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CDCs Invested $918.1 Million in Local Communities in 2019 - The MACDC GOALs Report

July 21st, 2020 by

We’re proud to release the results of our annual GOALs Survey. Even though 2019 was not too long ago, it feels like the old days! So much has happened over the ﬁrst six months of 2020 with the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting economic crisis. Both crises have, not surprisingly, negatively impacted communities of color and low-income communities disproportionately. Also, we have seen our country re-awake to the issue of racial injustice, spurred by worldwide protests against police violence and all the myriad injustices against Black, indigenous, and other people of color that have made our nation less than it can be, than it should be.

While the story of 2020 has yet to be fully written, we can now tell the story of what our members accomplished in 2019, which demonstrates the prescience of our movement. CDCs place racial equity and justice at the forefront of their work. MACDC’s Strategic Plan – adopted in 2018 - named racial equity and health equity as two of our core priorities, along with advancing economic opportunity.

All these priorities are reﬂected in the work highlighted in this report. The Community Economic Development Center in New Bedford provided small business technical assistance to 57 entrepreneurs, focused in the Acushnet Avenue Commercial Corridor, the historic Gateway community to new immigrants. Lena Park CDC, in partnership with CodeSquad, trained 10 adults from Boston’s urban core to launch new careers as full-stack web developers. Madison Park

Development Corporation partnered with the MA Census Equity Fund to ensure all residents are counted. Franklin County CDC, as Co-Administrator of the Massachusetts Food Trust, funded 7 healthy food projects across the Commonwealth.

As always, CDCs are also creating and preserving aﬀordable housing: for seniors on the South Shore, families in Western MA, year-round residents on the Cape, and residents at risk of displacement in triple-deckers in East Boston. CDCs are ﬁghting for climate and environmental justice from South Boston, where sea level rise presents an imminent risk, to Lawrence, where Groundwork Lawrence’s Green Team prepared 40 young people for a lifetime of environmental and healthy community leadership.

This report highlights these activities and tallies the collective impacts of CDCs in 2019. Tables on our website show the complete GOALs Survey results.

While these CDC activities are diverse, their underlying principles are similar: economic empowerment, housing stability, health equity, civic engagement, and racial equity. This work has built community resilience and infrastructure that is being called upon as we face new and unprecedented challenges. And while our 2020 results won’t be available until next year, we are already seeing evidence that CDCs are taking their work to yet higher levels in 2020. The work of community development continues.

Read the MACDC GOALs Report

MACDC Responds to COVID-19

June 16th, 2020 by

Our world has dramatically changed over the past few months. All of us, even if we’re just staying at home, are addressing the COVID-19 pandemic. And all of us are striving to adjust to the “new normal”.

For MACDC, this means we haven’t changed our mission or vision, but we have responded to the crisis by increasing the work we do to help ensure that our members have the resources to respond to the needs in each city and town in which they work.

We wanted to highlight our activities since mid-March.As the pandemic continues, we will continue to update and modify our activities in response to the needs of our members and the communities they serve.

CLICK HERE to see our full report (PDF)

A Statement from MACDC

June 2nd, 2020 by

MACDC stands with those protesting the murder of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and countless other African Americans in our Country.

We see these events as manifestations of centuries of white supremacy culture and institutionalized racism upon which this country was founded and which clearly persist to this day. We share the anger, frustration and sadness that these events provoke and the determination to help find a positive path forward.

We recognize that the structural racism, and the individual-level bias and bigotry, that we see in our criminal justice system is not unique. We see it in our public health and health care systems as the COVID-19 pandemic inflicts disproportionate harm on communities of color. We see it in our economic system as people of color once again bear a disproportionate share of the pain in our current economic crisis. We see it in our educational, housing, transportation and environmental systems. And, of course, all of this is directly connected to the inequities in our elections and political structures where voter suppression and unequal representation reinforce the status quo.

In recent years, MACDC has updated its mission statement to reflect a commitment to racial equity. We’ve adopted racial equity as an explicit organizational value and made it a priority in our strategic plan. We have mandated anti-racism training for our staff. We have held forums and launched programs to reverse inequities in our own organization and field. We have campaigned for policies that would reduce racial wealth and income inequality. Yet, all of this feels inadequate to the challenge. We ask ourselves - what more can we do? How do we need to change – individually and organizationally? What’s our role? We look for answers, or even steps toward possible answers. Can this moment and this pandemic be the impetus for something new?

The truth is that we don’t know.

What we do know is that all of us and each of us must commit to doing the hard work before us. So amidst our grief and anger, we take strength from being in community with all of you and in solidarity with the broader movement for justice sweeping our Country. And we will take heed of the words of our friend and teacher Mel King:

“Love is the question and the answer.”

Ad Hoc Massachusetts Small Business COVID-19 Response Coalition Recommends Improvements to the Paycheck Protection Program

May 15th, 2020 by

MACDC joined with community-based organizations, CDCs, CDFIs, and advocates across the state to send recommendations to the Small Business Administration (SBA) for improvements to the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). The recommendations focused on two broad areas: 1) recommendations to simplify and improve the implementation of PPP Rounds 1 and 2; and 2) recommendations for the next phase of small business assistance. Nearly sixty organizations collaborated on these recommendations and sent them in a letter to the SBA and the Massachusetts Congressional Delegation.

