Analysis and points of view on research, trends, issues, ideas and opportunities.
Aspiring small business owners in Baltimore are gaining a powerful new ally, right in the heart of downtown. Baltimore Community Lending (BCL) will launch its new headquarters and Business Development & Resource Center (BD&RC) on June 18, 2025. The new facilities at 301 N Calvert St. reflect BCL’s recent expansion of its mission to revitalize […]
An analysis of how the “One Big Beautiful Bill” House reconciliation package extending Trump tax cuts will affect low-income communities and community development.
NCRC member organization United South Broadway Corporation (USBC) is a shining example of what it looks like when an organization tackles a problem holistically. The community development corporation was created to help low-income community members purchase homes in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Since then, it has grown statewide, establishing community programs that have changed the outcomes
United South Broadway Corporation: A Holistic Model of Community Development Read More »
In most American communities, one will see sleek, newly constructed luxury apartments, a variety of trendy eateries, carefully manicured shrubbery and the new well-to-do residents seemingly without a care in the world on one block. Then, one will see the bleak, dilapidated buildings, gaudy fast-food restaurants, tree-barren landscapes and the established residents that are struggling
For over half a century, Tierra del Sol Housing Corporation has been a trailblazer in the community development sphere, providing single and multi-family housing to farmworkers, seniors and lower-income individuals across rural New Mexico. For most of those years, executive director Rose Garcia has been at the heart and helm of the organization. A Latina
NCRC Member Advances Housing Accessibility And Sustainability In Rural New Mexico Read More »
Analysis of Topline Figures in the May BLS Report The economy added 177,000 jobs in April while the unemployment rate remained at 4.2%. The February and March job gains were revised down by 15,000 and 43,000, respectively. The April job gains came primarily in the healthcare and education (+58,000), transportation and warehousing (+29,000), and leisure
The Trump Administration’s fiscal plan for 2026, also known as the president’s “skinny budget,” proposes severe cuts to many programs that Americans rely on. The following cuts may have a significant impact for NCRC members: Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Under the skinny budget, HUD will see a 46% cut in funding, including
Dissecting the 2026 Skinny Budget: A Closer Look at Cuts to Economic and Equity Programs Read More »
In today’s rapidly evolving labor market, many Americans need support navigating the complex education and training options that help them build the necessary skills for a changing world. These varied pathways – from credentialing programs and apprenticeships to on-the-job training – are collectively known as workforce development. Workforce development is not just a policy buzzword,
The Colorado General Assembly has recently introduced a bill that would protect small businesses from dubious credit card swipe fees that are cutting into their profits. The Swipe Fee Fairness and Consumer Safeguards Act seeks to level the playing field for small businesses by putting an end to the practices that allow swipe fees to
Swiped Away: How Rising Credit Card Fees Are Affecting Colorado’s Small Businesses Read More »
The Trump Administration’s trade war continues to roil both the financial markets and key economic indicators, such as consumer sentiment. The anxiety around the market has even spread to the US Treasury market, where the damage could cause borrowing costs for households to rise, especially for home mortgages. A bond is essentially a loan, either
How Tariffs Drive Up Mortgage Costs and Undermine Homeownership Read More »
Social movements have been a crucial part of every major political shift in modern history. However, in between moments of upheaval, having structures in place that can survive the whims of both politics and market forces is incredibly important in continuing the momentum of those movements for societal change. During the Civil Rights Movement, activists
How Community Land Trusts Create Lasting Change Read More »
In 2002, Adrienne Farrar Houël returned to the United States after a successful 25-year career in international marketing and real estate development in France, Russia and Ireland “to retire,” she said, laughing at the obvious contradiction. For the past two decades, Farrar Houël and her colleagues at Greater Bridgeport Community Enterprises have been anything but
Cultivating a Green Workforce in Bridgeport Read More »
When someone spends a dollar, where does it go? The answer depends entirely on who they spent it with. If you bought something from a business, does that business buy its supplies locally or from somewhere else? When the business owner takes your money home with them, are they going around their corner to their
Black Developers Collective Aims to Keep the Black Dollar in the Community Read More »
Every April, Fair Housing Month gives us the chance to reflect on both the progress we’ve made as a country toward realizing housing equity and the challenges that remain. Discrimination in housing has not disappeared and, in many ways, it has simply changed form. That is why the tools NCRC uses to identify and address
Fair Housing Month Spotlight: Fighting Back with Testing and Local Action Read More »
Dreaming Big in Our Own Backyards: Bold, Local Action in a Hostile Federal Environment At The 2025 Just Economy Conference; a conversation about systemic racism and structural inequality and how communities can take their power back. Speakers: Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, Pulitzer Prize Finalist; Hughes-Rogers Professor of African American Studies at Princeton University Dr. Tiffany Crutcher, Executive
Dreaming Big in Our Own Backyards At The 2025 Just Economy Conference Read More »
