, infrastructure projects, and health and educational facilities. New York City, Washington, D.C. and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts all have similar initiatives, albeit at different scales. Read More

Today, young and talented professionals are moving to urban areas to take advantage of the job opportunities that exist. They’re investing in urban real estate and neighborhood commercial corridors are coming back to life. Yet, the opportunity available in cities today looks dramatically different than it did in the 1960s and 70s, when inner city crime was rampant, racial tensions were high and poverty was on the rise. Read More

Linking inner city businesses to strong regional clusters. Engaging anchor institutions to create shared value. Connecting inner city companies to appropriate growth capital and contracting opportunities. Supporting management education and strengthening business networks. At ICIC, we talk at length about these drivers of inner city economic development as strategies crucial for ... Read More

Through more than two decades of research and practice, ICIC has recognized the importance of small businesses in growing urban economies, revitalizing inner city neighborhoods and creating jobs and wealth for inner city residents. Encouragingly, small businesses continue to grow and hire new employees across the U.S. Read More

During his election campaign, President Donald Trump promised the American people he’d slash federal spending and roll back duplicative programs. So when his administration released its proposed 2018 budget last month, it came as no surprise that cuts had been made. But it was the extent of those cuts – and the programs affected by those cuts – that sent shockwaves through the nation. Read More