The coalition is calling for the following modifications to the program:

To provide businesses with more time to use PPP funds and to extend the program until December 31, 2020;
To provide businesses with more flexibility on how to spend the funds by reducing or eliminating the requirement to spend 75% of the dollars on payroll;
To clarify and simplify the forgiveness requirements;
To automatically forgive small loans;
To allow businesses to refinance the unforgiven portion of a PPP loan into a longer term loan;
To collect demographic and geographic data of PPP participants;
To recycle dollars recouped through loan repayments; and
To expand language accessibility.

The group further called on the SBA and Congress to design future small business support efforts in a way that more directly addresses racial inequities and targets resources to the businesses that need it the most.

Read the full recommendations in this letter.

DHCD announces $7.7 million in CITC allocations to 46 CDCs and two Community Support Organizations

May 5th, 2020 by

In April, DHCD announced $7.7 million in allocations to 46 CDCs and two Community Support Organizations (MACDC and LISC Boston) through the Community Investment Tax Credit (CITC) Program. (See table below for list of organizations and amounts allocated)

In the program’s first six years, over $55 million was raised for community development programs across Massachusetts. These funds are helping CDCs to work with residents in their communities by providing vital affordable housing options, access to services for families, and support for aspiring entrepreneurs, as well as programs to help ensure that community residents can not only become stabilized, but also thrive and benefit from our Commonwealth’s economy.

Commenting on the 2020 CITC allocation, John Fitterer, MACDC’s Director of Operations, said, “the CITC program is very important to the community development movement in Massachusetts because it’s helping drive support into neighborhoods and town across the Commonwealth. As we navigate the COVID-19 crisis, support for the field is even more critical than before. The CITC program will help ensure that communities have access to the resources they need.”

Organization	Credits Allocated
Allston Brighton CDC	$125,000
Asian CDC	$200,000
CDC Southern Berkshire	$150,000
Coalition for a Better Acre	$75,000
Codman Square NDC	$200,000
Community Development Partnership	$200,000
Community Teamwork	$150,000
Dorchester Bay EDC	$120,000
Fenway CDC	$200,000
Franklin County CDC	$200,000
Groundwork Lawrence	$175,000
Harborlight Community Partners	$200,000
Hilltown CDC	$200,000
Housing Assistance Corp. Cape Cod	$200,000
Housing Corp. of Arlington	$125,000
Housing Nantucket	$175,000
IBA	$200,000
Island Housing Trust	$200,000
JPNDC	$200,000
Just-A-Start	$150,000
Lawrence Community Works	$200,000
Lena Park	$100,000
LISC Boston	$200,000
MACDC	$200,000
Madison Park CDC	$200,000
Main South CDC	$150,000
Metro West CDC	$60,000
Neigborworks Housing Solutions	$125,000
New Vue	$200,000
NOAH	$200,000
North Shore CDC	$125,000
Nuestra Comunidad	$200,000
One Holyoke	$100,000
Quaboag CDC	$125,000
Revitalize CDC	$200,000
SMOC	$200,000
Somerville CDC	$150,000
The Neighborhood Developers	$200,000
Urban Edge	$150,000
Valley CDC	$150,000
VietAid	$50,000
WATCH	$125,000
Way Finders	$175,000
WellSpring	$100,000
WHALE	$200,000
Worcester Common Ground	$125,000
Worcester Community Housing	$150,000
Worcester East Side	$100,000
Total	$7,705,000

MACDC Partners with MGCC to Offer Multi-Lingual Translation Resources and Technical Assistance to Massachusetts Small Businesses Applying for the SBA’s Paycheck Protection Program

April 27th, 2020 by

MACDC has teamed up with the Massachusetts Growth Capital Corporation (MGCC) to support Massachusetts small business owners, including those with limited English proficiency, by providing multilingual translation and application assistance for the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).

Since PPP applications are only available in English, these services are critical for small business owners in Massachusetts impacted by COVID-19, who would otherwise be unable to tap into the SBA’s economic relief resources. All small businesses in Massachusetts are strongly encouraged to use these resources when applying to the second round of PPP at their local, participating bank once available. Please be advised, MGCC and MACDC are not eligible lenders for the program. A list of participating PPP lenders can be found here.

This initiative brings together 49 Technical Assistance (TA) Providers located throughout Massachusetts, and organized under the Small Business Technical Assistance Grant Program to utilize their skills. The PPP application has been translated into 19 languages and is available to download on MGCC’s website, along with a list of TA Providers sorted by language proficiency and communities serviced, that small business owners can connect with for guidance on the application process.

Languages include: Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin, Cantonese, French, French Creole, Italian, Russian, Vietnamese, Greek, Arabic, Cambodian, Somali, Amharic (Ethiopian), Filipino, Nepalese, Korean, Japanese and Thai.

