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Innovation
The 10,000-Hour Challenge
Introduction | Take the Challenge | Featured Innovations | Browse Innovations | FAQs
View innovations by the finance and access to capital sector:
Company/Organization Name: Partners for Entrepreneurial Advancement in Kentucky, Inc, (http://peakky.org)
Contact: Mark Johnson, MarkL.Johnson@ky.gov
Focus: finance and access to capital, small business, education, rural development, comprehensive community development
Hours contributed: 200
Description of innovation:
To emphasize the important role that Kentucky’s small and micro businesses have, the Kentucky Commission on Small Business Advocacy and Partners for Entrepreneurial Advancement in Kentucky, Inc (PEAK), a statewide, nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to microenterprise development, are coordinating a specialty small business license plate competition. The competition, which runs through Wednesday, Nov.10, 2010, is open to any small Kentucky-based business with 50 or fewer employees, at least one of which must be a Kentucky resident. Kentucky residents not affiliated with a small business can also participate by partnering with a small business willing to sponsor their submission. There is no fee to submit a design, but the design must be submitted by a qualifying small business. Proceeds collected from those purchasing a small business specialty license plate will be used to fund small business and entrepreneur development programs in Kentucky. More information about the competition may be found at: http://peakky.org/licenseplate.aspx.
Company/Organization Name: EARN, (http://www.earn.org)
Contact: Charlotte Hill, charlotte@earn.org
Focus: finance and access to capital, asset development
Hours contributed: 500
Description of innovation:
EARN is a pioneer in the growing field of financial coaching for low income workers. Financial coaching can be distinguished from counseling, literacy and planning in three key ways: 1. Financial coaching is anchored in behavioral change, not in a transfer of information about finances. 2. Since only the recipient of coaching knows what it will motivate behavioral changes needed to reach financial goals, coaching is client-directed. 3. Being client-directed makes financial coaching inherently empowering to clients. EARN first ventured into financial coaching by convening leaders from around the nation to develop a model that tested financial coaching's success in helping low income workers create lasting economic prosperity. In 2007, EARN used findings from this model to develop a groundbreaking program that focuses almost exclusively on helping low wage clients improve financial behaviors over time – using financial coaching. The program, called WealthCare, is a structured approach to imbuing the financial behaviors known to promote control and leverage of finances in a manner that promotes wealth accumulation. EARN has a unique approach to financial coaching for low income workers. In addition to employing a full-time coach in our main office, we also offer in-depth, high quality trainings in financial coaching techniques to front-line staff at community-based organizations who serve low income families and individuals. What sets Wealthcare apart as an innovative and standard-setting program is its explicit acknowledgment that by focusing on eliciting and repeating desirable financial behaviors over time, low wage workers can build economic prosperity in a sustained way. Our success thus far relies on four critical factors: our programs are 1) anchored in behavior change, 2) thoughtful and targeted in selecting clients, 3) culturally and linguistically relevant to clients, and 4) rigorously evaluated. EARN continues to learn from our research and experience, improving and adjusting our trainings and coaching sessions to serve as the best possible resource for our clients and partner organizations.
Company/Organization Name: Emerge Workplace Solutions, (http://www.emergeloan.com)
Contact: jonathan harrison, jonathan@emergeloan.com
Focus: finance and access to capital, asset development
Hours contributed: 6000
Description of innovation:
Emerge Workplace Solutions is an employee benefit company that offers workplace-based financial stress reducing products and services including our Emerge Loan product—a low interest online lending product-- as an alternative to payday loan and other predatory finance products for employees living paycheck to paycheck. The Emerge online platform features next day loans that build credit, allow longer repayments and are complemented by a suite of financial education and one-on-one financial crisis counseling services that improve long term financial stability. The change we seek Creating a less expensive alternative to payday loans is only the first step in helping workers lead more financially stable lives. Emerge is a scalable, sustainable model for migrating millions of underbanked workers to mainstream banking relationships. Unlike payday loans, Emerge loans keep money in workers’ pockets, improve their financial knowledge and skills, and strengthen their credit so that they qualify for low-interest mainstream bank products. Emerge gives workers the tools and resources needed to stay out of debt, build financial stability, and change their lives.
