Full text of Bridges (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis) : Bridges, Summer 2003

The full text on this page is automatically extracted from the file linked above and may contain errors and inconsistencies.

LINKING

LENDERS

AND

SUMMER 2003

COMMUNITIES

P U B L I S H E D Q U A RT E R LY
BY THE COMMUNITY
A F F A I R S D E PA RT M E N T O F
THE FEDERAL RESERVE
B A N K O F S T. L O U I S

INDEX

4

BRIDGES
6

How CRA Affects
Communities, Banks

Spanning the Region

Calendar/Resources

7

W W W. S T L O U I S F E D . OR G

Treasur y Awards
New Tax Credits

8

What Is a Community Land Trust?
By Linda Fischer
Assistant Editor
For more than 30 years, the
Institute for Community Economics has touted community land
trusts as a way to stabilize neighborhoods and provide affordable
homes to low- and moderateincome residents. The concept
has taken hold in coastal states
like Massachusetts and Washington, where real estate costs have
been escalating for years, but
it is not as well-known in the
Middle West or the Mid South,
where, until recently, prices have
remained fairly reasonable.
The institute describes a community land trust as a private,
nonprofit organization that buys
land and holds it in trust for the
benefit of a community. Typically, the community land trust
sells the houses that are on the
land or builds new residences
on it. The organization retains
ownership of the land while

providing a 99-year renewable
land lease for a nominal fee to the
homeowner. By subtracting the
cost of the land from a home purchase, the community land trust
makes homeownership a possibility for low-income buyers.
The homeowner can make
improvements to the land, such
as fences and gardens, and pass
on the house to heirs. The one
thing the homeowner cannot do
is realize a windfall profit if he
decides to sell the house.
To ensure that the housing
remains affordable for future
generations, there is a cap on
the profit a homeowner can
make. Resale formulas vary, but

most trusts use appraisal-based
formulas that set the maximum
price as the total of what the
house cost the homeowner plus
a percentage of the increase in
market value.
Community land trust developments come in a variety of
shapes and sizes. They have
been used in urban neighborhoods and in rural settings.
Although most are established to
create affordable housing, some
support local businesses or parks
or even community gardens.
In Bloomington, Ind., Housing
Solutions Inc. has an ongoing
mission to develop community
land trust neighborhoods. It

started its first project, a 29-lot
subdivision called Autumnview,
in 1993 in partnership with the
city and county governments.
The city used grant funds to
construct roads, sidewalks, and
water and sewer lines on undeveloped land that had been
donated to the county. Housing
Solutions, a local nonprofit
organization, was selected to be
the steward of the land. Energyefficient, affordable, custom
homes were built and sold. As
each home was sold, the city
deeded the lot to Housing Solutions. Today, Housing Solutions
is working on two more subdivisions, which will feature 77
houses in mixed-income areas.

Success in Indiana
Housing Solutions Inc. has almost
10 years’ experience as a community land
trust developer. In a commentary on the
next two pages, Executive Director Jeff
Stone gives his perspective on such trusts
and the social mores that drive them.

For a wealth of information
on community land trusts,
visit the Institute for Community Economics web site
at www.iceclt.org and the
Housing Solutions web site at
www.housingsolutionsinc.net.

A Commentary

Community Land Trust: It’s Time to Back a Proven Winner
By Jeff Stone
Executive Director
Housing Solutions Inc.
Is the glass halfempty or halffull? It’s the
classic question
that pits optimism against
pessimism. As a
community land trust developer
of affordable housing, I see it as
the quintessential metaphor for
capitalism. Pour the contents
into a smaller glass, and it is a full
glass of water. Pour it into an
even smaller glass, and your cup
runneth over. Pour the same volume of water into a larger vessel,
and it is a drop in the bucket. To
someone who thirsts, these comparatives are a moot point. It’s a
glass of water, plain and simple.
Housing Solutions Inc., in
Bloomington, Ind., is the only
community land trust developer
of affordable housing in the state.
Our first home was completed
almost 10 years ago. Our 50th
will be completed this year.
With unequivocal success as
purveyors of truly affordable, custom-built homes, why are we still
the only game in Indiana? There
are approximately 100 community land trusts nationwide. The
concept is a proven winner and
dates back to previous centuries.
With a charge from the Department of Housing and Urban