“When MGCC recognized the opportunity gap for minorities, immigrants and other small business owners with limited English proficiency to access the Paycheck Protection Program, we immediately knew we needed to tap into this strong small business support team of TA Providers,” said Larry Andrews, President of MGCC. “With their participation, access to PPP suddenly becomes inclusive and encourages diverse businesses to explore relief possibilities in this difficult time.”

“Every day we see examples of how long standing racial and economic disparities are disproportionately impacting communities of color. That is why our economic relief and recovery efforts must reach our entire small business community, including communities of color, immigrant, and lower income communities,” said Joseph Kriesberg, President of MACDC. “Thankfully, Massachusetts has a network of dozens of community-based organizations with trained staff who can deliver culturally competent and multi-lingual assistance to help these business owners access public and private resources to help them survive and recover from this crisis.”

MACDC collaborates with Massachusetts Community-Based Organizations to call for Small Business Relief and Recovery Program

April 23rd, 2020 by

MACDC has partnered with community-based organizations, community lenders and advocates to form a statewide Small Business Coalition, which is calling on state leaders to adopt a Small Business Relief and Recovery Program to address urgent and unmet needs in the small business community.

Seventy-nine organizations, including dozens of organizations that work every day at the local level with entrepreneurs impacted by this crisis, made this request in a letter to Governor Charlie Baker, Senate President Karen Spilka, and House Speaker Robert DeLeo.

MACDC has been convening weekly discussions with community-based organizations that work with small businesses from across the commonwealth on strategies and best practices to support small businesses in this time of crisis, as well as collaborating on advocacy for state policies that would help these businesses weather the pandemic.

“We are heartbroken watching hard working men and women fight to save their business and their families from economic ruin – a situation that has nothing to do with their skills as business owners, but is entirely due to COVID-19, and the public health necessity to close their businesses. They are suffering immense economic harm to help keep all of us safe, so we believe all of us have a shared responsibility through our state government to help keep them in business,” the letter states.

The proposed Small Business Relief and Recovery Program is particularly focused on those small businesses that are most vulnerable during this economic crisis, including those from historically underserved communities, such as African American, Latinx, Asian, people of color, immigrant, and women, as well as businesses located in rural towns, Gateway Cities, and other low-income areas.

The letter recognizes that the federal government is providing significant resources to small businesses through the Payroll Protection Program, but points out that many small businesses, especially very small business, and those owned by people of color, are not benefiting equitably from that program. In a survey of nearly 500 small and micro businesses released by the groups with the letter, 58% said they did not think the Federal CARES Act would meet their needs over the next three months. Further, “42% said they were surviving on personal savings, an unsustainable strategy, especially for many people of color who, on average, have significantly less accumulated wealth than their white counterparts”.

The letter calls for a “state-level strategy that is focused on reaching those who continue to be left behind” both to better access federal dollars and to strategically use state resources to plug gaps in the federal response. Segun Idowu, Executive Director of the Black Economic Council of Massachusetts and one of the signatories of the letter, noted “If Washington can’t get it right, our leadership needs to.”

The Coalition includes many organizations from rural communities, which are struggling. “Our economy is built on small businesses, including many very small enterprises, that have trouble accessing federal resources,” said Amy Shapiro from Franklin County CDC. “By providing customized technical assistance at the local level, flexible financing, and small grants, we can help more of our rural businesses access federal dollars, survive the shutdown and recover in the months to come.”

The coalition offers the following recommendations for programs and policies that should be part of the state’s Small Business Relief and Recovery Program:

$10 million in funding to support community-based organizations that deliver culturally competent and multi-lingual technical assistance and coaching to small businesses;
$30 Million in emergency relief grants to help businesses cover rent, mortgages, and other fixed costs;
$35 million to Community Development Financial Institutions, Community Development Corporations, and other community-based lending programs to help them offer grants, zero/low interest loans, loan deferments, and other assistance to small businesses;
$75 million to the Massachusetts Growth Capital Corporation for a revolving loan fund to help businesses unable to access SBA financing, with a focus on communities of color, immigrant communities, rural towns, and Gateway Cities;
A statewide Small Business Assistance Task Force charged with ensuring the effective delivery of support to small businesses during the economic shutdown and through the recovery; the task force should have a laser focus on equity and inclusion.

Read the full letter to Governor Baker and Leaders of the General Court

MACDC News

April 7th, 2020 by

February 2021

Thank You, David: MACDC bids farewell to our Director of Advocacy, David Bryant, who left MACDC at the end of January. Over the pass six years, David was instrumental in leading many policy wins for the community development field, including the reauthorization and expansion of the Community Investment Tax Credit (CITC), increased funding for the Small Business Technical Assistance program, funding to launch the MA Food Trust program, increased state-level funding to CDFIs, and the recapitalization of the "Get the Lead Out" lead paint abatement program. We will miss David. We wish him well in his future endeavors. Read David's letter here.

