On Wednesday, May 6^th, 200 community leaders, state legislators and officials came together at the State House for MACDC’s Annual Lobby Day. The morning kicked off with MACDC’s members meeting with their elected officials to highlight critical programs that need renewed and increased funding, such as the Small Business Technical Assistance program, the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Community Preservation Act. For many, the highlight of the day came when Amy Curran shared her story. Amy, a leader within the Urban Edge community who found herself both pregnant and homeless six years ago, is now increasingly financially stable thanks, in part, to the Earned Income Tax Credit. Another highlight came when John Waite, Franklin County CDC’s Executive Director and Katie Reed, owner of Chequessett Chocolate, presented awards to Rep. Sarah Peake and Rep. Stephen Kulik for their continued leadership on behalf of the Small Business Technical Assistance program. John and Katie tried to “one up” each other concerning whose State Representative was a better champion of small business. Of course, both Rep. Peake and Rep. Kulik are incredible champions for small business. CDC leaders spent much of the rest of the day meeting with dozens of legislators and legislative aides to make their case for investments in community development.

Check out photos from the day on Facebook.

On Wednesday, May 13^th, The Alliance (Advancing Community Development by Confronting Racism), operated by the Mel King Institute and CHAPA, held a lunch to close the 5^th cycle, and ten years, of the Community Development Mentoring Program. The event was hosted by TSNE and included program participants, leaders in the field and mentoring program Alumni.

The featured speaker, Dani Monroe, presented her book Untapped Talent: Unleashing the Power of the Hidden Workforce. The presentation and discussion was deeply engaging and insightful. How are we bringing our community development values into staff advancement and leadership development? As a result, many of the leaders in the room expressed interest in exploring how we – as a field- can support organizational leaders to be more intentional about developing leaders in the workplace. 

AAFCPAs, a leading accounting firm in Massachusetts, released an excellent article on the value of the Community Investment Tax Credit as a way to have a significant philanthropic impact in one's community, while substantially reducing or eliminating one's Massachusetts tax obligation.

Below is an excerpt with a link to the full article.

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The Community Investment Tax Credit (CITC) was established as a way to incentivize Commonwealth residents to invest in community development corporations (CDCs). The CITC program allows taxpayers to realize considerable tax savings when they make a qualified investment (cash contribution) in a CDC’s community development plan. For the individual or corporation who is charitably inclined, they are able to combine their desire to do good with their desire to save on taxes.

DONOR BENEFITS
The CITC is an outstanding tax incentive for both individuals and corporations who are inclined to donate $1,000 or more, with an annual cap of $1 million in credits. Donors are eligible to receive a credit equal to 50% of the total qualified investments for the tax year in which the investment was made. The credit must be taken in the year the qualified investment was made, and any amount in excess of the taxpayer’s tax liability may be either refunded or carried forward to offset future tax liabilities. This credit is available for tax years 2014 – 2019.  READ MORE

Joe Kriesberg and David Bryant recently met with Steve Grossman and his staff from the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC) to learn about two of their programs designed to help small businesses develop, thrive and grow at different stages. Here is a brief overview of the programs, Inner City Capital Connections and the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses (10KSB) programs. We urge you to share this information with small business partners in your communities.

Both the Inner City Capital Connections Program (ICCC) and 10KSB Program help small businesses at different stages of their growth cycle. The 10KSB program provides the foundational tools necessary to build a growth plan. The Inner City Capital Connections Program works with companies who have a growth plan to help them build capacity and access capital needed to drive continued growth.

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Inner City Capital Connections (ICCC) is a national program designed to accelerate small business growth and access to capital. ICCC helps firms in the growth-to-exit stage overcome obstacles to reach their respective goals. Our participants experience different business challenges from the need for capital to restructuring growth strategies.

Our executive education will be held in Philadelphia, Birmingham, Dallas and Boston. The culminating conference will be held in New York.