Development to boost home
ownership opportunities for lowand moderate-income families,
why are communities slow to
take the lead?
A home buyer who takes this
opportunity is also providing
opportunity for future home buyers. Buying a land trust home is
building and buying with a sense
of social conscience. The nonprofit developer, together with
the home buyer, is building
something that is affordable to
buy, affordable to own and that
will be sold affordably one day

The classic American dream
of home ownership has evolved
through the years. In its original form, it was having a piece
of land, a place to call your
own, free and clear...no one
tellin’ ya what to do.
The evolving American dream
of home ownership represents a
free-market mentality. In this
dream, home ownership is a
way to make gobs of money.
Buy low. Sell high. Get the
most you can as quickly as possible. For these folks, the land
trust glass is half-empty.

As each land trust home and neighborhood
is built, an increasing stock of permanently
affordable homes is created.
to someone who needs a good
home at a great price.
As each land trust home and
neighborhood is built, an increasing stock of permanently affordable homes is created. For
markets where real estate appreciates at breakneck speed, this is a
model that is needed. Nonprofit
community land trusts are stewards of the land, ensuring affordability over time.
Limited equity and the technicality of not owning the land
under one’s home are the unconventional hallmarks of land-trust
home ownership. They are what
are attractive to some and unAmerican to others.

LINKING

LENDERS

2

For a society where more is
better, community land trusts are
a niche market. For home buyers who embrace the concept,
they are allowed into the game
of home ownership through an
unconventional theory that is
imperceptible in its differences,
except for the substantial savings.
And they are no longer thirsty.
The acceptance of community
land trusts as a viable, marketable alternative requires more
than understanding from the
consumer. Land trusts only work
with governmental cooperation
and strong partnerships with
local lending institutions. Local
governments must support the

AND

COMMUNITIES

concept by assisting nonprofits
with grant funds or by purchasing or developing areas dedicated
for land-trust neighborhoods.
And banks have to move off center. Conventional thinking alone
is not thinking at all. It’s safe.
It’s easy. But it is not innovative.
And innovative thinking is not
necessarily risky business.
Fannie Mae urges its lenders to
purchase its land trust mortgage
product because it means positive
growth. And that’s good business. Fannie Mae is taking the
risk out of conservative underwriting criteria by backing this
less conventional purchase
model. And how risky is it, anyway? A “normal” mortgage covers the lot and house value. In
case of default, the value is, presumably, in the entire package.
The loan is collateralized by the
house and land. In the land trust
model, only the improvement—
the home—is financed. There is
a lesser value and, therefore, a
lesser loan. The collateral is realized. The value of the lot is
removed and owned by the nonprofit. It is outside of the mortgage structure. Different? Not
really—just smaller.
There are a number of challenges with niche markets. There
is NIMBY-ism...the “not in my
backyard” cry of adjacent property owners. There is the basic
fear of purchasing something that
is so different. However, lending

institutions that hide behind conventionality as conservatism exacerbate these inherent challenges
in the marketplace. There is
nothing more or less conservative
in a home mortgage for traditional home purchasing than
there is in a home mortgage for a
land trust home. The collateral
model is served in both cases.
What happens if the nonprofit
goes out of business? On the
one hand, the answer is in protections written into the nonprofit’s bylaws. Provisions are in
place to ensure that the management and ownership, and therefore the survival of the concept,
are passed along either to another
nonprofit or, temporarily, to local
government. On the other hand,
a more flippant response is:
What’s the difference? The loan
is not on the land. The mortgage
is on the value of the improvement and is a contract with the
home owner. The stewardship of
the land is separate and does not
enter into foreclosure concerns.
The bank’s interest is in the
improvements only. Foreclosure
(a word we all hate to say) would
be with the consumer, as with
any traditional purchase.
To entice lenders to the table,
there is the further incentive of
the Community Reinvestment Act
(CRA). For doing the morally
commendable act of lending to
lesser economic demographics,
lending institutions receive credit.