MACDC Partners with LISC Boston and Resonant Energy to Launch Solar Technical Assistance Retrofit (STAR) Program:The STAR Program, launched on January 28, will provide financial and technical resources to help affordable housing organizations explore solar opportunities for their buildings, with the goal of installing 1 Megawatt of solar power (2,500 solar panels) over the next 18 months, in partnership with CDCs and other mission-aligned organizations across Massachusetts. You can review the presentation slides and listen to the recording from the launch. Applications are due by February 26th for first round solar feasibility grant consideration. Learn more in this blog article.

MACDC's members are mobilizing to help business owners apply for additional relief dollars, following the launch of a new round of the Federal Payroll Protection Program for small businesses. Massachusetts SBA Director Bob Nelson joined our Community Business Network meeting on January 6 to summarize key elements of the program, so our members would be ready to go. Many CDCs, CDFIs, and business support organizations are collaborating through the Equitable PPP Initiative that is being facilitated by LISC Boston. The program is working hard to ensure that people of color, immigrants, micro business owners and others have full and equal access to this important program.

MACDC has quickly turned to mobilize for the 2021 Legislative session. One of our top priorities this year will be the Housing & Environment Revenue Options (HERO) Campaign that seeks to raise the deeds excise tax to create a new permanent funding stream for housing and climate investments. Over the past two weeks, the HERO Coalition reconvened and began planning for an aggressive campaign. We have worked on finalizing the legislation that will be filed this month by Senator Jamie Eldridge and Rep. Nika Elugardo. You will be hearing a lot more about this campaign in the coming days.

MACDC President Joe Kriesberg became Instructor Joe Kriesberg when he taught an Introduction to Community Economic Development class for the Mel King Institute on January 27. The course covers some of the core values and founding principles of the field, as well as a review of the primary activities undertaken by community developers such as affordable housing development and economic development. Watch a recording of the class.

Pam Bender facilitated a meeting of financial coaches and their supervisors for the United Way about community outreach and community engagement. It was one of their monthly Community of Practice meetings for organizations, such as housing authorities, CDC's, CAP agencies, shelter programs, and other multi-service agencies. The group discussed best practices on reaching out to community members during the pandemic as well as how to retain clients.

January 2021

Sign the Eviction Diversion Pledge! In November 2020, MACDC, in partnership with the Baker-Polito Administration, MassHousing, and CHAPA announced a five-point Eviction Diversion Pledge, a commitment from Massachusetts property owners and operators to working with tenants facing financial difficulties because of the pandemic and supporting housing stability during the ongoing fight against the spread of COVID-19. As of January 5th, 67 organizations, including several CDCs, signed the pledge. If you own rental housing, please join these affordable housing owners and developers in signing this pledge to work with tenants who have fallen behind on rent.

A very warm and special thank you to all who donated through the Community Investment Tax Credit program in 2020. This past year was unquestionably the most challenging ever for the Community Development field as all of us worked to support our residents and communities. Fortunately, the CITC has helped CDCs secure significant and flexible funding to enable them to pivot their approach and help meet the immediate needs of residents. While we don't have full data yet, we believe that the CITC program generated over $12 million in 2020, and will yield the most funding ever in the history of the program. We thank everyone who donated to a CDC in 2020, with or without CITC.

MACDC released the CITC: 2020 Program Impact Report in December. This report highlights how CDCs participating in the CITC program are applying these funds to their strengthen their organizations and expand the programs and services the offer.

MA Legislature Adopts Conference Agreement to Approve Economic Development Bond Bill: On January 6, legislators approved the conference report to advance a comprehensive economic development, housing assistance and pandemic relief bill to the Governor's desk. MACDC was very pleased that the legislature was able to enact this bill that will support small businesses, promote affordable and equitable housing opportunities, provide additional tenant protections across the Commonwealth, especially to our neighbors most disproportionately impacted by COVID-19. Read more in this blog article by MACDC Director of Advocacy, David Bryant.

MACDC's President Joe Kriesberg had an op-ed published in Commonwealth Magazine outlining his "holiday wish list" for housing legislation before the end of the session. Thankfully, all the recommendations included in that op-ed were approved by the Legislature on January 6, including passage of the City of Boston's Home Rule petition to strengthen its linkage program and inclusionary zoning, and passage of the Economic Development bill mentioned above.

Supporting our small business community: A story about the power of relationships, collaboration advocacy and persistence. Read this blog article by MACDC President, Joe Kriesberg, about MACDC's small business work in response to the pandemic. The article details some of the history of our small business work, what we are doing now to support small businesses, and what we envision moving forward.

MACDC hosted its first Small Business Network Zoom meeting of the year on January 6, with 66 participants from across the state in attendance. The group met with Bob Nelson, the Massachusetts Director of the SBA. Mr. Nelson provided a briefing on the new Payroll Protection Program and other small business programs in the Federal COVID-19 Relief Bill. We also heard from Larry Andrews of the Mass. Growth Capital Corporation about the rollout of the state's $668 million small business initiative.

