In a new report from the Center for American Progress, Joel Rogers and Satya Rhodes-Conway of the Center on Wisconsin Strategy (COWS) outline policies that cities can adopt to become more inclusive and sustainable. The authors espouse democratic organization as a critical component to social equity and wealth creation and highlight the critical linking of anchor procurement strategies and employee ownership, as seen in the Cleveland Model, to strengthen local economies and stabilize communities.
A new Cleveland Foundation report highlights the achievements and lessons learned from the Greater University Circle Initiative—a robust partnership among the city’s anchor institutions to foster economic and community revitalization. To date, the Initiative has created three employee-owned companies through the Evergreen Cooperatives Initiative, developed a workforce training center, launched an employer-assisted housing program, catalyzed changes to the city’s public transportation system, spurred over $140 million in new, public-private development, and helped direct an increasing percentage of the institutions’ more than $3 billion in purchasing toward local businesses.
Erik R. Pages, Brian Lombardozzi and Lindsey Woolsey
This paper examines the current state of the U.S. rail transit industry along with its manufacturing supply chain and provides recommendations about potential changes for policy makers and NIST MEP to consider.
Reconnecting America believes that through examining quantitative and qualitative data on the conditions of America's communities, their changing situation can be better addressed, and their publicationAre We There Yet? : Creating Complete Communities for 21st Century America attempts to explain America's economic problems and possibilities in an easily understood format. Vistors to the site can view metrics, grades, and stories featured in the publication, as well as access Reconnecting America's News and Resource Centers.
Five years after the financial crisis economic inequality in the United States is spiraling to levels not seen since the Gilded Age. While most Americans are experiencing a recovery-less recovery, the top one per cent of earners last year claimed 19.3 per cent of household income, their largest share since 1928. Moreover, income distribution looks positively egalitarian when compared to wealth ownership.
