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Opportunity Zones: A Taxpayer-Funded Program That Primarily Benefits Wealthy Investors
By Jason Richardson and Bruce Mitchell
Seven years after its creation, the federal Opportunity Zones program has manifested a troubling pattern: creating massive taxpayer-funded benefits for wealthy investors while failing to meaningfully help the communities they were designed to serve. With the wealthiest Americans receiving substantial tax benefits on over $100 billion in capital gains through this program, Opportunity Zones represent one of the most opaque and regressive tax policies in recent history. [Read more]
NCRC And Its Members Leverage The Community Advisory Councils Model To Strengthen Underserved Communities
By Nicole Rothstein
Investing in underserved communities takes more than a promise – it also takes a plan to keep that promise. The National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) has developed multiple techniques to ensure that bank commitments translate into meaningful change for historically disadvantaged neighborhoods and that the people who live there, and organizations that service them, have a say in the process. [Read more]
South Memphis Residents Skeptical of Musk’s xAI Economic Growth Claims as Pollution Concerns Grow
By Kaitlyn Ridel
A debate is boiling in South Memphis over whether the potential economic benefits of an artificial intelligence facility outweigh the pollution-related health impacts to residents. Many low-income communities elsewhere may soon find themselves grappling with the same question. [Read more]
News
NCRC Statement On New Rule Delaying Section 1071 Implementation
By NCRC
“Everyone agrees that small business owners and entrepreneurs deserve to be evaluated on their individual merit, free from presumptions, inadvertent bias or outright discrimination,” said Jesse Van Tol, President and CEO of NCRC. “The Section 1071 rule finalized in 2023 does just that by gathering data we need to make sure every small business gets a fair shake." [Read more]
NCRC To White House: Don’t Let CDFI Funding Get Mashed In The Government Shutdown Gears
By NCRC
The White House can protect basic economic opportunity from unnecessary further harm in the federal government shutdown by preserving the bipartisan CDFI Fund’s operations. [Read more]
Research
The Labor Market is Frozen: September 2025 Race, Jobs and the Economy Update
By Joseph Dean
No one is hiring. That is the key finding from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ latest jobs report showing only 22,000 jobs were added in August with nearly all industries remaining stagnant or in decline. The goods-producing industries, including the construction and manufacturing sectors, lost 25,000 jobs. There were steep losses in the professional/business services and wholesale trade industries as well. The only industries that experienced healthy job gains were healthcare, leisure and hospitality. [Read more]
The Jobs Recession Is Affecting The Entire Black Community
By Joseph Dean
Since the beginning of this year, the Black unemployment rate has risen to 7.5%, its highest level since 2021. As a kind of “canary in the coalmine,” Black workers have historically been the first to have their employment terminated when times get tough for businesses. While the current labor market has been described as a no-hire/no-fire environment, this doesn’t adequately apply to the situation of Black Americans. [Read more]
Events
Group Counseling Session: Building Your First Sales Funnel (A Step-by-Step Automating Guide)
October 14, 10 - 11 am ET
An effective sales funnel can turn prospects into loyal customers while saving you time and effort through automation. In this hands-on webinar, we’ll walk you through: Optimizing your funnel for long-term growth; The key stages of a high-converting sales funnel; How to attract, nurture, and convert leads with automation; Choosing the right tools and platforms for your funnel; Crafting compelling email sequences and follow-ups.[Register here]
Taking on a business loan is just the beginning – how you manage and deploy those funds can make all the difference between financial growth and long-term strain. Join us for an insightful webinar focused on helping entrepreneurs strategically utilize loan funding to strengthen their operations and achieve lasting financial health. [Register here]
In The News
Economists Say Job Losses Likely, Even As Shutdown Delays Report
By Tim Henderson, Stateline
Black unemployment, which has spiked from 4.8% in April 2023 to 7.5% in August, has likely increased again, said Joseph Dean, who monitors it for the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, which encourages more investment in underserved communities. [Read more]
“Today’s rule delays implementation by at least another year, adding up to 16 years since the underlying statute was passed by Congress in 2010,” said Jesse Van Tol, president and CEO of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition. “Every year of delay means more small businesses are left without the transparency they deserve and the ability to hold lenders accountable for fair lending and access to credit.” [Read more]
On Our Radar
Why This One Area Of Cities Is Usually The Poorest
By Andrew Van Dam, The Washington Post
When you simply split America’s metropolitan areas into East-West or North-South halves and see which has higher poverty rates according to Census Bureau data, East tops the list 25 percent more often than its nearest competitor, South. [Read more]
Recent Tariffs Threaten Residential Construction
By Elena Patel, Rober McClelland, and John Wong, The Brookings Institution
These taxes raise costs across the board—whether for new construction, renovations, or affordable housing development. Using TPC’s tariff model, we calculated that current tariffs, including those just announced, will add roughly $30 billion to the costs of investment in residential structures. Our calculations show that about 90% of the costs to residential investment will fall on construction of new homes, including apartments. [Read more]
Government Shutdown: Disrupting Nonprofits’ Ability To Serve Communities
By National Council of Nonprofits
Government shutdowns disrupt the vital work of nonprofits in local communities, preventing them from delivering the critical services the American people and their communities rely on. The longer a government shutdown lasts, the more severe the negative impacts. [Read more]
Resources
Work And Meet At The Just Economy Club It's aDC hubfor nonprofits and the social sector, around the corner from the White House. Move your team into a private office or host your meetings and events.[Read more]
Learning & Training Hub Register for NCRC's catalog of professional development courses.[Learn more]
Research And Reports We have an extensive library of research and reports that dates back many years![View all]
Fair Lending Tool Use our interactive tool to produce a report on mortgages, small business lending and bank branch networks for any city, county or metro area in the nation. [Access the tool here]
Sign And Share The Just Economy Pledge Help us expand the movement for a Just Economy. [Sign and Share]