Do the right thing out of a moral
obligation to help your community, and you get more than an
inner glow. It’s the proverbial
win-win situation.
Some small local banks have
chosen to place in-house loans for
land-trust mortgages in portfolios.
It’s a way to take small steps, minimizing risk. Some banks will
limit these loans to a case-by-case
basis. Others will commit to a
spate of five or 10 loans. Some
will forgive PMI or provide a
percentage break. The scenarios
are endless.
One of the most significant
aspects of partnering with a local
nonprofit community land trust
is the economic development that
it represents. Each home built,

bought and sold represents local
laborers put to work, local materials purchased, mortgage and
insurance products written and
sold, an increase in the local tax
base, neighborhoods upgraded,
real estate values appreciating and
lives stabilized. This needed but
under-attended market niche is
an economic engine itself.
Thin profit margins are unattractive to for-profit developers;
therefore, larger and more expensive homes drive market conditions and leave little choice for
the working poor. In the hands
of nonprofits, land trusts are a
vital alternative for viable and
eligible home buyers disenfranchised by an inflated, profitdriven housing market.

Housing Solutions Inc. of Bloomington, Ind., builds houses in a variety of sizes and styles. They currently
range in price from $70,00 to $119,000.

ON

THE

INTERNET

AT

3

WWW.STLOUISFED.ORG

It has been well-established
and documented that home ownership provides a stable environment for families. School-aged
children who come from owneroccupied households have a
better chance at success. And
parents, given the opportunity to
better themselves through home
ownership, are relieved of some
economic uncertainties by controlling more of their finances
and their future. The benefits
of equity have been well-known
and accessible to the well-off, but
have been largely kept from folks
of more modest means.
Housing Solutions has been
breaking the mold for what
affordable housing looks like
and feels like. By custom building each home, people with a
little less are treated with dignity. Full rights and opportunities are available, and the
process is as exciting as building
your own dream home should
be. The old model provided
static plans. Buy this or don’t.
By providing a real voice,
grateful home buyers are vested
in the process and even prouder
of the choices they have made.
By choosing a land trust home,
there is the added pride of
putting something into place for
the future of the community and
future generations. For everyone
who has a hand in this—providing a glass of water to those who
thirst—our cup runneth over.

CRA: How It Affects Communities and Banks
By Linda Fischer
Assistant Editor
Since the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) was written into
law in 1977, scores of bankers
have brought their institutions into
compliance with the regulation
and scores of experts have studied
the resulting impact, particularly
on lending patterns. Some praise
the CRA as an effective tool for
increasing the amount of credit
available to low- and moderateincome people. Others criticize
it as an unnecessary regulation.
Less attention has been paid to
the CRA’s impact on communities
and to whether CRA agreements
actually bring about change in
banks’ behavior. Two papers that
tackle those topics are summarized here. They were presented
this past spring at the Federal
Reserve System’s 2003 Community Affairs academic research
conference in Washington, D.C.,
and can be found in their entirety
at www.chicagofed.org. (Click
on “Consumer and Economic
Development Research Information Center.”)
“The Effects of the
Community Reinvestment Act
on Local Communities”
The CRA requires federal regulatory agencies to encourage
banking institutions to help meet
the credit needs of the entire
community in which they are
chartered to do business. To

accomplish this, the agencies
review banks’ records and take
their CRA performance into
account when considering their
applications for a charter,
merger or acquisition.
Whether the CRA has significant, little or no impact on communities is unclear, according to
a study by researchers at the
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.
“Results are mixed and could
potentially provide support for
very different views of the effects
of the CRA,” they said.
“One view is that the CRA
does matter and contributes to
favorable outcomes for lowerincome neighborhoods.
“An alternative view holds
that the CRA does not have a
significant impact on lowerincome neighborhoods.”
The outcome of the study on
the socio-economic effects of the
CRA on local communities was
no surprise. This type of
research has been scarce precisely because it is difficult to
assess what would have taken
place had the law not been
enacted, the researchers said.