Companies must have the following qualifications:

• Independent, for-profit corporation, partnership or proprietorship
• Inner city location—headquarters or 51%+ of physical operations in economically distressed urban areas of the U.S. or have 40% or more of your employees residing in an economically distressed area.
• Revenues of $2 million or more in 2014.

If you have any questions, please email Hyacinth Vassell at hvassell@icic.org.

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Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Program

Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses is a world class entrepreneurship education program that provides small business owners with the opportunity to step away from day-to-day operations and focus on growth. In professional workshops, business owners will:

• Learn from some of the brightest minds in business
• Explore opportunities to access financial capital
• Build a powerful network of professional support

If accepted, program tuition is at no cost to the business owner!

With the launch of 10,000 Small Businesses at Babson College in late 2013, the 10,000 Small Businessesprogram is now available to business owners from all 50 states. This unique model of the program, our National Cohort, connects small business owners with a nationally-sourced class of peers for 11 weeks of practical business education delivered through a blend of online facilitated learning and on campus sessions at Babson College. All business owners graduate with a customized 5-year strategic growth plan for their business.

There is no cost to apply, and all accepted business owners receive a full scholarship to participate. All reasonable travel and accommodation costs associated with the trips to Babson College are covered as part of this scholarship.

The program’s qualifying criteria are as follows:

• The applicant is a small business owner or small business co-owner
• The business has been in operation for at least two years
• The business revenues were are at least $150,000 in the most recent fiscal year
• The business has a minimum of four employees (including the owner)

The application deadline for the upcoming fall 2015 National Cohort is April 20^th, 2015. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis, so business owners are encouraged to apply early! For more information, please visit www.10ksbapply.com or email 10KSB@icic.org

MACDC is thrilled to announce that David Bryant has joined our staff as the new Director of Advocacy. David has more than twenty-five years of experience in policy development, legislative strategy, and governmental relations and advocacy, including as the Director of Government Relations for The Trustees of Reservations, one of the nation’s first regional nonprofit conservation organizations. In addition to his government relations work, David has advised a range of entities –small startup companies, political campaigns, regional and national nonprofits – on strategies for communications, organizational development, public policy advocacy, economic development, and advancement.  He has served on a number of nonprofit boards, including the Charles River Watershed Association, the Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities (Mass Humanities), Generations Inc., and the Cambridge-Ellis School.

“David is a great addition to our team,” commented Joe Kriesberg. “We’re excited to have him representing CDCs and the community economic development movement at the State House. With a new legislative session just beginning, this is the right time to bring a well-respected advocate onto our team to help champion our issues.”

Welcome aboard, David!

CHECK OUT MACDC's complete board and staff listing.

On February 4th, MACDC sent a letter to Richard Davey, President and CEO of Boston 2024. The letter, while neither supporting, nor objecting to the Olympics being held in Boston in ten years, highlighted four main areas of focus: Housing, Transportation, Economic Opportunity and Community Engagement. Each of these issues is critical to ensuring the Olympics create long-standing benefits for the region and expand opportunities for everyone.

CLICK HERE to read MACDC's Letter to Boston 2024

The snowstorms over the past two weeks have crippled Eastern Massachusetts' transportation services, blocked roads and made for a completely treacherous and lengthy commute to work and school. The exteme weather has exposed how much work we have to do to repair and rebuild the Commonwealth's transportation infrastructure.

Sign the T4MA Petition and let our elected officials know how frustrated you are with the current condition of our roads and transit system.

"NEW BEDFORD — When her grandparents immigrated to the U.S. from Poland at the turn of the 19th century, it would have a profound effect on the life of one of their descendants. Well into her career as a community organizer, 56-year-old Corinn Williams has dedicated her life to helping immigrants and the North End, where they have historically congregated."

Read more of Simon Rios' great article published by SouthCoastTODAY.

by Joe Kriesberg and Jason Reece

A robust debate erupted on Shelterforce in response to Miriam Axel-Lute’s article,“The Dangerous Rhetoric of Escaping to Opportunity”, with strongly worded opinions flowing from both sides of the mobility and place based debate.

