Investment in Communities: Doing Well Financially While Doing Good For Communities

Participants on all sides of discussion at the Leadership Forum on Capitalizing Communities strongly agreed that not only does capital investment help economically develop at-risk communities, but it also can be a sound and profitable business investment if implemented and managed correctly. The goal of the meeting was to break down the isolated silos that community development players operate within by exploring resource allocation and identifying common ground on key policy issues. CPA is developing a list of forum-generated policy initiatives that will include action plans for state legislators, community-based economic development organizations and private sector investors.

John Taylor, President of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, encouraged participants to maximize the potential of Community Reinvestment Act regulations, through which $8-9 billion of private funds are being invested in at-risk communities. C. Everett Wallace, President of Wallace Enterprises, pointed out that it is crucial for community leaders to learn which products are appealing to investors and to direct development efforts at producing those products.

State legislators, often considered sideline players in the community investment process, gave participants a unique “big picture” perspective on what it takes to make community capital investment work and what they, as legislators, need to learn to be effective in this area.

Florida State Representative Kendrick Meek commented that a policy dialogue among community and investment representatives and legislators would help legislators tie these key policy ideas to initiatives for which there is support right now. Wisconsin State Representative Antonio Riley added that an economically integrated neighborhood must be market-driven, and that these neighborhoods represent a good business opportunity.