Stories

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LISC’s CEO Talks Affordable Housing, Affirmative Action and Committing to a Green Future

In a Q+A with ImpactAlpha, Michael T. Pugh delves into the ways community development finance must operate in the wake of new affirmative action legislation, and what the big-ticket items on LISC’s 2024 investment list are, including small business support and green jobs and homes.

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11.14.2023 -

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.

9.29.2023 -

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.

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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  
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9.21.2022 -

NBC on the Issues That Stymie Black Businesses and How to Overturn Them

An article on NBCNews.com looks at how systemic racism, not to mention inflation and supply chain issues, continue to throw roadblocks in the way of Black entrepreneurs, and how LISC and other supporters are helping small businesses triumph over them. LISC’s Steve Hall, and two entrepreneurs who are benefiting from LISC support, weigh in.

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Phoenix Community Grows With a Taste of Ethiopia

LISC Phoenix program officer David Longoria sat down for lunch at Authentic EthioAfrica with owner Anduale Hassan, who emigrated from Ethiopia in the 1990s with a vision for creating a community space—and two decades of experience in the food business to help make it a reality.