As practitioners who were involved in this vigorous conversation and referenced in the article, we had a series of private discussions about our perspectives and concerns regarding the place vs mobility debate.

READ the full article on Rooflines

Donors may contribute to individual CDCs, or they may contribute to the United Way Community Partnership fund, which was established by the Department of Housing and Community Development to raise and distribute funds to all eligible CDCs across the Commonwealth.  More information about the CITC tax credit is available by emailing sdickason@supportunitedway.org or MACDC at johnf@macdc.org.

Less than 8 weeks remain for donors to claim the new Community Investment Tax Credits for the 2014 tax year and support the work of Community Development Corporations across the Commonwealth.  The Community Investment Tax Credit Program (CITC), which went into effect earlier this year, is a new program designed to help improve the quality of life and economic opportunity for families and neighborhoods across the Commonwealth.

The Community Investment Tax Credit offers individuals, corporations and nonprofit institutions the opportunity to obtain a 50% Massachusetts state tax credit and up to a 35% standard federal tax deduction (depending on tax bracket) while investing in the economic development of the communities that need help most. That means if someone donates $1,000, for example, they will receive both a $500 credit from the State and a $175 net reduction from their Federal taxes, leaving just $325 in out-of-pocket cost for the donor.

From now until the end of 2014, up to $3 million is available to donors and corporations that want to invest in this innovative economic development strategy and receive a tax credit.  Once the $3 million is used, donors must wait until 2015 to participate in this great opportunity to have a lasting impact on their community.

“Every day, in neighborhoods and cities across the Commonwealth, Community Development Corporations are working hard to spur affordable housing and job creation, incubate small businesses and revitalize neighborhoods,” said Michael K. Durkin, president at United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley.  “Now, we all have an opportunity to accelerate this work and the benefits to us all – and receive a 50% tax credit in return.”

“Over the past ten years alone, CDCs across the Commonwealth have invested $2.9 billion in our economy, created or preserved over 24,000 job opportunities and supported over 325,000 individuals and families,” said Joe Kriesberg, President of the Massachusetts Association for Community Development Corporations.  “These impressive results help drive our economy forward for everyone.”

The CITC program utilizes the tax credit incentive to leverage private contributions to seed innovation and amplify community impact. Tax credits can be used for affordable housing, job training, business development, neighborhood revitalization and other vital economic development projects.

The donations, and tax credits, will support only CDCs that are based in Massachusetts, have been carefully selected for participation in this program, and are creating programs and economic development that benefit Massachusetts residents. Thirty-six CDCs from across the state are eligible. For example:

• In East Boston, Neighborhood of Affordable Housing (NOAH) will work to construct over 50 new low-to-moderate income housing units, advocate for increased green space to expand sports and recreational programs to low-income children and youth, and provide affordable housing counseling and placement.
• In Waltham, WATCH will organize home weatherization projects to help low-income residents save on their utility bills, expand its English as a Second Language (ESL) programs and teach first-time home buyer classes.
• In Lawrence, Lawrence CommunityWorks (LCW) will pursue and bolster strategic partnerships with other key organizations to strengthen the institutional fabric of the City and increase educational attainment and financial resilience for the people of Lawrence through financial education and coaching, ESL and computer classes, career and job readiness training and youth development programming.  LCW is also working to create a vibrant mixed use community in the heart of the City with 71 affordable rental homes, five home ownership properties and 25,000 square feet of new commercial space.

From now until the end of 2014, up to $3 million is available to donors and corporations that want to invest in this innovative economic development strategy and receive a tax credit.  Once the $3 million is used, donors must wait until 2015 to participate in this great opportunity to have a lasting impact on their community.

Donors may contribute to individual CDCs, or they may contribute to the United Way Community Partnership fund, which was established by the Department of Housing and Community Development to raise and distribute funds to all eligible CDCs across the Commonwealth.  More information about the CITC tax credit is available by emailing sdickason@supportunitedway.org or MACDC at johnf@macdc.org.