LINKING

LENDERS

“The CRA does not exist in a
vacuum; many changes have
taken place over the years that
affect the same markets as those
targeted by the CRA,” they said.
Examples are changing regulatory or economic environments.
With that in mind, the
researchers developed a framework and tested for changes that
may have occurred between 1990
and 2000 in census tracts most
likely to show marginal effects:
those just below and those just
above the income threshold for
CRA designation. They examined whether differences between
the two were related to CRA
mortgage-lending activity.
Supporting the conclusion
that the CRA has a positive
effect, the analysis found that
in CRA-designated census tracts,
there were lower vacancy rates,
higher homeownership rates and
higher growth in owner-occupied
units than would have been predicted when compared with
changes in the census tracts that
were not CRA-eligible. The
results, which were statistically
significant, appeared to be related
to CRA activity. Banks that had

4

AND

COMMUNITIES

outstanding CRA ratings had a
higher market share of mortgage
lending in the CRA-eligible tracts
than in the tracts just above the
eligibility threshold.
On the other hand, results for
the effect of CRA on crime and
median home values showed
that lower-income neighborhoods fared worse than would
have been predicted. In addition, even though homeownership rates and the growth of
owner-occupied units were
favorable, the results were not
robust. Finally, banks with satisfactory CRA ratings had a
lower market share of mortgage
lending in CRA-eligible tracts.
The authors point out that
one explanation for a lack of
definitive results could be limitations in the designs of the
tests. Because CRA has historically targeted lower-income census tracts, the tests focused on
these neighborhoods. “However, it may be the case, that in
practice, compliance with the
law focuses more on lowerincome borrowers or groupings
of neighborhoods that can cut
across census tracts both above
and below the CRA-eligibility
threshold. This may occur
because an individual census
tract is simply too small to effectively target. If so, then our
tests might fail to detect the real
impact of the law.”
The authors of “The Effects of the Community Reinvestment Act on Local Communities” are Robert B.
Avery, Paul S. Calem and Glenn B. Canner.

“What Makes CRA Agreements
Work? A Study of Lender
Responses to CRA Agreements”
Another study suggests that
CRA agreements do, in fact,
bring about change in banks’
lending behavior. The preliminary results indicate that when
lenders enter into a CRA agreement, they increase their targeted lending in a community.
Mortgage counseling appears to
be particularly important in
spurring increased lending,
while the existence of review
committees seems to depress
lending somewhat.
The study, conducted by a
professor at the University of
Southern California and a professor at the University of
Delaware, focused on 51 CRA
agreements made between 1993
and 2001. Such agreements
are growing in popularity with
banks that are eager to improve
their CRA ratings. In the last
20 years, more than 300 CRA
agreements have been forged
between banks and community
groups or government entities.
Typically, a bank promises to
engage in a specified volume
of lending to targeted groups
or communities, such as lowerincome and minority individuals.
The researchers faced a number
of challenges when collecting
data for the study.
“Identifying and tracking
lending institutions...was complicated by the fact that the
banking industry underwent
considerable consolidation during the 1990s,” the study says.

Characteristics of CRA Agreements in the Sample
(The authors examined 51 agreements, each lasting approximately five years.
All figures, except dollar amounts, represent a percentage of the agreements.)
Average total pledge amount (cumulative)
Average mortgage pledge amount (cumulative)

$2.3 million
$1.1 million

TYPE OF AGREEMENT
Formal contract
Voluntary lender pledge

82.4
17.6

MONETARY PLEDGES
Other mortgage-related
Small business-related
Minority-, women-owned businesses
Community development
Other

37.3
68.6
23.5
66.7
49.0

SERVICE-RELATED PLEDGES
Mortgage technical assistance and counseling
Small business technical assistance
Branch-related

