Urban Economic Development
Insights and strategies for leaders in urban economic development
The need to create economic opportunity in America's cities is mounting: cities around the country are pushing forward, finding creative ways to accommodate growth and jumpstart local economic recovery. ICIC’s What Works campaign highlights solutions so all stakeholders—including public, private and non-profit leaders—are able to learn from each other and implement variations in their own cities.
Using Art to Revitalize an Inner City Neighborhood
(avg: 2.50 of 5)
Objective: Showing how a joint-effort to create an arts district helped to revitalize the inner city Gordon Square neighborhood on Cleveland’s west side.
Main Topic: Urban economic development
Sub Topic: Nonprofit collaboration
Sub-Sub Topic: Art and Culture
Geography: Cleveland, OH
Major Participants: Detroit Shoreway Community Development Organization (DSCDO), Cleveland Public Theatre (CPT), Near West Theatre (NWT), City of Cleveland
Background: For two decades, DSCDO, CPT and NWT each tried to raise capital funds for their respective theaters with little success. The CPT needed a new roof. Across the street, the DSCDO owned a vacant movie palace, the Capitol Theater, which was in a state of disrepair. And the NWT, located in another part of town, wanted its own space and was willing to move to Detroit Avenue.
In 2002, the three nonprofits came together to form a joint capital campaign with the idea of creating an “arts district” focused on the three organization’s collective impact. In doing so, they would be better able to attract the attention of civic leaders, government entities, local foundations and funders in a way that their individual efforts could not.
How it works: The three organizations created GSAD, LLC and agreed to jointly raised $30 million to invest in the new “Gordon Square Arts District,” located along Detroit Avenue between West 54th and West 78th streets. The three entities used a Mutual Reliance Agreement to detail how the collaboration will operate. As part of the Mutual Reliance Agreement, the nonprofits all agreed not to raise any capital funds outside of GSAD and to coordinate all of their fundraising campaigns through the GSAD. GSAD distributes funds in proportion to each partner’s share of total project costs. The nonprofits committed to broad mutual transparency, both financially and in terms of project deliverables. Each must submit quarterly financial reports, expense and progress reports on all of their projects.
GSAD does all of the capital campaign financing, allowing the nonprofits to focus on annual fundraising. Side agreements ensure that partners protect certain key donors from solicitation. GSAD contracts with DSCDO for space and support with back office functions. This helps lower GSAD’s costs—which has an annual operating budget of about $400,000 and a staff of three.
Last Updated on January 23rd, 2013
TAGS: what works | cleveland | community development | urban revitalization | nonprofit
HELPING DETROIT SUPPLIERS ADAPT TO A NON-AUTO ECONOMY
(avg: 4.00 of 5)
Objective: Showcasing how, through strategic business support services, business owners in Detroit who were once focused on supplying the automotive industry, can adapt to serve emerging industries in light of the U.S. automotive industry decline.
Main Topic: Urban business development
Sub Topic: Technical assistance
Sub-Sub Topic: Minority-owned suppliers
Geography: Detroit, MI
Major Participants: Kauffman Foundation, Kresge Foundation, Community Foundation for S.E. Michigan, Ford Foundation, Hudson-Webber Foundation, Kellogg Foundation, McGregor Fund, Skillman Foundation, Mott Foundation, Max and Marjorie Fisher Foundation
Background: After the decline in the automotive industry, many Detroit-based automotive suppliers were forced to halt operations and terminate employees. While all auto suppliers were affected, the downturn in the industry disproportionately affected suppliers in Southeast Michigan. Several of these companies had once been very profitable, and had they been able to diversify outside of the automotive industry, would still be doing well.
Last Updated on January 14th, 2013
TAGS: detroit | jobs | cities | technical assistance | supply chain | economic development | urban entrepreneur partnership | auto
Hiring Made Better Helps San Fran's Manufacturing Companies Find Talent
(avg: 4.00 of 5)
Objective: By identifying local talent, SFMade’s Hiring Made Better program helps to match job seekers with manufacturing-related vacancies, with a specific focus on helping low-income Bay Area residents access these employment opportunities.
Main Topic: Cluster-based economic development
Sub Topic: Workforce Development
Sub-Sub Topic: Manufacturing
Geography: San Francisco
Major Participants: City of San Francisco's Office of Economic and Workforce Development and city-wide workforce agencies, City College of San Francisco, California Culinary Academy, Mission Language Vocational School
Background: SFMade is a nonprofit economic development agency that helps to build and support a vibrant manufacturing sector in San Francisco. Their mission is to create employment opportunities for a diverse local workforce. SFMade works with over 400 local manufacturers who together employ more than 3,000 San Francisco and Bay Area residents.
SFMade created the “Hiring Made Better” initiative primarily to connect low-income workers with job opportunities with their member companies. Many of their companies are early stage and have no experience finding and hiring employees. SFMade saw a tremendous opportunity to assist in finding qualified candidates for the companies and creating jobs for the target market.
Last Updated on December 17th, 2012
TAGS: san francisco | hiring made better | sfmade | workforce development | manufacturing | low-income | jobs
Financing Growth in Milwaukee's Industrial Economy
(avg: 3.33 of 5)
Objective: To highlight how a Milwaukee-based CDC strategically lends in a local cluster as a means of helping local residents access jobs within that cluster.
