Economic Development

LISC’s economic development initiatives boost the health of neighborhoods by investing in the physical and social assets of a community's business district. To make this happen, we support programs and invest in projects that cultivate entrepreneurship, attract new businesses, diversify the local retail mix and stimulate employment. It's the kind of development that grows local job opportunities and incomes, and brings goods and services to places where they're needed. These changes, in turn, ripple outward, beyond individual neighborhoods, improving the landscape for industry and employment, bolstering cities’ tax revenues and stimulating regional economies.

Through the New Markets Support Company, one of our affiliates, we syndicate federal New Markets Tax Credits to energize retail corridors, clean up brownfield sites and reinforce investment in housing, schools and neighborhood services. Our retail and commercial lending tools offer financing for all stages of a project. They help build affordable housing developments and office buildings, bring supermarkets to food deserts and refurbish main streets.

National Equity Fund® is a nonprofit Chicago-based affiliate of LISC and a leading syndicator of Low Income Housing Tax Credits. Since inception, we have played an integral role in creating affordable housing options, revitalizing communities and strengthening local economies.