45.1
17.6
39.2

OTHER COMMITMENTS
Review committee meetings
Monthly
Quarterly
Semi-annually
Annually
Minority hiring pledges
Staff
Board

2.0
17.6
11.8
7.8
21.6
5.9

“Many of the lenders that entered
into the CRA agreements in our
data were subsequently purchased by or merged into other
institutions and no longer exist.”
Even if the researchers could
track the original bank through
mergers, they could not directly
compare loans made toward the
end of the study period with the
earlier years because the later
years included activity by the
larger institution.
To compensate for these circumstances, the researchers con-

ON

THE

INTERNET

AT

structed hypothetical institutions,
including the original lender who
entered into the CRA agreement
and all independent institutions
the lender was affiliated with
through consolidation between
1993 and 2001.
The data indicated that, during
the years the agreement was
active, most lenders increased
their lending by 65 percent, when
measured by number of loans,
and 94 percent, when measured
by dollar volume. However, the
study also showed significant dif-

5

WWW.STLOUISFED.ORG

ferences among lenders. Some
had dramatic increases in lending—more than 25 percent had a
two-fold increase in their lending
(increases of more than 100 percent). But between 35 percent
and 45 percent of the lenders
reduced their lending.
A more detailed statistical
analysis confirmed the finding
that lenders generally increased
their targeted lending upon
entering a CRA agreement. In
addition, the increase in lending
occurred gradually over time,
with the largest increases being
observed in the second and
third years after the initiation of
an agreement. Beyond this
point, there was a great deal of
variation in lender experiences,
and the authors were unable to
conclude that there was a uniform increase in lending.
The most effective agreements
included mortgage counseling
or other technical assistance for
individuals, which would indicate that collaboration between
the banks and community organizations is important. However, the study found that when
community groups established
review committees to oversee
the lender’s activities, possibly
an adversarial move, the level of
lending was adversely affected.
Future work will focus
on whether lenders satisfied
the pledges outlined in the
agreements.
The authors are Raphael W. Bostic, associate professor at the University of Southern California, and
Breck L. Robinson, assistant professor at the University of Delaware. A portion of this research was
conducted while Bostic was an employee of the
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.

SPANNING

THE REGION
The region served by the Feder al Reserve Bank of

IDA Investors Get Tax Breaks
in Missouri, Indiana, Arkansas
Tax credits are available to
investors in individual development accounts (IDAs) in three
states in the Eighth Federal
Reserve District. Missouri, Indiana and Arkansas all have statelegislated programs that offer
the tax credits for contributions
to IDAs.
Other states in the Fed’s
Eighth District that have some
form of IDA programs are Illinois, Tennessee and Mississippi.
Federal legislation under consideration, the Savings for Working Families Act of 2003, includes
a proposal for a federal IDA tax
credit for financial institutions
that invest in the programs.
IDAs are savings accounts that
help lower-income people build
assets by providing matching
funds from public and private
sources.
For information on IDA programs and policies by state, visit
www.idanetwork.org/.
St. Louis Temp Agency Trains
Bilingual Bank Employees
Three St. Louis groups have
teamed up to provide qualified
bilingual employees for banks.
TelTemps, along with the
St. Louis Agency on Training
and Employment (SLATE) Career
Center and the International
Institute of St. Louis, have formed
the Bi-Lingual Bank Training &

Employment
Project. The
collaboration is working to address the
needs of banks that have a growing customer base of immigrants
from Latin America, Bosnia, Vietnam and other countries.
TelTemps will prescreen and
train bilingual and multilingual
employees.
For more information, contact
Casandra Brown at TelTemps Inc.
at (314) 367-1400 or 1-877835-8367 (toll free).

S t. L o u i s e n c o m pa s s e s a l l o f A r k a n s a s a n d pa rt s o f M i s s o u r i ,
I l l i n o i s , I n d i a n a , K e n t u c k y, T e n n e s s e e a n d M i s s i s s i p p i .