Main Topic: Cluster-based economic development
Sub Topic: Capital access
Sub-Sub Topic: Workforce development
Geography: Milwaukee
Major Participants: Northwest Side Community Development Corporation (NWSCDC), DRS Power and Control Technologies (DRS), Office of Community Services of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (OCS), City of Milwaukee, State of Wisconsin, Wisconsin Energy Research Consortium (WERC)
Background: Founded in 1983, the NWSCDC is located in the 30th Street Industrial corridor in Milwaukee—an area once home to several manufacturing companies and thousands of blue-collar jobs. After the decline of industry in the corridor in the 1970s, NWSCDC focused on revitalizing the area’s commercial activity. NWSCDC purchased several commercial buildings and acted as a landlord in the community. Eventually, NWSCDC realized this model wasn’t sustainable.
NWSCDC began selling off the property and instead began acting as a lender. Given its status as a CDC, the NWSCDC is in a unique position to secure grant money. NWSCDC could have a greater impact by lending this grant money to firms in the area, and attaching hiring and training requirements that would benefit community residents. As a result, NWSCDC became a certified Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI); CDFIs target market niches that are underserved by traditional lending programs.
Last Updated on November 30th, 2012
TAGS: economic development | workforce development | capital | industrial | milwaukee | nwscdc | cdfi
New Model for Economic Development and Job Creation
(avg: 3.25 of 5)
Objective: To grow the revenues of Minority Business Enterprises (MBEs) who have the scale, capacity and infrastructure to provide solutions, products and services that meet the needs of major corporations. The MMBC Continuum developed a new model which includes the Scalable Business Initiative. From contracts awarded through this process the minority firms are positioned to hire more employees which provides economic uplift to inner city communities.
Topic: Underserved businesses
Sub-Topic: Minority business enterprises
Sub-Sub Topic: Scaling and Revenue Growth
Geography: Memphis, TN and the Mid-South Region (Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi)
Major Participants: Memphis-area corporations, Memphis Tomorrow via Memphis Fast Forward (a five year citywide Economic Development initiative), Greater Memphis Chamber, Minority Business Enterprises (Approximately 150 firms identified as scalable)
Background: Historically, MBE firms had not been considered for contract opportunities beyond those in traditional industries like landscaping, catering, construction subcontracting, etc. As a result, many MBE firms had limited opportunity to generate and increase revenues, limited opportunities to build capacity, or hire more employees to expand their businesses.
Last Updated on October 26th, 2012
TAGS: mmbc continuum | underserved businesses | mbes | businesses | entrepreneur | capital | technical assistance
Protecting Chicago's Industrial through Planned Manufacturing Districts
(avg: 5.00 of 5)
Objective: To highlight how advocates pushed for the creation of Planned Manufacturing Districts (PMDs) in Chicago in order to preserve industrial assets in the face of pressure from residential and commercial uses.
Main Topic: Industrial Retention
Sub Topic: Land Use Planning, Zoning
Sub-Sub Topic: Job Preservation
Geography: Chicago
Major Participants: LEED (Local Economic & Employment Development) Council, Key Stakeholder Industrial firms, Local Aldermen, City of Chicago Department of Economic Development and Department of Planning, University of Illinois at Chicago, union members, Chicago Association of Neighborhood Development Organizations
Background: In the 1980s, Chicago’s inner city was bleeding its industrial jobs—partly due to increased foreign competition (specifically, Germany and Japan). A tight housing market and demand for both housing and retail development created pressure on industrial firms located on Chicago’s near-north side. The city was experiencing an influx of young urban professionals moving to areas downtown near the industrial corridor for jobs in the financial, insurance and real estate sectors. Developers had begun to convert vacant industrial buildings in to residential units. Industrial uses and residential/retail uses often do not work well side-by-side; industrial properties are often open 24 hours a day, creating noise and truck traffic typical to industrial parks but causing friction between industrial and its residential neighbors.
As residential uses crept toward the industrial corridor, industrial firms seeking to expand put their plans on hold. Real estate speculation on remaining sites increased pressure on existing firms to sell, move or close. Due to the unique nature of Chicago’s ward politics, each alderman basically controls the zoning in their respective wards leading to case-by-case zoning decisions to change land zoned for manufacturing to residential or retail uses. At the time (1980’s), this case-by-case zoning approach was unchecked by any larger industrial retention or land use policy at the city level that recognized the value of industry and jobs and the threat posed by encroachment of non-industrial uses. As a result, the combination of foreign competition, pressure by residential and retail development and lack of reinvestment by existing companies, in the North River Industrial Corridor alone, 50% of industrial firms (600) were lost and industrial employment fell from 40,000 to 20,000 in the 1980s.
Last Updated on October 24th, 2012
TAGS: industrial | chicago | pmds | zoning | inner city economic summit | leed council | jobs | economic development | cities
Sourcing New Opportunity Through Detroit's Businesses
(avg: 4.50 of 5)
Objective: Analyzing ways that Detroit’s anchor institutions (traditionally, hospitals and universities) are supporting their communities through purchasing from local businesses, namely, through a program called "Source Detroit".
Main Topic: Anchor institutions
Sub Topic: Procurement
Sub-Sub Topic: Business development
Geography: Detroit
Major Participants: Henry Ford Health System, Detroit Medical Center, Wayne State University, Detroit Economic Growth Corporation (DEGC), Midtown Detroit, Inc. (MDI)
Background: Midtown Detroit is a neighborhood rich with institutional assets but suffers from years of underdevelopment. There are three anchor institutions located in Midtown—two hospital systems and one large public university. Anchors have a unique opportunity to invest in their local community given the diverse services, goods and employees needed. Anchor institutions are major drivers of local economies; they are often among the largest purchasers and employers in cities.