MACDC prepared an interactive map showing the number and total amount of Payroll Protection Program (PPP) loans for each zip code in Massachusetts made during 2020 (Rounds 1 and 2). The zip code 01801 (Woburn) had the most loans of any zip code in the state with 1,358 loans. By contrast, zip code 01367 (Rowe) had just 2 loans. You can also access a complete list of all 117,772 PPP loans in Massachusetts in this excel file. You can sort the list by zip code to find the businesses in your area that received PPP loans in 2020. As the SBA prepares to launch PPP 3.0 in January, this tool might be useful to organizations that want to reach out to businesses and offer assistance in receiving more financial support.

MACDC began meeting with other housing advocates and state housing officials to discuss plans for deploying approximately $460 million in new federal housing assistance to help families impacted by COVID-19 and the economic crisis. This new funding - if efficiently and quickly deployed - could go a long way to mitigating an eviction crisis across the state.

MassHousing and the Baker-Polito Administration launched the CommonWealth Builder Program, a $60 million fund intended to spur the construction of single-family homes and condominiums that are affordable to households with moderate incomes, particularly in communities of color. Learn more about the program in this video, featuring many familiar faces, including MACDC President Joe Kriesberg.

MACDC Staff Update: We are thrilled to announce that Nadine Sanchara, our Communications and Operations Fellow for the past sixteen months, accepted a position with us as MACDC's Communications and Operations Specialist. From her first day with our team, she has worked to expand our organization's capacity and shown incredible talent and dedication in all her efforts. You are familiar with her work as she sends out the MACDC Notebook, is quite active on MACDC's social media accounts, and works with John Fitterer on fundraising. Congratulations, Nadine. We're excited for you to continue working with us.

MACDC welcomes new CDCs: Congratulations to the Southeast Asian Coalition of Central MA (SEACMA), the African Community Economic Development of New England (ACEDONE), and the Latino Support Network](LSN) on becoming Certified CDCs!

December 2020

Community Investment Tax Credit (CITC) program participants aiming to have another record year. In 2019, through the CITC program, $12.3 million was raised for community development in Massachusetts (Check out the CITC Investment Dashboard for more detailed information). This marked, to date, the most funds raised in a single year through the program. Last year, 32% ($3,974,510) of donations came from individuals. Furthermore, in 2019, 35% ($4,342,392) of all donations were received in the month of December. There's still plenty of time to make a CITC donation before the year ends! All donations just need to be received by the organization participating in the CITC program by 12/31/2020. CLICK HERE to view the list of organizations participating in the CITC program.

MACDC Calls on Legislature to Provide More Small Business Relief: MACDC is urging legislators to enact Governor Baker's Supplemental Budget, H.5177: An Act Making Appropriations for Fiscal Year 2021. Read the full statement.

MACDC and Allies Weigh in on Commonwealth's 2022-2024 Energy Efficiency Plan: The planning process for the Commonwealth's 2022-2024 Three Year Energy Efficiency Plan is underway. The Energy Efficiency Advisory Council (EEAC) has commenced its listening sessions and is soliciting input on the upcoming plan. MACDC is collaborating with LISC Boston and other allies on submitting two comment letters:

A request for strategic changes to the LEAN Multifamily Program, to better support energy retrofits to existing multifamily buildings. These changes will ensure a pipeline of projects that more meaningfully address carbon emissions across the affordable multifamily housing sector.
A request to allocate resources in the 2022-2024 budget for workforce development associated with Green Jobs. These investments will meet the growing needs of the green energy sector while providing sustainable, well-paying job opportunities for low-income residents and communities of color.

We will continue to monitor progress in development of the three-year plan and provide feedback as this process moves along.

MACDC's CITC Peer Group was joined by DHCD's CITC team, Mark Southard, Kathryn McNelis, and Nathan Delude on December 10th. The session focused on changes to the NOFA and any questions CDC staff may have concerning the CITC application for 2021 credit allocations. Sixty-two people attended the peer group meeting. MACDC's CITC peer group meets throughout the year. This year, MACDC augmented the peer group meetings with a series of fundraising trainings for CDC Resource Development staff.

The CDC Tech Table: MACDC launched a new Member Services program on Friday, December 11th. The monthly convening of MACDC's members on all things tech aims to help our members understand and resolve challenges they may be facing and to build I.T. and knowledge management systems that provide opportunities for growth well into the future. Twenty-six people were in attendance to share best practices and to discuss how they are addressing myriad of tech topics. Two topics dominated the conversation: Streamlining reporting to HUD on housing counseling services and how organizations have migrated to the cloud. Meetings will be convened monthly and will be hosted by John Fitterer, MACDC's Director of Operations, and Stefanie Archer, Founder of Archer Consulting, which focuses on Salesforce implementation for nonprofits.

MACDC's Senior Organizer, Pam Bender, spoke about virtual advocacy as a panelist at a brown bag lunch event held by the Maryland Affordable Housing Coalition and the Community Development Network of Maryland on Friday, December 11th. The event was attended by members of the two groups, as well as a state senator and a state delegate.