Indiana counties eligible for
IHFA housing grants are: Crawford, Daviess, Dearborn, Decatur,
Dubois, Fayette, Floyd, Franklin,
Gibson, Greene, Harrison, Jackson, Lawrence, Martin, Monroe,
Ohio, Orange, Owen, Perry, Pike,
Posey, Ripley, Scott, Spencer,
Switzerland, Union, Vanderburgh
and Vigo.
For more information on the
program and the next funding
round, call Scott Burgins or Ron
Walker at SDG at 1-800-939-2449.

Indiana Counties Eligible
for Housing Assessments
The Southern Indiana Rural
Development Project’s (SIRDP)
Housing Task Force has started
a new housing needs assessment
program for eligible counties.
With this program, the task
force can help counties determine neighborhood needs, the
types of housing that are lacking, key housing and economic
trends, and available, affordable
housing resources.
The assessments will be funded
by grants from the Indiana Housing Finance Authority (IHFA).
Participating counties must provide a 10 percent funding match,
which can be made through inkind services. Strategic Development Group Inc. (SDG) staff
will handle the technical work,
including demographic research
and market studies.

LINKING

LENDERS

Arkansas Legislators Pass Law
to Combat Predatory Lending
The Arkansas General Assembly passed in April its first legislation aimed at predatory lenders.
The Arkansas Home Loan
Protection Act (Act 1340) prohibits predatory lending in the
home mortgage market. The
law will become effective in
mid-July. The Fair Mortgage
Lending Act (Act 554), which
establishes licensing standards
for mortgage brokers, will take
effect Jan. 1, 2004. Legislators
are hoping that the two laws
will work together to eliminate
predatory lending in Arkansas.
For the full text of these acts,
log on to www.arkleg.state.ar.us
and type the act number into
the space provided.

6

AND

COMMUNITIES

FreshRate Provides Aid
on Mortgage Down Payments
Coming up with a down
payment for a house can be a
daunting task. FreshRate, a new
program from Kentucky League
of Cities (KLC) Financial Services, helps potential home
buyers overcome this obstacle.
With FreshRate, qualified
home buyers can receive up to
5 percent of the purchase price
of their home through a forgivable government grant. FreshRate is supported by KLC bonds
with assistance from the Fannie
Mae Kentucky Partnership Office.
For more information on
FreshRate, contact Anthony
Wright at KLC at 1-800-8764552, ext. 3781, or at
awright@klc.org.

CALENDAR

AUGUST
4-8

OCTOBER
8-11

11

Community Development
Institute—Conway, Ark.
Sponsors: University of Central Arkansas,
Entergy, SBC and the Arkansas Department
of Economic Development
www.uca.edu/conted/cdi
(501) 450-5274

Fair Lending Meeting—Collinsville, Ill.
Sponsors: Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
and Land of Lincoln Legal Assistance Foundation in East St. Louis, Ill.
www.stlouisfed.org/community
(314) 444-8646

5

National Community Development
Lending School—Atlanta
Sponsor: Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco in partnership with the Federal Reserve
Bank of Atlanta and Georgia Tech University
www.frbsf.org/community
(415) 974-2422

Casinos and Local Development–St. Louis
Sponsor: Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
www.stlouisfed.org/community
(314) 444-8317

SEPTEMBER
8, 9, 10
Workshops on the Federal Reserve’s Local
Economic Impact Analysis Tool
Sept. 8—Columbia, Mo.
Sept. 9—Mount Vernon, Ill.
Sept. 10—Evansville, Ind.
Sponsor: Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
www.stlouisfed.org/community
(314) 444-8891

14-18

23
St. Louis Community/Lender Luncheon
Resource Fair—St. Louis
Sponsor: Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
(314) 444-8891

Investing In Communities—Detroit
Sponsor: NCCED, 33rd Annual Conference
www.ncced.org/conferences
(202) 289-9020

9-10
Governor’s Housing
Conference—Louisville, Ky.
Sponsor: Kentucky Housing Corp.
www.kyhousing.org
(502) 564-7630

BRIDGES
Bridges is a publication of the Community
Affairs department of the Federal Reserve
Bank of St. Louis. It is intended to inform
bankers, community development organizations, representatives of state and local
government agencies and others in the
Eighth District about current issues and
initiatives in community and economic
development. The Eighth District includes
the state of Arkansas and parts of Illinois,
Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri
and Tennessee.

