Stories
From Housing to Economic Mobility: Inside LISC’s Strategies for Change with CEO Michael T. Pugh
In a wide-ranging interview with Denver Fredericks, host of the Business of Giving podcast, LISC CEO Michael T. Pugh describes the pillars of LISC's work investing in communities and what's on the horizon for the CDFI under his leadership. "[We] can be a real catalyst for economic development in communities," says Pugh. "And frankly the best is yet to come."
Local LISC Leadership Gets the Spotlight
A recent spate of articles about LISC local office leaders shine a bright light onto the commitment, expertise and hard work our executive directors bring to the complex and demanding job of investing in communities that have been marginalized. Check out these conversations with Hampton Roads, Virginia's Jay Grant, New York's Valerie White, and Jacksonville's Dr. Irvin Cohen.
Small Businesses Feel the Heat of Wage Hikes, Inflation and a Hot Labor Market
In an article in CNBC, Steve Hall, LISC’s vice president of economic development lending, analyzes the challenges small business owners face amid inflation and wage hikes coming in 2024. Balancing bottom lines with attracting talent and paying living wages in a volatile economic landscape makes for "a very precarious situation that small businesses find themselves in,” Hall said.
How JPMorgan Chase Partners with LISC Detroit and Others to Help the City Flourish
An article in Fortune highlights a $200 million investment from JPMorgan Chase to support small business and local community development funds. The funding has helped LISC Detroit, the Entrepreneurs of Color Fund (EOCF) and the Detroit Housing Fund create economic opportunities for thousands of Detroit residents. LISC senior vice president Tahirih Ziegler is quoted on the imperative of investing in affordable housing to protect against displacement in Detroit’s vulnerable communities.
Anatomy of a Small Biz Partnership with Kevin Hart
Steve Hall, LISC’s vp for small business lending, recently joined entrepreneurship columnist Gene Marks on the Paychex Thrive podcast to describe how LISC’s partnership with Kevin Hart and his Gran Coramino tequila brand gets grants to Black and Latinx small biz owners—and why that’s so important. Part of the beauty of the collaboration, said Hall, is how Hart puts his all into creating opportunity for others, “even through his comedy.”
Paychex Thrive Podcast
In an Inflationary Environment, Are Bond Buyers Still Interested in CDFIs?
In a new ImpactAlpha blog, Christina Travers and Kathleen Keefe discuss LISC’s recent experience in the capital markets and what it might signal about investor engagement with CDFIs. “Is this environment forcing investors to step back from community development finance? Or, are they willing to respond with “catalytic capital” that specifically meets this moment?”