In an effort to leverage the assets of Midtown’s three anchors, a U3 Ventures, an advisory firm from Philadelphia, was hired in 2009 to help design a comprehensive anchor strategy. The resulting strategy is called “Live Local, Buy Local, Hire Local”. Each year the three anchors spend $1.6 billion on operational expenses alone—indicating there is significant procurement opportunities for Detroit businesses. “Source Detroit” (formerly “Buy Detroit”) connects the Midtown anchors with Detroit-based businesses to stir spending and economic growth in the city. The initiative is primarily funded as part of Living Cities’ Integration Initiative.
Last Updated on October 22nd, 2012
TAGS: detroit | source detroit | degc | procurement | business | anchors
Mobilizing Healthier Neighborhoods in NYC
(avg: 5.00 of 5)
Objective: To highlight how the NYC Green Carts Initiative has not only created jobs for local residents, but also improved the health of local residents through the use of mobile fruit and vegetable vendors in underserved neighborhoods.
Main Topic: Cluster-based economic development
Sub Topic: Food cluster
Sub-Sub Topic: Community health
Geography: New York City
Major Participants: NYC Mayor's Fund, NYC Department of Health, Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund, Karp Resources
Background: Affordable, healthy food is difficult to find in many areas of New York City for a variety of reasons. Supermarkets can be a great healthy food resource but existing ones are often aged or out-moded and new stores require significant development time and monetary investment, delaying access in underserved neighborhoods. Additionally, New York City is a particularly expensive, land-strapped city, where 65,000 square foot footprints (the preferred amount of space to build a grocery store) is very hard to come by. Even where space is available, there is significant development competition, including chain stores, restaurants and apartment buildings.
The NYC Department of Health wanted to quickly address the responses to its community health survey, which showed some neighborhoods have very few supermarkets, high rates of diet-related illness (diabetes, obesity, heart disease), and low levels of self-reported produce consumption. In 2008, Mayor Bloomberg authorized 1,000 new vendor permits to sell fresh, unprocessed fruits and vegetables from mobile carts.
Last Updated on October 19th, 2012
TAGS: food | cluster | nyc | green carts | karp resources | community health | jobs | small business | inner cities
Social Enterprise Incubator Creates a New BEGINning for St. Louis Residents
(avg: 4.00 of 5)
Objective: To showcase how BEGIN New Venture Center supports the growth of inner-city business as a means of combatting urban poverty. BEGIN is the only Social Enterprise Incubator in the United States, and defines itself through it’s mission, the business plans it accepts, and the culture of social responsibility it engenders in businesses.
Main Topic: Cluster-based economic development
Sub Topic: Food and Tech Clusters
Sub-Sub Topic: Social enterprise incubator
Geography: St. Louis, MO
Major Participants: St. Patrick Center (SPC), US Department of Commerce, US Dept of Housing and Urban Development, SBA, SCORE, and others (see below)
Background: BEGIN New Venture Center began as an outgrowth of SPC’s support programs for St. Louis’ homeless and hard-to-hire populations. SPC is the largest provider of services to the homeless and ex-convict populations in St. Louis; its programs assist more than 9,000 people annually. BEGIN is a non-profit incubator with a unique mandate to operate as a Social Enterprise incubator, developing businesses that will hire from among, or provide services to, SPC’s patrons. Their mission is to create long-term solutions to the issues of unemployment and homelessness through the business development process.
Last Updated on October 15th, 2012
TAGS: begin new venture center | st. louis | food cluster | service sector | incubator | homelessness | poverty | jobs | small business | community development | economic development
Triple C, Triple Impact: Increasing Capital Access for Urban Entrepreneurs
(avg: 4.00 of 5)
Objective: To showcase a program that brings together urban entrepreneurs and capital providers to help the companies raise the additional capital needed to generate inner city jobs.
Main Topic: Urban business development
Sub Topic: Capital access
Sub-Sub Topic: Financial education
Geography: Boston-based, nationwide
Major Participants: Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC), Bank of America, the U.S. Small Business Administration
Background: Research shows that capital access is a tremendous hurdle for even the most successful inner city entrepreneurs, preventing them from hiring, building their companies and making the maximum impact on their communities. ICIC surveys of the fastest-growing inner city firms show that of these companies, 21% say that access to capital is their largest impediment to growth. Inner city businesses are also less likely to be approved for loans than their counterparts: Only 55% of inner city businesses say they are “always approved” for loans, compared to 69% outside of the inner city.
Last Updated on June 8th, 2012
TAGS: entrepreneurs | capital | financial education | iccc | boston | investors | coaching | angel investment | debt financing | technical assistance
La Cocina: Cooking up Urban Businesses
(avg: 4.50 of 5)
Objective: To bring to light an inner city business incubator that provides affordable space, equipment, and business training to help women entrepreneurs from low-income, minority, and Immigrant backgrounds launch culinary businesses.
Main Topic: Cluster-based economic development
Sub Topic: Food Clusters
Sub-Sub Topic: Business incubator
Geography: San Francisco, CA
Major Participants: Women’s Initiative for Self Employment, Women’s Foundation of California, National Business Incubator Association, State of California, and others (listed below)
Background: La Cocina ("The Kitchen") is a non-profit business incubator located in the heart of San Francisco's Mission District, a working class community with a high immigrant population. Many residents in this community were budding entrepreneurs working out of their homes. La Cocina sought to formalize this business environment, and help entrepreneurs become economically self-sufficient thereby creating a vibrant local economy.
The Incubator started in 2005 in response to a feasibility study conducted by several local economic development nonprofits, most notably, Women's Initiative for Self Employment (WISE). The study focused on the obstacles that were preventing participants in WISE’s business planning program from launching their own businesses. The study concluded that local entrepreneurs were unable to finance the notoriously high start-up costs associated with the food industry, such as purchasing equipment, finding affordable rent, and paying the licensing fees associated with such commercial kitchen space.