MACDC President Joe Kriesberg was quoted in a few articles recently as MACDC advocates for tenants and small businesses:

Evictions are hitting hard in parts of Mass. where people are most vulnerable - The Boston Globe
'They Want To Push Us Out': Mattapan Renters Fear Eviction As New Rail Stops Drive Rent Increases - GBH
Baker's $50 million effort to help small businesses is wildly oversubscribed - The Boston Globe

MACDC's Program Director for Health Equity, Elana Brochin, was quoted in this article on the Build Healthy Places Network blog: Interconnected: Public Health and Community Development Fit Together like Pieces of a Puzzle.

MACDC applauds the Legislature and the Governor Baker for enacting an FY 21 budget that includes significant funding for small business support, including the $5.1 million for SBTA. The budget also includes $46.3M for Small Biz grants & support, including $17.5 million for grants, $17.5 million for CDFIs, $7.5 million for matching grant program and $3.8 million for a new program to close digital divide.

November 2020

MACDC released a new report on health-related work among Massachusetts CDCs. The report details Massachusetts CDCs' growing engagement in the health equity space and creates a foundation on which we can further develop our field's work - as individual CDCs and as the Community Development movement overall. Read more in this blog article, and read the report here.

MACDC is partnering with CHAPA and MassHousing to organize the Eviction Diversion Initiative Pledge in which CDCs and other affordable housing owners and market housing owners pledge to work cooperatively with tenants and rent relief agencies to prevent evictions and stabilize tenancies during the pandemic. More than 50 owners with a total of over 50,000 units have signed on to the pledge so far. Read more here.

The House of Representatives approved its proposed FY 21 Budget last week and included funding for several key MACDC priorities, including:

$5 million for Small Business Technical Assistance (SBTA);
$46.35 million for Small Business Relief and Recover;
$1 million for the Transformative Development Fund, including $750,000 for our Neighborhood Stabilization Initiative collaboration with MassINC, MassDevelopment and MassHousing; and
$2.805 million Chapter 206 funding for homeownership education and foreclosure prevention counseling.

MACDC is hosting a member-only meeting with the Alliance for Racial Equity on Wednesday, December 2 on how members are working toward racial equity. The goals of this meeting are to have CDCs share their racial equity work, begin to set the context for what the work means, network and engage a diverse spectrum of CDC staff and leadership, as well as understand what people need from MKI/MACDC.

MACDC hosted a workshop for our members on November 9 about trends in the property and casualty insurance market, how COVID may be impacting insurance premiums, and how affordable housing owners can control losses. The workshop also provided information about MACDC's Partnership with Eastern Insurance that currently provides coverage for 2,500 apartments and many commercial buildings for 11 CDCs. The program offers our members an opportunity save money, achieve more stable pricing and better coverage.

MACDC submitted testimony to the Joint Committee on Revenue in support of the "HERO" bill which would generate about $300 million in new funding for climate and housing investments. Read the testimony.

MACDC President, Joe Kriesberg, took a quick tour of Western Mass in late October to visit members in Great Barrington, Pittsfield and Springfield. It was a rare opportunity to meet in person with two new CDC executive directors, Allison Marchese at the CDC of South Berkshire County and Keith Fairey at Way Finders in Springfield.

OneHolyoke CDC and MACDC participated in a workshop on Abandoned Housing at the MHP Western MA Housing Conference this fall. The workshop on Distressed and Abandoned Properties on November 5 featured Mike Moriarty from OneHolyoke CDC and Don Bianchi from MACDC, along with Maja Kazmierczak from the MA Attorney General's Neighborhood Renewal Division. The workshop highlighted three approaches to addressing the problems associated with distressed and abandoned properties. Read more in this article.

The National Alliance of Community Economic Development Associations (NACEDA) released its 2020 Family Portrait, a publication about its members, which includes MACDC. Check out the report.

MACDC hosted three workshops at Strengthening Resilient Communities: The National Forum which was held in partnership with NACEDA and eight other CDC state associations from October 13 to 23. The recordings of MACDC's sessions are now available for viewing:

October 2020

MACDC has been working feverishly with our allies to prevent a wave of evictions in Massachusetts. We have called on the Governor to extend the state moratorium on evictions, and we have joined with CHAPA and many others to advocate for over $200 million in eviction prevention relief funding. Ultimately, the Governor declined to extend the moratorium and announced a $171 million Eviction Diversion Initiative that included most of the elements for which we had been advocating (albeit at lower funding levels) such as additional RAFT funding, increased capacity for mediation, more legal representation for tenants and resources to rapidly rehouse families. The Initiative also seeks to preserve tenancies for families through the school year, a goal that we argued was essential.

