Spring 2009

Complete Issue

Contents (each article available in PDF)

• Building Sustainable Communities
  by Joe Vaughan, Local Initiatives Support Corporation
  Local Initiatives Support Corporation and two nonprofits are launching a new concept in Rhode Island. Through its Sustainable Communities program, LISC will assist the organizations in conducting resident-led planning to ensure buy-in for improvements in targeted neighborhoods.
• Using Financial Innovation to Support Savers
  by Peter Tufano, Harvard Business School, and Daniel Schneider, Princeton University
  The simplest ideas for helping Americans save may be the most powerful. One process innovation would allow workers once again to purchase U.S. Savings Bonds on their tax returns. An example of a product innovation is a savings account tied to winning a prize.
• MicroCredit-NH Boosts North Country Economy
  by Tara Bishop, New Hampshire Community Loan Fund
  Mill closings in New Hampshire's northernmost county spurred local leaders and MicroCredit-NH to improve self-employment opportunities by offering hands-on training. The Coös County Entrepreneurial Program's success is now creating increased demand.
• Microfinance in Good Times and Bad
  by Gina Harman and Matthew Royles, ACCION USA
  With banks still facing challenges, alternative sources of credit are likely to play an increasingly important role in financing small businesses. The authors describe what ACCION USA has learned as its approach to microlending has evolved.
• A Nonprofit Chooses a Path to Expansion
  by Margaret Boasberg and Barbara Christiansen, The Bridgespan Group
  Successful nonprofits often wonder whether to grow and, if so, how. In 2006, the Massachusetts-based MY TURN began an in-depth self-assessment as part of a strategizing process that may be instructive for other organizations.
• Immigrant Experience: The Relation between Skin Color and Pay
  by Joni Hersch, Vanderbilt University
  There is considerable evidence of discriminatory treatment of immigrants in employment and access to housing, and the author’s research suggests that factors such as height and darkness of skin may influence how immigrants are treated.
• Mapping New England: Foreclosure Prevention Event
  by Kai-yan Lee, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston
  Two maps show where many of the holders of troubled mortgages who attended the first foreclosure prevention workshop of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston came from.
• Making Affordable Housing Greener
  by Edward F. Connelly and Jessica Miller, New Ecology Inc.
  With a beneficial focus on up-front planning, green building has moved from the fringes to the mainstream. Studies are finding no statistically significant difference between the costs of green construction and traditional building-and operational savings are significant.
• College Readiness: Massachusetts Compiles the Data
  by Carrie Conaway, Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
  A new database that collects information on Massachusetts public high school graduates who enroll in Massachusetts public postsecondary institutions has become a powerful tool for policymaking and for helping students move successfully from high school to college.

Articles may be reprinted if Communities & Banking and the author are credited and the following disclaimer is used: "The views expressed are not necessarily those of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston or the Federal Reserve System. Information about organizations and upcoming events is strictly informational and not an endorsement."

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