Last Updated on May 31st, 2012
TAGS: food | clusters | businesses | incubator | jobs | la cocina | women's initiative for self employment | san francisco | entrepreneurs | mwbes | partnerships
Interise's StreetWise MBA: Combining Street Smarts and Business Education
(avg: 4.00 of 5)
Objective: To highlight the StreetWise 'MBA’™ (SWMBA™), a national program that offers hands-on, practical business lessons for early-mid stage small business owners whose companies are beyond start-up stage and are committed to continued growth.
Main Topic: Urban business development
Sub Topic: Technical and educational support
Sub-Sub Topic: Early- to mid-stage companies
Geography: Boston-based and in 34 other cities
Major Participants: Interise, Citizens Bank, Richard and Susan Smith Foundation, the U.S. Small Business Administration Emerging Leaders (e200) Initiative, The Garfield Foundation, Surdna Foundation, New York City Department of Small Business Services, University of Pittsburgh Institute for Entrepreneurial Excellence, and various city agencies nationwide
Background: Research from Boston University showed that when small employers in lower-income communities are unable to scale their businesses, it creates leadership gaps. Meanwhile, there has been a persistent lack of resources available to help companies that have survived startup stage and wish to continue to grow, thereby creating jobs. With this in mind, Interise, a Boston-based nonprofit whose mission is to stimulate economic revitalization in lower-income communities, created its StreetWise ‘MBA’™, working with a team of subject-matter experts that included business school faculty, senior business experts, and instructors experienced in adult learning.
Last Updated on May 31st, 2012
TAGS: jobs | business | small business | entrepreneur | streetwise mba | interise | boston | executive education | management education | mid-stage business | mentoring | technical assistance | nationwide
Creating Jobs and Business Through Food: CropCircle Kitchen
(avg: 3.67 of 5)
Objective: This case study highlights how a nonprofit business incubator, the CropCircle Kitchen, has reached a point of self-sustainability while churning out new food-related companies and creating jobs within inner city Boston.
Main Topic: Cluster-based economic development
Sub Topic: Food cluster
Sub-Sub Topic: Business Incubator
Geography: Boston, MA
Major Participants: CropCircle Kitchen, Ropes & Gray, Neustra Culinary Ventures, Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Development Corporation, the City of Boston, and Cooperative Fund of New England
Background: Initially, Boston’s only food incubator was Neustra Culinary Ventures (NCV), run by a local community development organization (CDC). The CDC operating NCV had a niche primarily in housing and therefore could not provide focused services for entrepreneurs within the incubator. In August 2009, when NCV lost a major sponsor and faced closure, CropCircle Kitchen took over operations and founded a new 501(c)3 non-profit. Since then, with the help of pro bono work by law firm Ropes & Gray, CropCircle has reinvigorated the program and space. The Incubator is now a self-sustaining 4k sq. foot industrial kitchen in the Brewery Complex in Jamaica Plain.
Last Updated on May 1st, 2012
TAGS: small business | economic development | jobs | entrepreneur | boston | incubator | food | clusters | production | cropcircle | industrial
BEGIN New Venture Center: Spinning Off Socially Responsible Firms
(avg: 4.00 of 5)
Objective: Support the growth of inner-city business as a means of combatting urban poverty. BEGIN is the only Social Enterprise Incubator in the United States, and defines itself through it’s mission, the business plans it accepts, and the culture of social responsibility it engenders in businesses.
Main Topic: Cluster-based economic development
Sub Topic: Food and Tech Clusters
Sub-Sub Topic: Social enterprise incubator
Geography: St. Louis, MO
Major Participants: St. Patrick Center (SPC), US Department of Commerce, US Dept of Housing and Urban Development, SBA, SCORE, Justine Petersen (details listed below).
Background: BEGIN New Venture Center began as an outgrowth of SPC’s support programs for St. Louis’ homeless and hard-to-hire populations. SPC is the largest provider of services to the homeless and ex-convict populations in St. Louis; its programs assist more than 9,000 people annually. BEGIN is a non-profit incubator with a unique mandate to operate as a social enterprise incubator, developing businesses that will hire from among, or provide services to, SPC’s patrons. Their mission is to create long-term solutions to the issues of unemployment and homelessness through the business development process.
Last Updated on April 30th, 2012
TAGS: small business | economic development | jobs | entrepreneur | workforce | homelessness | job training | workforce development | st. louis | st. patrick center | social enterprise | incubator | clusters
Innovative Financing Generates Access to Healthy Foods
(avg: 4.67 of 5)
Objective: Fresh, healthy food is often limited in distressed communities, resulting in a higher prevalence of diet-related diseases. To address the food deserts in Philadelphia, stakeholders created the Fresh Food Financing Initiative to fund new grocers and renovate existing food retailers in order to increase access to nutritious food in underserved neighborhoods.
Topic: Cluster-based economic development
Sub Topic: The food cluster
Sub-Sub Topic: Fresh food financing
Geography: Philadelphia, PA
Major Participants: The Food Trust, The Reinvestment Fund, local and state government, the Greater Philadelphia Urban Affairs Coalition
Background: Ten years ago, a national study indicated that Philadelphia had the second-lowest number of supermarkets per capita of any major U.S. city. Access to fresh, healthy foods was particularly constrained in Philadelphia’s lowest-income neighborhoods. Studies show that lack of healthy food leads to higher rates of health-related issues. Obesity, for instance, is 52% higher in neighborhoods with only convenience stores and no supermarkets. Childhood obesity, in particular, skyrockets in the absence of healthy food options. Beyond health, low-income communities do not reap the economic benefits that are tied to local grocery stores, such as the creation of steady jobs with decent wages and the development of complementary local retail and services.