On Friday, October 16, MACDC hosted a briefing for our members with DHCD Undersecretary Jennifer Maddox, so our members can work with their tenants and community members to help them access the resources they need. Check out the presentation made by Undersecretary Maddox. We will continue to fight for resources and legal protections to ensure that everyone can remain stably housed.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, MACDC has been advocating for resources that will help small businesses survive and recover from the recession so we were very pleased on Wednesday, October 14 when Governor Baker proposed $100 million in new small business relief as part of his revised FY 21 Budget. The proposal includes:

Increase in FY 2021 Small Business Technical Assistance (SBTA) program line item from $3 million to $6 million;
$35 million for grants for small businesses, particularly businesses in underserved markets, minority-owned, women-owned, and veteran-owned businesses, and those who have not yet received federal aid.
$35 million for community development financial institutions (CDFI) grants and loans.
$15 million for matching grants for capital investments by businesses with twenty or fewer employees.
$7.7 million for technical assistance and grants, including for small business online and digital tools.

This proposal must be approved by the Legislature, so MACDC will be campaigning to make that happen in the coming days. On October 21, we sent a letter to Senate President Karen Spilka and House Speaker Robert DeLeo on behalf of a statewide coalition of 79 community-based organizations, community lenders and advocates, requesting their support for the Small Business Relief and Recovery Programs proposed by Governor Baker. Read more in this Boston Globe article.

The Housing and Environment Revenue Opportunities (HERO) Coalition, which MACDC co-chairs, initiated legislation that would double the Deeds Excise Fee on home purchases from $4.56 per $1000 to $9.12 per $1000. The bill, filed by Senator Jamie Eldridge and Rep. Nika Elugardo, proposes that half of the new revenue would be dedicated to climate mitigation and resiliency. The other half of the revenue would go to aid working-class homeowners, and low-income renters and the homeless. Read more in this press release, and check out the HERO Coalition website.

MACDC hosted its regular Small Business COVID-19 Response Network meeting on October 7 with over 50 attendees. The focus of the meeting was a presentation by the Boston Impact Initiative - our newest associate member - about their innovative model for revenue based lending to small businesses.

MACDC President Joseph Kriesberg visited new CDC Executive Directors in Worcester and Northampton. The Pandemic has prevented MACDC staff from visiting our members as frequently as we normally do, but Joe took advantage of some great fall weather to visit two of our newest CDC Executive Directors last week. He made a stop in Worcester to visit Jennifer Schanck-Bolwell at Worcester Community Housing Resources, and to Northampton to visit Jane Loechler at Valley CDC. MACDC Senior Policy Advocate, Don Bianchi, who lives in Northampton also participated in the visit with Jane. It's great to see these new leaders hitting the ground running despite the challenges of starting a new job at this time.

MACDC held a special meeting for CDC Executive Directors who have started in that role since the beginning of the year. Five such executive directors met at our first meeting over the summer and the group now includes seven people, with Teronda Ellis from Jamaica Plain NDC and Allison Marchese from the CDC of South Berkshire being the latest to assume leadership of a CDC and join our group. MACDC is committed to doing everything we can to help these leaders get off to a great start.

MACDC's Member Services program continues to be very busy. During the first quarter of FY 21 (July - September) we held 34 peer group meetings attended by 818 people on a range of topics from small business development to housing, to resident services and health equity.

Last month, The Neighborhood Hub, a multi-agency partnership that includes MACDC, hosted a Housing in Gateway Cities Webinar. The webinar included a presentation by Alan Mallach, Senior Fellow at the Center for Community Progress, statements from State legislators and officials, and a conversation with local practitioners, including Marc Dohan from NewVue Communities. View the presentation slides, and watch the video of the webinar here.

Strengthening Resilient Communities: The National Forum: MACDC teamed up with the National Alliance of Community Economic Development Associations (NACEDA) and eight other CDC associations from around the country to host Strengthening Resilient Communities: The National Forum. The forum started on October 13 and will conclude this Friday, October 23. It featured workshops presented by MACDC and other CDC associations, national plenaries, and keynote speeches by Deanna Van Buren of Designing Justice + Designing Spaces, and Ibram X. Kendi, New York Times #1 Bestselling Author.

September 2020

CDC elder and youth programs collectively served more than 10,400 people in 2019 - The MACDC GOALs Report has documented that CDCs across the state are providing critical services to thousands of seniors. Read more in this article by Don Bianchi, which highlights the work of two CDCs, in particular, One Holyoke CDC and Hilltown CDC.

MACDC's Boston Committee met with representatives from the Boston Housing Authority, the Department of Neighborhood Development, and City Councilor Kenzie Bok to discuss how the BHA and CDCs can collaborate to leverage available federal resources under the Faircloth Initiative to expand deeply affordable housing across the city.

MACDC has been working feverishly with our partners in the nonprofit, government, and private sector to identify programs, policies and initiatives that can prevent a wave of evictions when current eviction moratoria expire. We believe a combination of strategies are needed including a targeted extension of the moratorium, substantial funding for rent relief programs, mediation, legal representation and an education campaign to make sure tenants understand their rights. MACDC believes it is especially critical to ensure that school-aged children who are attending school at home are not evicted from both their home and their "school."

The Energy Cohort, co-organized by MACDC, LISC Boston, and New Ecology, met on September 10th, to discuss opportunities and challenges associated with the electrification of heating and cooling - a timely topic as a hot summer comes to a close. Lauren Baumann from New Ecology and Beverly Craig from the MA Clean Energy Center made a timely presentation.

