It’s been just six months since I joined the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland’s Community Development Department, and I am thrilled to be a part of an amazing team of individuals who are deeply passionate about our mission to promote the economic resilience and mobility of low- to moderate-income individuals and underserved communities. We have focused our efforts in three key areas:
Housing: access to quality and affordable housing
Economic and workforce development: access to good jobs
Small business: access to credit
With your partnership, the Community Development Department has accomplished much this year:
1) We led the administration of the nation’s Small Business Credit Survey on behalf of the Federal Reserve System. If you are a small business owner, please consider completing the surveyby November 18, 2022. By providing data about the conditions of small business, your responses help inform policy and programs.
2) We provided critical and real-time information about how lower-income people are experiencing the economy to policymakers and the public through vehicles such as our Community Issues Survey of nonprofit leaders, by listening and engaging with workers, and through meetings with our Community Advisory Council. You can read some of these highlights in the Cleveland Fed’s entry to the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book, which now includes a section specifically devoted to Community Conditions.
3) We partnered with other Federal Reserve Banks to launch the Worker Voices Project, which focuses on the experiences of lower-wage workers, workers who have switched careers, workers' considerations in post-pandemic employment, and insights from workers enrolled in noncollege training, education, and workforce programs.
4) We helped lead the Federal Reserve System’s Small Dollar Mortgage Initiative and hosted a FedTalk forum to help the community better understand the demand for and volume of low-dollar mortgages across the country.
The Community Development Department will continue to provide high-quality research and data to deepen our work in LMI communities across our region. I’ve included the latest work from the department and our Federal Reserve colleagues below. As you are reading, be sure to check out the Cleveland Fed’s redesigned website. Thank you for your continued partnership in advancing our mission and contributing to our priorities.
Calling all for-profit small business owners and financial decisionmakers
The 2022 Small Business Credit Survey is now open, and we want to hear from you. Tell us (in 10 minutes) about your recent experiences. The confidential survey data directly informs the Fed, federal government agencies, service providers, policymakers, and more. Take the survey now. Survey closes November 18.
Save the date! Policy Summit 2023
Policy Summit 2023: Communities Thriving in a Changing Economy, June 21–23.
Gather with other community-focused practitioners, bankers, elected officials, funders, researchers, and policymakers for outside-the-beltway conversations about policies affecting lower-income communities across the United States.
The internet connects many to jobs, education, and healthcare. Unequal access to high-speed internet can create a gap in opportunity. This blog examines the barriers to access and how the new Affordable Connectivity Program could help.
Community organizations experienced heightened demand for services in recent months
New to the Fourth District Beige Book: a section sharing Community Conditions in our region. Read it to learn what community service providers are seeing and hearing.
Learning about the Black experience in our region
The Cleveland Fed’s Program on Economic Inclusion talked directly with leaders from Black community groups to get their insights on how racism and poor job access can prevent their communities from participating in the economy to the best of each member’s abilities. Read the key takeaways.
Rural stakeholders voice concerns for aging populations
Challenges that are pressing for rural communities relate to healthcare services and how to fill jobs that are vacated by those aging out of the workforce. Read what else they shared as top concerns.
Evaluating who should receive benefits
The current method of determining who should receive benefits and other financial help from the government suffers from significant shortcomings, among them, keeping some recipients with few assets in situations that prevent them from improving their economic outlook. Read the research about alternatives including universal basic income.
Mortgage forbearance program hits its target
To receive mortgage forbearance through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, documentation of hardship was not necessary. Despite this, evidence indicates that forbearance has largely been used by borrowers who did need it the most. Read more.
New data points keep a pulse on community issues
Compared to March 2022 Community Issues Survey results, September 2022 respondents indicated a modest deterioration in the financial well-being of low-and moderate-income households. More on the latest findings.
Looking at trends in the fluctuating costs of rent
Clicking for credit: Small business and online lenders
Small businesses that apply for online funding are more likely to have fewer employees, lower revenues, weaker credit scores, and fewer years in business. Learn more about their experiences.
Financial challenges have increased among the smallest US firms
The Small Business Credit Survey (SBCS) 2022 Report on Nonemployer Firms, issued by all 12 Federal Reserve Banks, finds that the share of nonemployer firms (businesses with no employees other than the owner(s)) reporting some type of financial challenge grew from 81% in 2020 to 88% in 2021.
Policy changes helping small businesses
When it comes to data on small business lending, sources are varied and missing a consolidated, regularly collected, uniform source. Proposed changes to small business lending reporting under Section1071 of the Dodd-Frank Act could help close this info gap. Read our latest blog.
Workforce
The link between job quality and mobility
The quality of a job—what it offers in terms of benefits, pay, flexibility, and other measures—affects whether workers stay in their current job, look for better opportunities, or simply leave the labor market. Read more in a recent report.
Hearing from workers firsthand as part of the Worker Voices Project
This summer we hosted a listening session in Ohio, which helped us gain insights directly from low-wage workers and workers of color. Here’s one key finding: For many, job quality—not just pay—is top of mind. Learn more.
Across the country, our community development colleagues are also conducting focus groups with workers to find out more about workers in high turnover jobs. Here's what we've learned so far.
Mark your calendar
Looking for a family activity? Come visit our Money Museum Monday through Thursday from 9:30 am to 2:30 pm!