Last Updated on April 9th, 2012
TAGS: clusters | food | philadelphia | the food trust | the reinvestment fund | jobs | food deserts | economic development | community health | grocery stores | capital
Increasing Impact: An Anchor Consortium
(avg: 4.00 of 5)
Objective: This case study examines how the University of Cincinnati took the lead in bringing together the other local anchor institutions in order to create the “Uptown Consortium” to produce a collective impact greater than any one anchor would have been able to do on its own.
Main Topic: Anchor Institutions
Sub Topic: Multi-Anchor Partnerships
Sub-Sub Topic: Community Development
Geography: Cincinnati, OH
Major Participants: University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden, Health Alliance of Greater Cincinnati and TriHealth, Inc.
Background: Cincinnati’s business district, known as Uptown, was blighted and crime-ridden from years of disinvestment. Uptown is a collection of racially diverse neighborhoods with a total population just over 50,000 and a poverty rate consistently above 20%. Because Uptown is located just outside of the University of Cincinnati’s campus, the school wanted to make a concerted effort to direct resources to the neighborhood to make it more vibrant for students, faculty and residents alike. In particular, the lack of viable student housing served as an impetus for the University to invest in the Uptown area.
Last Updated on April 6th, 2012
TAGS: anchors | community development | economic development | cities | cincinnati | uptown consortium | university circle | real estate development | housing | partnerships | poverty
Homeownership Revitalizing New Haven
(avg: 4.00 of 5)
Objective: This case study highlights how a local tragedy served as the impetus for Yale University’s heavy investment in its local community. Though this anchor institution is invested in growing local businesses, improving safety and marketing the city of New Haven, Yale’s most noteworthy effort has been as a real estate investor through the Yale Homebuyer Program.
Main Topic: Anchor Institution
Sub Topic: Real Estate Investor
Sub-Sub Topic: Employee Homebuyer Program
Geography: New Haven, CT
Major Participants: Yale University, City of New Haven
Background: For decades, Yale seemed isolated from the crime and violence plaguing the City outside of the University’s gates. This all changed in 1991 with the murder of a wealthy white Yale student, Christian Prince, by a local black teen. The student’s death marked the increased racial and class tensions between this “town and gown.” Yale responded by investing over $2 million in increased campus security and then founded the Office of New Haven and State Affairs to serve as a liaison with the city. Yale then developed a Homebuyer Program to encourage faculty and staff to move to the surrounding neighborhoods in order to revitalize the area and prove the area is safe.
Last Updated on April 2nd, 2012
TAGS: cities | community development | shared value | housing | urban revitalization | yale | new haven | safety | anchors | real estate development | homebuyer program
Biotech Cluster Development in Brooklyn
(avg: 5.00 of 5)
Objective: To showcase how SUNY Downstate Medical Center, a medical anchor institution, has led the growth of the biotech cluster in Brooklyn though its Biotech Initiative. Downstate leveraged private and public dollars to build biotech incubator facilities in distressed areas of Brooklyn, providing much needed lab space for growing biotech companies, offering entrepreneurial opportunities for students and faculty, and transforming neighborhoods for the better.
Main Topic: Anchor Institutions
Sub Topic: Cluster-based economic development
Sub-Sub Topic: Biotechnology
Geography: Brooklyn, NYC
Major Participants: SUNY Downstate Medical Center, Downstate Technology Center, Inc., city, state, and federal government
Background: While New York City has top academic medical research institutions and is rich in scientific and biomedical talent, it has lagged behind other areas of the country in retaining and attracting small and midsized biotechnology.
The challenge: Create additional incubator and wet lab space within the Brooklyn community to support the establishment and growth of small and midsized biotech companies.
Last Updated on March 26th, 2012
TAGS: suny | downstate | anchors | start-up | small businesses | biotechnology | incubator | nyc | brooklyn | jobs | workforce training | entrepreneurs | clusters
An Anchor Improving Community Health
(avg: 3.00 of 5)
Objective: The Cleveland Clinic offers a prime example of how, using targeted programs, an anchor institution can strategically improve the health of both its workforce and its local community.
Main Topic: Anchor Institution
Sub Topic: Core Products and Services
Sub-Sub Topic: Community Health
Geography: Cleveland, OH
Major Participants: The Cleveland Clinic, The American Lung Association of Ohio, local YMCA and Curves fitness centers.
Background: The Cleveland Clinic is located in an inner city where an estimated 38% to 41% of the population is obese; upwards of 14% of inner city residents have diabetes compared to just 5% to 6% nationally. Rates of heart disease, lung cancer and prostate cancer are all higher in the inner city than the rest of the city.
The challenge: The Clinic had an ambitious drive to reduce smoking and obesity in Cleveland. The Clinic knew that if it could achieve these goals, they would have more productive employees and health care costs would be lower for Clinic employees. For the community, combating health problems and engaging in preventative health efforts would reduce health care costs for local citizens as well.
Last Updated on March 25th, 2012
TAGS: anchors | workforce | community development | cleveland | health care | community health | ymca | curves | cleveland clinic | hospital
The Hospital that Created a Youth Pipeline for Health Care Careers
(avg: 3.33 of 5)
Objective: The Henry Ford Early College (HFEC) program highlights how a local hospital – the Henry Ford Health System – partnered with an urban school district to offer local students the opportunity to simultaneously earn their high school diploma, associate’s degree and professional certifications in health-related careers.