15-18

Contributors:

2003 Annual Training
Conference—New York City
Sponsor: National Community
Capital Association
www.communitycapital.org
(215) 923-4754

Glenda Wilson
Community Affairs Officer
Editor
Linda Fischer
Assistant Editor
Ellen Eubank
Community Affairs Manager

28-Oct. 3

Matthew Ashby
Community Affairs Specialist

Community Development Academy,
Courses 1 and 3—St. Louis
Sponsor: University of Missouri-Columbia,
Community Development Extension Program
www.ssu.missouri.edu/commdev/
(573) 882-8320

Lyn Haralson
Community Affairs Analyst
Jean Morisseau-Kuni
Community Affairs Analyst

RESOURCES

Faith Weekly
Community Affairs Analyst

Solutions for America–The Pew Partnership’s
web site showcases best practices in community
development in 16 states. The partnership’s
research presents information that other communities can use when developing and operating
similar programs. Visit www.pew-partnership.org.
Building Creative Economies: The Arts, Entrepreneurship and Economic Development–Produced by Americans for the Arts, the document
shares the stories of rural communities that
revitalized their economies through the arts,
crafts and heritage of their regions. The document, available at www.arc.gov/entrepreneurship,
is a summary of the proceedings of a conference
held April 28-30, 2002, in Asheville, N.C.
2002 State of the Business Incubation IndustryThe National Business Incubation Association
reports that 950 business incubators were operating in North America in 2001, up from 587 in
1998. Nearly half were mixed-use incubators
that accepted a variety of clients. Academic

institutions were the most common sponsor of
incubation programs. To obtain the report, call
(740) 593-4331 or visit the association’s online
bookstore at www.nbia.org/bookstore.
Where We Stand–The East-West Gateway Coordinating Council in St. Louis revises its signature publication on the state of the St. Louis
metropolitan area every three years. Where We
Stand compares the social, fiscal, economic
and physical health of the St. Louis region with
34 similar regions in the United States. The
most recent publication was released last fall
and uses information from the 2000 census.
For a complimentary copy or to have a speaker
come to a meeting, call (314) 421-4220 or
(618) 274-2750 or go to www.ewgateway.org.
Directory of Rural Community Developers–This
directory identifies more than 1,000 rural, community-based development organizations across
the country and summarizes their activities in four
areas: affordable housing, essential facilities,

ON

THE

INTERNET

AT

7

businesses and jobs, and basic services. The
directory is available at www.ruralamerica.org.
FIELD Best Practices Guide–The Microenterprise Fund for Innovation, Effectiveness, Learning and Dissemination (FIELD), a program of
the Aspen Institute, has produced a series of
guides offering microenterprise trainers and service providers information they need to identify
and train clients. The guides can be found at
www.fieldus.org/publications/index.html.
State Asset Development Report Card:
Benchmarking Asset Development in Fighting
Poverty–The report card uses 68 socioeconomic and policy measures to compare states
on how assets are accumulated, distributed
and protected among their citizens, particularly
those not in the economic mainstream. The
report, a product of the Corporation for Enterprise Development, has up-to-date data on
asset distribution and policy for each of the 50
states. Visit www.cfed.org.

WWW.STLOUISFED.ORG

If you have an interesting community
development program or idea, we would
like to consider publishing an article by
or about you. Please contact:
Linda Fischer
Assistant Editor
Bridges
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
P.O. Box 442
St. Louis, MO 63166
The views expressed in Bridges are not
necessarily those of the Federal Reserve
Bank of St. Louis or of the Federal Reserve
System. Material herein may be reprinted
or abstracted as long as Bridges is credited.
Please provide the assistant editor with a
copy of any publication in which such
material is reprinted.
Free subscriptions and additional copies
are available on request by calling
(314) 444-8761 or by e-mail to
communityaffairs@stls.frb.org.

