Fall 2011
Complete Issue

Contents

• Start-up Firms in the Financial Crisis
  by Catherine L. Mann, Brandeis University
  A professor of global finance at Brandeis University's International Business School finds that different kinds of start-ups are funded differently at inception.
• Credit Crisis Squeezes Car Buyers
  by Debby Miller, More Than Wheels
  A new partnership between a nonprofit and the banking sector is helping people who have poor credit get financial education, repair their financial standing, and buy a decent car.
• Interview with Karen Mills
  by Michael Gurau, Clear Venture Partners
  The U.S. Small Business Administration's Karen Mills tells the interviewer how her agency's latest initiatives are helping lower-income communities.
• Who Buys Lottery Tickets?
  by Brent Kramer
  The author finds that lotteries in New England, as elsewhere, often make their money off
  residents least likely to have extra resources to spend.
• Mapping New England: Single-Parent Households
  by Robert Clifford, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston
  In New England, most single-parent households are headed by women, but the latest data reveal that the proportion of single-father households tends to increase in rural counties.
• The Role of Community Banks in Small Business Lending
  by DeAnna Green, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston
  Several new reports suggest that New England community banks have been doing more small business lending lately than bigger institutions.
• Compassion for Young Fathers
  The Fathers Support Service at Catholic Charities North
  Bennie Ashley Jr. coordinates a Lynn, Massachusetts, program that helps fathers be more involved in their children's lives. With volunteer David Babb, he explains the need and the approach.
• Giving At-Risk Youth a Chance
  by John Ward, Roca
  Roca, based in Chelsea, Massachusetts, helps urban youth cope with the challenges of entering adulthood. Its intervention model involves never giving up on any young person.
• New-Business Creation in Rural New England
  by Henry Renski, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
  Promoting entrepreneurship in rural areas may be more cost-effective than traditional business attraction efforts and more likely to reduce dependency on a few dominant employers.
• Economic Insecurity: The Downward Spiral of the Middle Class
  by Jacob S. Hacker, Yale University
  The recent downturn has highlighted the increasing risk confronted by both poor and middleclass Americans of tumbling down the economic ladder without an adequate safety net.
• Civic Organizing Through Questions
  by Ceasar McDowell and Vanessa Otero
  Groups focused on public engagement usually frame the questions for residents to answer. But having community members ask their own questions can tap a deeper grassroots energy.

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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