Main Topic: Anchor institution
Sub Topic: Workforce developer
Sub-Sub Topic: Youth pipeline
Geography: Detroit, MI
Major Participants: Henry Ford Health System, Dearborn Public Schools, Henry Ford Community College, Wayne County Regional Education Service Agency, and Michigan State Board of Education
Background: Henry Ford Health System (HFHS) faced an imminent healthcare employment problem: many of their employees—such as medical technologists and lab professionals—are over the age of 50. Upon their retirement, there would be no readily accessible workforce to draw upon. Moreover, retirements aside, it was estimated that Michigan needed more than 1,400 new allied health professionals by 2010.
Last Updated on March 22nd, 2012
TAGS: henry ford health system | henry ford early college | education | anchors | workforce development | youth | tutoring | career coaching | shared value | community development | jobs | workforce | health care
A Nonprofit Partnership Bringing Frogtown Square Back to Life
(avg: 5.00 of 5)
Objective: This case study showcases how a once thriving, then blighted, community was transformed using mixed-use development that included 49 units of affordable housing for senior citizens. The project is particularly unique in that it was completed without the support of private investors.
Main Topic: Urban revitalization
Sub Topic: Mixed-Use and Transit-Oriented Development
Sub-Sub Topic: Senior Housing
Geography: St. Paul, Minnesota
Major Participants: Greater Frogtown CDC, Model Cities, Neighborhood Development Center (NDC) and Aurora St. Anthony Development Company (collective partnership between these nonprofits called Northeast Dale-University (NEDU)), Episcopal Homes, City of St. Paul, State and Federal government
Background: St. Paul's Frogtown neighborhood had once been home to the railroad and industrial workers that powered the St. Paul economy dating back to the 1860s. Yet a century later, with the popularization of the automobile, there was clear disinvestment in the neighborhood. Frogtown Square became synonymous with crime, drugs and adult entertainment venues. Boarded windows and shattered glass characterized the blighted neighborhood.
Last Updated on March 16th, 2012
TAGS: frogtown square | ndc | episcopal homes | model cities | economic development | urban revitalization | housing | st. paul | tod | mixed-use development | commercial | retail | mbes | hud
Developing a Workforce Strategy to Serve South Side Chicago
(avg: 5.00 of 5)
Objective: This case study highlights how two local anchor institutions – the University of Chicago and the University of Chicago Medical Center – created shared value by investing in a workforce development program to train nearby residents. The result has been an influx of well-trained local workers who the anchors can now employ to fill previously unfilled positions.
Main Topic: Anchor Institution
Sub Topic: Employer
Sub-Sub Topic: Workforce Development
Geography: South Side, Chicago
Major Participants: The University of Chicago, The University of Chicago Medical Center, The City of Chicago, the Mayor’s Office of Workforce Development and The Cara Program (a local nonprofit agency)
Background: The University of Chicago and the University of Chicago Medical Center – two of the city’s largest anchor institutions and collectively, the third largest private employer in Chicago – partnered with community groups to advance local hiring. The program, called the Career Pathways Initiative, was born when the University approached the city to bring workforce development to the South Side. It is funded by the City of Chicago’s Department of Community Development Workforce Investment Act, The Cara Program, and the anchors.
Last Updated on March 15th, 2012
TAGS: workforce development | chicago | shared value | employer | career pathways initiative | the cara program | uchicago | career services | anchors
Bringing Social Work in to East Harlem
(avg: 3.50 of 5)
Objective: This case study looks at how Hunter College, part of the City University of New York (CUNY) system, relocated its School of Social Work to East Harlem as a means of better integrating the school with a neighborhood in need of its services.
Main Topic: Anchor Institution
Sub Topic: Real estate developer
Sub-Sub Topic: Community engagement
Geography: East Harlem, New York City
Major Participants: City of New York, State of New York, CUNY, Lois and Samuel J. Silberman Fund, New York Community Trust
Background: The physical structure of Hunter College’s School of Social Work was no longer meeting the college’s needs. According to Matthew Goldstein, the university chancellor, East Harlem was “exactly the right place in the city to build the school. Many of our students live in the Harlem area, and our faculty members are connected with Harlem and will be working with organizations that reside there.” East Harlem is a neighborhood where almost half of residents do not graduate from high school and unemployment hovers around 17%. Ideally, the School of Social Work will address some of these social problems.
Last Updated on February 29th, 2012
TAGS: anchors | nyc | community development | neighborhood revitalization | students | hunter college | cuny | real estate development
Bringing University Research into the Underserved North Minneapolis Community
(avg: 4.00 of 5)
Objective: In this example, the University of Minnesota tries to identify a way to embrace its new institutional mission of engaging the local community. One way to do this, they found, was through the creation of a University Northside Partnership—of which the University’s Urban Research and Outreach/Engagement Center would serve as a community anchor.
Main Topic: Anchor Institution
Sub Topic: Community Infrastructure Builder
Sub-Sub Topic: Urban Revitalization
Geography: Minneapolis, MN
Major Participants: University of Minnesota, City of Minneapolis, U.S. Federal Government, local residents, community organizations throughout North Minneapolis
Background: The University of Minnesota had for a long time been focused solely on research and academics. There was a disconnect between the research and its applicability to the local community. In 2005, the University started having conversations with Mayor Rybak about how the University could join with the city to tackle some of the issues plaguing North Minneapolis—one of the most underserved areas in the region.
