Indepth analysis of persistant problems in the field of community development. Woodstock's research reports contribute to the body of knowledge used by policymakers and community development practitioners.
This report analyzes how sectoral networks, a fairly recent innovation in microenterprise development in the United States, facilitate the establishment of formal and informal alliances between firms producing similar products or services. The programs profiled are: Rural Ohio's Appalachian Center for Economic Networks (ACEnet) Food Ventures program; and the Chicago-based Women's Business Development Center's (WBDC) Apparel Roundtable. The report describes each program's technical assistance, mentorship, and networking services and how the programs affect job creation, increased sales, and improved entrepreneurial capacity.
Analyzes patterns of small business lending in Milwaukee, WI and discovers significant discrepancies in such lending by race and income of neighborhood.
Describes how different parts of the Chicago area fared in different industrial sectors from 1991-1996, and determines whether job sprawl has slowed in the 1990s compared to the 1980s. Examines municipal-level employment changes within the region to identify relationships between suburban income and racial demographics and changes in employment levels. The report also lays out key policy implications, focusing on state and federal government.
This paper focuses the increase in high cost consumer and home mortgage debt as a dangerous threat to asset preservation and examines the Consumer Rescue Fund, innovative program administered by the National CommunityReinvestment Coalition (NCRC) that employs several strategies that enable consumers to preserve home ownership in the face of foreclosure by high cost lenders.
