Written by Ted Archer, JPMorgan Chase and Kim Zeuli, ICIC As part of its Small Business Forward initiative, JPMorgan Chase supports women, minority and veteran-owned small businesses by investing in a dynamic cohort of entrepreneurial support organizations (ESOs). In its first four years, Small Business Forward has partnered with 19 ESOs ... Read More

To address the critical gap in support for minority and women entrepreneurs, and catalyze a national conversation around inclusive economic growth, JPMorgan Chase has expanded their Small Business Forward initiative with a multi-year commitment of $150 million to support women-, minority- and veteran-owned small businesses with greater access to capital, technical support and guidance. Read More

The use of liquor licenses as an economic development tool is a comparatively recent consideration among practitioners and policymakers, driven by an increased focus on equitable economic growth and growing recognition of antiquated public policies that underlie licenses’ distribution in many cities. In roughly half of US states, liquor license distribution is controlled or capped at the state-level. Read More

Among its devastating effects, Hurricane Katrina had a destructive impact on regional employment. The storm, and its aftermath, eliminated more than 190,000 jobs in New Orleans alone. In the months following the disaster, employment rolls fell precipitously and remained stubbornly low, even as investment in the city began to increase. Now, over 10 years later, the New Orleans economy is bouncing back, and a focus on clusters and entrepreneurship are some of the major drivers of the city’s post-Katrina growth. Read More

America may be prosperous but it is not inclusive. On the one hand, the nation and its cities and metro areas are still recovering from the economic trauma of the Great Recession: Economic output is up and unemployment is down. But on the other hand, the gains from that economic recovery are disproportionately concentrated among a relatively small number of advantaged groups and advantaged places. Inclusive prosperity has proven distressingly elusive; wide swaths of cities and metros and large groups of people have missed out on the economic rebound. Read More