Last Updated on February 21st, 2012
TAGS: university of minnesota | university northside partnership | anchors | urban revitalization | minneapolis | partnerships | community development | resident engagement | shared value
Harnessing an Anchor to Revitalize East Baltimore
(avg: 2.75 of 5)
Objective: The purpose of this case study is to showcase how an anchor institution – Johns Hopkins – worked with local governmental institutions and private foundations to create East Baltimore Development, Inc., which would then go on to revitalize the struggling East Baltimore neighborhood.
Main Topic: Anchor Institution
Sub Topic: Real Estate Development
Sub-Sub Topic: Neighborhood revitalization
Geography: Baltimore, MD
Major Participants: U.S. Government, State of Maryland, City of Baltimore, Annie E. Casey Foundation, Johns Hopkins Institutions, The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, The Atlantic Philanthropies
Background: Since the late 1960s, the area to the north of Johns Hopkins’ main campus (referred to as “Middle East”), a once thriving working-class neighborhood, had descended in to poverty, drugs, and crime, with vacancy rates reaching 70%.
Last Updated on February 13th, 2012
TAGS: baltimore | economic development | cities | anchors | shared value | housing | casey foundation | mbes | urban revitalization | real estate
Creating a New Anchor to Serve as Linchpin in Newark Economy
(avg: 4.50 of 5)
Objective: A city long defined by its riots and racial tension, Newark was a city in need of significant urban revitalization. This case study shows how the creation of a brand new anchor institution – the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) – helped to bring residents back downtown and spur new business development and job creation.
Main Topic: Anchor institution
Sub Topic: Community revitalization
Sub-Sub Topic: Cultural programming
Geography: Newark, NJ
Major Participants: State of New Jersey, City of Newark, federal government
Background: After devastating riots in the late 1960s, Newark, NJ struggled to attract residents. As residents left the city, businesses followed. In 1986, then Governor Thomas Kean appointed a committee to address the need for a New Jersey-based performing arts organization. Newark – a city with great transit accessibility and proximity to New York City – was chosen primarily as an attempt to revitalize the struggling city.
Last Updated on February 6th, 2012
TAGS: anchors | performing arts | cultural institution | economic development | community development | newark | cities | mbes | business | urban revitalization
How Local Purchasing Spurred Growth in West Philly
(avg: 3.33 of 5)
Objective: Anchors can help local firms compete by unbundling large contracts or requiring prime contractors to use local subcontractors. They can also encourage local firms to partner with each other or with larger vendors and can provide business advice and mentorship. This case study shows how The University of Pennsylvania did just that: it identified local and diverse vendors and helped prepare them to do business with the University.
Main Topic: Anchor Institution
Sub Topic: Local Procurement
Sub-Sub Topic: Minority Purchasing
Geography: Philadelphia, PA
Major Participants: University of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Minority Business Development Agency (PA-MBDA), local businesses
Background: In the mid-1990s, the University of Pennsylvania suffered because West Philadelphia was unsafe and economically blighted. Over the decade, President Judith Rodin led the University to improve the long-term social and economic health of West Philadelphia and enhance the university’s competitiveness.
Last Updated on February 4th, 2012
TAGS: business | anchors | shared value | philadelphia | upenn | supplier | procurement | retail
Forgivable Student Loans Helping Employees Advance
(avg: 4.50 of 5)
Objective: This entry showcases how one urban hospital – Brigham and Women’s Hospital – used a forgivable loan program to boost employee retention rates and help employees to move up the career ladder.
Main Topic: Anchor Institution
Sub Topic: Employer
Sub-Sub Topic: Employee Advancement
Geography: Boston
Major Participants: Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH)
Background: Around 2005, Brigham and Women’s Hospital began to evaluate its workforce development plan. It became clear that there were several job openings available above the entry-level position, but these jobs were hard to fill. BWH wanted to find a way to encourage its current employees to enhance their skills through education and training to fill these open roles.
Last Updated on February 4th, 2012
TAGS: jobs | business | shared value | anchors | workforce | training | boston | brigham & women's | employee retention
Building Philadelphia's Modern Industrial Economy
(avg: 4.00 of 5)
Objective: This case study analyzes how the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation (PIDC) worked with a consulting group that included ICIC to identify available industrial space throughout the city of Philadelphia and match that space to industries with the potential to successfully add or retain jobs in the city.
Main Topic: Building a modern industrial economy
Sub Topic: Cluster-based economic development
Sub-Sub Topic: Led by quasi-public agency
Geography: Philadelphia
Major Participants: Philadelphia Industrial Development Corp.; AECOM; Interface Studio; ICIC
Background: Philadelphia’s industrial sector, including warehouse, distribution, repair and advanced manufacturing operations, accounts for 20% of the city’s employment—or 104,300 jobs—but was increasingly being encroached upon by other uses, leading to re-zoning pressure on industrial land.
Last Updated on February 2nd, 2012
TAGS: industrial | economic development | manufacturing | land use | philadelphia | quasi-public | jobs | workforce development | cities | cluster
Taking it Beyond the Connective Corridor to Improve the Near West Side
(avg: 4.50 of 5)
Objective: A look at the Near West Side Initiative showcases how Syracuse University went beyond an initial project—the Connective Corridor—and expanded its community revitalization efforts by undertaking a massive rebuilding of a deeply depressed neighborhood with a unique coalition of partners. The Near Westside of Syracuse at the far end of the Connective Corridor, approximately 1.6 miles from the SU campus.
Main Topic: Anchor Institution
Sub Topic: Community Development
Sub-Sub Topic: Neighborhood Revitalization
Geography: Syracuse, NY
Major Participants: More than 750 students and faculty in the University’s geography, architecture, engineering and design programs; over 200 neighborhood residents, the State of New York; The Gifford Foundation, Home Headquarters Inc. , the Syracuse Center of Excellence in Energy and Environmental Systems, Onondaga County and the City of Syracuse.
