Last month Northeastern University announced it was committing $2.5 million in seed funding for a newly created “Impact Lending” program, offered in conjunction with LISC Boston. The seed money will capitalize a $6.5 million revolving loan fund (RLF), and the RLF will enable LISC to provide $1,000 to $1 million loans to women- and minority-owned small businesses located in or around Northeastern University. Read More

The U.S. Census Bureau has released its first-ever Annual Survey of Entrepreneurs (ASE). Approximately 290,000 employer businesses across all U.S. geographies and demographics participated in the survey during 2014. The results reveal that significant gaps in access to capital still remain. Read More

Small businesses are the backbone of urban economies: They play a critical role in creating jobs for local residents. Yet too often city leaders and economic developers are not prioritizing small businesses when allocating resources to drive growth, focusing their strategies instead on the attraction and retention of large businesses. Read More

Forge Columbus has been dubbed “the civic innovation program of the city of Columbus.” It’s not solely a business incubator or coworking space (though, those are also components), rather instead, Forge Columbus broadly leverages civic innovation as a catalyst to strengthen Columbus into a vibrant, competitive 21^st century city. Read More

What can Boston do to address rising income inequality and increase economic opportunities for its inner city residents? One potential solution may come from increasing leverage of the Fairmount Indigo Line, a nine-mile commuter transit line that runs through Roxbury, Dorchester, Mattapan and Hyde Park. Read More