Treasury Awards New Markets Tax Credits

Morisseau-Kuni Joins
Community Affairs

Sixty-six organizations recently were
awarded $2.5 billion in tax credit allocations to help low-income neighborhoods.
The organizations are the first to
receive allocations from the Department
of the Treasury under the New Markets
Tax Credit (NMTC) program. The tax credits are designed to stimulate economic
opportunity and job creation in lowincome communities.
Organizations either located in or planning investments in the St. Louis Federal
Reserve Bank’s Eighth District are:

Jean Morisseau-Kuni
recently
joined the
Community
Affairs staff
at the Federal
Reserve Bank of St. Louis as a
community affairs analyst in
the St. Louis office.
Morisseau-Kuni has held
positions in many areas of
the bank since she joined
the Federal Reserve in
1974. Most recently, she
was a trainer and customer
support analyst in Electronic Access Support.
She attended Lindenwood
University in St. Charles,
Mo., where she majored
in business.
Morisseau-Kuni will provide technical support and
facilitate communication
between banks and community organizations in St. Louis
and southern Illinois. She
may be reached at (314) 4448646 or 1-800-333-0810.

The Illinois Facilities Fund
Headquarters: Chicago
Allocation: $10 million
Contact: Trinita Logue (312) 629-0060
tlogue@iffund.org
All of the fund’s activities will be concentrated within the state of Illinois.

Urban Development Fund LLC
A subsidiary of Aries Capital
Headquarters: Chicago
Allocation: $15 million
Contact: Michael Qualizza (773) 960-1181
mqualizza@yahoo.com
UDF has a nationwide service area but
anticipates conducting most of its activities in
Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, Michigan,
New York and Texas.

Post Office Box 442
St. Louis, MO 63166-0442

CBSI Development Fund Inc.
A subsidiary of the Community Bank
of Southern Indiana
Headquarters: New Albany, Ind.
Allocation: $3 million
Contact: Kevin Cecil (812) 981-7347
All of its activities are likely to be
concentrated in low-income communities
in urban areas (principally New Albany, Ind.,
and Louisville, Ky.).

Community Trust Community
Development Corp.
A subsidiary of Community Trust Bank, N.A.
Headquarters: Pikeville, Ky.
Allocation: $7 million
Contact: Kevin Stumbo (606) 432-1414
stumbo.kevin@ctbi.com
The organization will concentrate its activities in central, eastern and southern Kentucky.

Community Ventures Corp.
Southeast Indiana
Community Development
A subsidiary of the Area 12 Council
on Aging & Community Services
(dba LifeTime Housing Group)
Headquarters: Dillsboro, Ind.
Allocation: $3 million
Contact: Sally Beckley (812) 432-6204
housing@lifetime-resources.org
Most of its investments will be in the
cities of Aurora and Versailles, Ind.

Citizens Business
Development Co. LLC
A subsidiary of Citizens Bank & Trust Co.
of Jackson, Ky.
Headquarters: Jackson, Ky.
Allocation: $3 million
Contact: Burton Bellamy
(606) 666-7575
bbellamy@citizensbankjackson.com
The company will concentrate all of its
activity in rural Kentucky.

Headquarters: Lexington, Ky.
Allocation: $12 million
Contact: Kevin Smith (859) 231-0054
ksmith@cvcky.org
CVC will be serving low-income communities throughout Kentucky.

Enterprise Corp. of the Delta
Headquarters: Jackson, Miss.
Allocation: $15 million
Contact: William Bynum (601) 944-1100
wbynum@ecd.org
Investments will be made in Arkansas,
Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee.

First State Development Corp.
A subsidiary of First State Bank
Headquarters: Union City, Tenn.
Allocation: $7 million
Contact: John Clark (731) 886-8851
johnc@cfbanc.com
First State will focus its activities on Fulton County in Kentucky and Lake and Obion
counties in Tennessee.

FIRST-CLASS MAIL
U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
ST. LOUIS, MO
PERMIT NO. 444