Background: The City of Syracuse, once an industrial powerhouse, had declined rapidly since the 1950s. The population base decreased by 35% and more than 1,000 homes sat vacant. When Chancellor Nancy Cantor came to the University in 2004, she sought ways that the anchor institution could invest in and become better connected to the city. She spent a year “Seeking the Soul” of Syracuse to assess ways that the University and city could better engage one another. One way: leverage the University’s resources to improve the Near West Side, a Syracuse neighborhood that was, at the time, the 9th poorest census tract in the United States.
Last Updated on February 2nd, 2012
TAGS: nswi | shared value | community development | economic development | anchors | cities | industrial | syracuse | nmtcs
Transforming an Industrial Weakness in to an Asset
(avg: 4.60 of 5)
Objective: The purpose of this case study is to showcase how an organization in New York City rethought the use of an old, industrial railroad track and paved the way for its transformation in to a beautiful park system, which has singlehandedly helped to revitalize the neighborhood.
Main Topic: Industrial
Sub Topic: Land Use Strategies
Sub-Sub Topic: Neighborhood revitalization
Geography: New York City
Major Participants: New York City government, Friends of the High Line
Background: New York City’s 1.5 mile “High Line” is an elevated industrial railroad track that was built in the 1930s and used for freight traffic. The track had not been used since its last run in 1980. Within just a few years, residents were lobbying for the unsightly tracks’ demolition. Other residents were fighting for installation of a new rail service. The battle over what to do with the High Line was compounded in the late-1990s when another group of residents began pushing for the reuse of the rail infrastructure as a system of public parks.
Last Updated on January 30th, 2012
TAGS: parks | economic development | industrial | neighborhood revitalization | cities | nyc | land use | adaptive reuse
Rethinking a Manufacturing Economy
(avg: 4.00 of 5)
Objective: This case study highlights how the private industry, led by Bank of America, invested in and transformed the Charlotte economy from a strong manufacturing base to a national hub for banking and financial services.
Main Topic: Industrial
Sub Topic: Manufacturing to Banking cluster
Sub-Sub Topic: CEO-led economic development strategy
Geography: Charlotte
Major Participants: Local CEOs, Bank of America
Background: In 1980, the manufacturing industry in Charlotte, North Carolina began to rapidly decline. Specifically, between 2000 and 2005, the city lost nearly 30% of its manufacturing base. The loss of the manufacturing sector, comprised of primarily textile and apparel firms, threatened to decimate Charlotte’s economy.
Last Updated on January 20th, 2012
TAGS: cities | manufacturing | banking | charlotte | bank of america | wachovia | small businesses | entrepreneurs | ceos | cluster | economic development
Linking an Anchor to Downtown Development
(avg: 4.00 of 5)
Objective: Syracuse University has made strides in developing the corridor from the university’s campus to downtown Syracuse. Less of a neighborhood-based initiative, this is an urban redevelopment project focused on designing and building a strip of new urban landscape that encourages the University’s population to take advantage of all the city has to offer.
Main Topic: Anchor Institution
Sub Topic: Real estate development
Sub-Sub Topic: Cultural redevelopment
Geography: Syracuse, NY
Major Participants: Syracuse University, National Grid, US Congress, City of Syracuse, U.S. Department of Transportation (US DOT), Chamber of Commerce
Background: Syracuse University has been working to influence real estate development in its neighborhood to build a better link between its campus and downtown Syracuse. The campus and downtown are home to five of the ten largest employers in Central New York and more than 47,000 people work in the corridor, but travelling between the two areas proves difficult.
Last Updated on January 20th, 2012
TAGS: syracuse university | syracuse | shared value | real estate development | urban design | cities | downtown | anchors
Hiring Ex-Offenders as Part of Workforce Philosophy
(avg: 3.29 of 5)
Objective: The purpose of this case study is to showcase how an anchor institution – Johns Hopkins – has found success in training ex-offenders and then finding them employment within the Johns Hopkins Health System.
Main Topic: Anchor Institution
Sub Topic: Employer
Sub-Sub Topic: Workforce Development
Geography: Baltimore, MD
Major Participants: Johns Hopkins Health System (JHHS), U.S. Department of Justice, assorted local nonprofits who served as partners in the program
Background: Each year, there are as many ex-offenders released from Maryland’s prisons as are employed at the Johns Hopkins medical complex in East Baltimore. JHHS sought to find ways to reintegrate these people back in to society through meaningful employment with the institution—thus reducing rates of recidivism.
Last Updated on January 20th, 2012
TAGS: johns hopkins | employer | workforce development | shared value | baltimore | anchors | workforce
RT @TheBostonWriter: Sust. food companies seeing huge growth in Inner City http://t.co/ga5HeRQRyU @icicorg @revolutionfoods @happysuperfood…
about 15 hours, 4 minutes ago
RT @nextstreet: Great advice.... How We Train Employees to Analyze the #Business http://t.co/mO3fmPJoS2 #talent #smallbiz
about 21 hours, 52 minutes ago
Be the voice of urban opportunity. Share this video and the power of #onejob http://t.co/nHBIQRNBbM
about 22 hours, 21 minutes ago
Congrats! RT @aceexhibits proud to rank as 48th #IC100 award recipient by @icicorg and @FortuneMagazine http://t.co/K5NWazkeSL
about 23 hours, 26 minutes ago
Cities Embracing the #Green Revolution [INFOGRAPHIC] http://t.co/YrXDuxY0Mw via @sustaincities
about 1 Day, 25 minutes ago
