Dear Colleague,
Since we launched Community-Wealth.org last month, we have already added many new links, documents, and other relevant materials. Now and in the future, just look for this symbol *NEW* to find our most recent additions.
I particularly want to call your attention to one new feature: “New Directions in State & Local Policy” which showcases a broad range of wealth-building policy innovations and interventions from all over the country, including state-level “millionaires' taxes,” living wage campaigns, and community benefit agreements.
We've been gratified by the initial response to our first newsletter and to C-W.org. Thanks to all of you who have submitted material (much of which we have already posted) to help us expand our web site and to increase its usefulness as a tool for community wealth-builders.
Ted Howard
Executive Director, The Democracy Collaborative
NEW & RECOMMENDED:
When Employees Have Equity Attitude (book excerpt)
Employee attitudes at ESOP companies run something like this: “This is our company, and we will do whatever is necessary to help it succeed.” It's that can-do attitude that makes employee ownership not only good for morale, but good for business, say the authors ofEquity: Why Employee Ownership is Good for Business, a new book published by the Harvard Business School Press.
A University Helps to
Rebuild a Neighborhood (PDF 640KB)
Clark University in Worcester, MA had a choice: It could turn its geographic focus toward Park Avenue, expanding its campus westward toward Worcester's more prosperous neighborhoods, or it could continue to invest its future in the distressed Main South community. It chose the latter…
Prosperity Campaign (PDF 204KB)
Hillsborough and Pinellas Counties in Florida have launched a “Prosperity Campaign.” The goal: assisting thousands of low- and moderate-income working families to claim more than $10 million in Earned Income Tax and Child Tax Credits. The Prosperity Campaign is also active in other Florida Counties.
IN THE NEWS:
ISPs Attempt to Stop Public Broadband (PDF 50KB)
When tiny north Kansas City, Missouri, announced that it planned to offer affordable high-speed Internet access much the way it does other public services, residents were ecstatic. Then goliath Time Warner Cable asked a Missouri federal court to block the city's efforts.
Getting a “Bang for the Buck" (PDF 264KB)
The U.S. Treasury Department finds that each dollar of financial assistance provided by the U.S. government's CDFI Fund leverages almost $20 in additional private and public dollars.
George Soros Challenges the City of Baltimore (PDF 116KB)
Billionaire financier George Soros and his Open Society Institute have spent $50 million to combat urban ills in Baltimore. Now he is challenging the community to come up with $20 million to continue the work.
LISC Stakes New Ground in Charter Schools (PDF 73KB)
The Local Initiatives Support Corporation is increasing its community development lending to finance greater charter school development. This June, LISC joined with other partners to announce the creation of two funds worth $56 million to finance public charter school facilities in Los Angeles County and Indianapolis.
SITES OF THE MONTH:
The Nonprofit Finance Fund works with over 170 funders including financial institutions, foundations, and government agencies to develop new ways of meeting the capital growth needs of the nonprofit sector.
www.nonprofitfinancefund.org/
Northcountry Cooperative Development Fund is a cooperatively owned and operated financial intermediary which acts as a catalyst for the development and growth of cooperatives.
www.ncdf.coop
Ashoka's mission is to shape a citizen sector that is entrepreneurial, productive, and globally integrated, and to develop the profession of social entrepreneurship round the world.
www.ashoka.org
The U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives is a national trade association dedicated to promoting worker management, governance, and worker ownership of places of employment.
www.usworker.coop