MACDC's Operations Peer Group met on September 15 to learn about MACDC's tech build out and Microsoft Office 365. Director of Operations, John Fitterer, reviewed MACDC's IT build out that includes full cloud integration, including our phone system, and data visualization tools, as well as the nonprofit pricing for Microsoft's Office 365.

MACDC hosted a meeting on September 23 with EOHED Secretary Michael Kennealy and over 50 small business development organizations from across the state to discuss the state's efforts to help businesses survive and recover from the crisis. We discussed the need for streamlined and simple grant programs along with more funding for technical assistance.

Community Developers Call for Immediate Action

March 24th, 2020 by

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Economic Fall Out from Pandemic Requires Large Scale and Equitable Response

Investments Needed for Small Business, Housing and Non-Profit Sectors

March 24, 2020

CONTACT: Joseph Kriesberg, 617-721-7250 / joek@macdc.org

A statewide association of Community Development Corporations is calling upon state leaders to take immediate action to address growing and urgent needs for small businesses, tenants, homeowners and nonprofit organizations impacted by the COVID-19 public health crisis.

The Massachusetts Association of Community Development Corporations (MACDC) represents 88 community-based nonprofits across the state that work to advance economic opportunity, affordable housing and thriving neighborhoods across the state. MACDC is calling for the following actions:

$150 million investment in loans, grants, and technical assistance to help small businesses survive and recover from this economic crisis, especially those businesses owned by people of color, immigrants, women, and low- or moderate-income people;
Creation of a Massachusetts COVID-19 Small Business Response Task Force to guide the on-going response to this crisis and consider other initiatives to help small businesses through this crisis;
Expanded unemployment insurance criteria to cover currently ineligible business owners, such as sole proprietors, independent contractors and micro businesses;
Short-term eviction moratorium to keep people housed during this public health crisis;
At least $25 million in emergency funding to help tenants impacted by the COVID-19 crisis pay their rent;
Special initiatives to help nonprofit organizations, including community-based cultural organizations, youth programs, CDCs, and other critical local organizations.

(Read, MACDC's full Initial Policy Recommendations in Response to the Public Health and Economic Crisis)

“The economic fallout from the COVID-19 public health emergency is likely to hurt just about everyone, but it will have a particularly significant impact on lower-income communities, communities of color, Gateway Cities, and distressed rural areas,” said Joseph Kriesberg, President of MACDC. “We need the state to step up immediately with significant and equitable investments to help our small businesses survive and recover from this unprecedented crisis.”

“We know this pandemic will have a particularly significant impact on the most vulnerable among us. It will reveal and exacerbate the persistent racial and economic inequities in our society,” noted Kriesberg. “That is why we need a strategy based on equity that targets resources to the businesses, families and communities that most need assistance”.

MACDC recommends that much of the small business development assistance be deployed through the highly effective network of community-based organizations already working with the state through the Small Business Technical Assistance program. These organizations are working with over 3,000 small businesses across the state, with 88% of the clients coming from underserved communities such as people of color, immigrants, or lower-income communities. Additional support can be deployed by Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) with a proven record of leveraging federal and private funding to deliver capital to small businesses. MACDC is also urging an expansion of the Mass Growth Capital Corporation’s Small Business Recovery Loan fund which is already oversubscribed. Given the scale of this crisis, we recommend that businesses be able to access both loans and/or grants to ensure their long-term survival and to avoid new debt obligations that will burden their recovery.

MACDC’s policy statement calls on the legislature and the Governor to use the state’s Rainy Day Fund and General Obligation Bonds to help cover the costs of these emergency investments.

(Read, MACDC's full Initial Policy Recommendations in Response to the Public Health and Economic Crisis)

Are CDCs Racially Diverse?

November 4th, 2019 by

A critical question when it comes to addressing racial equity is the diversity of the board, senior staff and staff of an organization. To help provide some insight into whether Certified CDCs in Massachusetts are led by and comprised of diverse boards and staff, MACDC, as a part of the annual state of the sector survey we conduct, the GOALs Report, asks about board and staff diversity. Below are the results from this year’s survey, which was conducted in early 2019 and captures data from calendar year 2018. We plan to collect this data every year so we can track progress.

CDC Organizational Diversity

Geographical Area	AVG. POC Board Members	AVG. POC Senior Staff	AVG. POC Staff - *
Statewide	37.99%	30.33%	44.90%
Gateway	35.21%	31.47%	43.89%
Rural	43.89%	2.38%	9.57%
Greater Boston Suburban Communities	28.64%	21.52%	29.49%
Greater Boston Urban Communities	55.03%	44.40%	66.78%
Boston	61.63%	50.03%	78.79%

* Average People of Color (POC) Staff data is rough percentage as MACDC asks for the number of FTEs on staff to the tenth, whereas the POC staff question does not allow any decimalization.

Notes:

59 state-Certified CDCs reporting out of 61 organizations
Reporting period: 2018

MACDC - The Massachusetts Association of Community Development Corporations

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