(Watch video.)Company/Organization Name: innovation@cfed, (http://innovation.cfed.org)
Contact: Anne Li, ali@cfed.org
Focus: housing, finance and access to capital, small business, asset development, workforce development, education, health care, rural development, comprehensive community development
Hours contributed: 6600
Description of innovation:
CFED expands economic opportunity by helping Americans build assets, save for the future, start and grow businesses, pursue education and become homeowners. In 2008, CFED launched innovation@cfed, a platform that accelerates the evolution of the next generation of creative approaches to expanding economic opportunity. Premised on the notion that innovation requires collaboration, innovation@cfed identifies cutting-edge approaches and convenes innovators to accelerate the process of innovation. To identify innovators in the Assets & Opportunities field, innovation@cfed solicits submissions from diverse and creative individuals from around the globe. CFED selects a small number of Innovators-in-Residence to work intensively on bringing an innovative approach to scale during a residency with CFED with access to CFED's resources. CFED also identifies Innovative Idea Champions, individuals with concepts in earlier stages of development that have potential to improve the lives of Americans, and provides the visibility and networking of the innovation@cfed platform to boost their concepts. These Innovators and the entire innovation@cfed community—now numbering more than 1,000—play key roles in Innovation Summits, convenings facilitated by innovation@cfed. These convenings are a central tenet of our mission to foster creative thinking to address the challenges facing low- and moderate-income families. The 2009 Innovation Summit brought together over 250 leaders in Washington, DC, in an interactive and unconventional gathering to work with one another to advance innovative solutions to pressing issues. In 2010, innovation@cfed will host the Innovation Marketplace, a virtual and in-person space reflecting the understanding that innovative ideas can be brought to scale only with engagement from a diverse group of individuals. The Innovation Marketplace will be hosted in conjunction with CFED's 2010 Assets Learning Conference, the largest national gathering of asset-building practitioners. The Conference will take place on September 22-24 in Washington, DC. To be part of innovation@cfed's community of innovators, please visit innovation.cfed.org.
(Watch video.)Company/Organization Name: Cornerstone Corporation for Shared Equity, (http://www.csequity.org)
Contact: Margery Spinney, mspinney@csequity.org
Focus: housing, finance and access to capital
Hours contributed: 10000
Description of innovation:
Renter EquitySM is an alternative to homeownership for people who need affordable rental housing. Renter EquitySM links housing development and management with a wealth building tool for economically disadvantaged households. It was created to sustain housing values, stabilize neighborhoods and build wealth by bringing renters into the property system. People who need affordable housing typically have no savings and depend on public programs in emergencies. Renter EquitySM enables them to plan for personal and financial growth. As part of their lease contract, residents earn "equity credits" each month that their rent is paid on time, they attend the resident association meeting and complete work assignments that maintain and improve the common areas. Credits build on an amortized schedule and can be worth up to $10,000 in ten years. They receive a monthly statement telling them the value of the credits they have earned. After five years, they may withdraw cash or take out a loan using their credits as collateral. There is no restriction on how Renter EquitySM can be used but participants have used it to weather job loss, pay medical bills or education expenses, escape from predatory lenders, start a business or buy a home. Renter EquitySM works because it increases occupancy and rent collection rates above what is typical for rental housing, generating income that would not exist if operated as usual. This "added-value" is invested in a financial fund controlled by the manager that backs the renters' equity credits. The fund may also be capitalized with grants, donations or an operating reserve. The ability to make a contribution to the community, build assets and gain access to credit gives economically disadvantaged people real hope for a better future. Expanded, Renter EquitySM could be a foundation for growth in the national economy.
Company/Organization Name: Corporacion de Desarrollo Economico de Ceiba,CD
Contact: Xiomara Enid Delgado, xiomara.chedco@gmail.com
Focus: housing, finance and access to capital, small business, asset development, workforce development, education, rural development, comprehensive community development
Hours contributed: 100
Description of innovation: Economic Development Center developed by the Corporacion de Desarrollo Economico de Ceiba,CD a non-profit organization dedicated to offer housing, finance and microentrepeneurship for people who want to initiate their businesses. In the last 6 years and with the economic downfall most if not all of the 16 townships that we cover have fallen drastically economically. Unemployment in the island ranges at 16% and in the townships we cover in the north and south eastern portion of the island we have towns that range up to 26%. Most of these townships urban streets are ghost towns and the few businesses that remain struggle to survive on a daily basis. Our initiative in CHEDCO is to rejuvenate and convert some of these townships urban streets into streets full of small markets that tend to the needs of their residents. This initiative of ours started in December when the islands governor initiated a massive layoff of government employees and about 17000 people joined the unemployment lines and an unacounted amount of indirect jobs and businesses were affected. Through our initiative we hope to spark entrepeneurship by being an incubator and taking these interested people from these towns and try to provide them with all the possible knowledge not only for them to become succesful business people but to also provide them with the technical, information and resources to help them be succesful and at the same time to have strong contingency knowledge based plans to help them thru any other economic pitfalls. Our initiative besides educating will also help to initiate networking in our centers and for these business people to be better educated and to be able to market their products, handle their inventories and to be on the lookout for new ventures and to compete effectively. This initiative will create employment in the areas affected and will create a mission between these entrepeneurs to be succesful. We have been bringing them seminars and classes in our center to accomplish such and within the year hopefully we will be able to add the necessary computers, library materials and more consultants, volunteers and Americorps members to help us accomplish this. As we develop the initiative we are also as an organization taking classes, reading books, interviewing people and applying for funds, equipment etc to be able to accomplish this.
Company/Organization Name: Cornerstone Ventures LLC, (http://www.cornerstoneventures.biz)
Contact: Carol Coren, carolcoren@aol.com
Focus: housing, finance and access to capital, small business, asset development, workforce development, health care, rural development, comprehensive community development
Hours contributed: 320
Description of innovation: St. Louis Urban Agriculture Center: Advancing development of a unique Farmer owned and managed Urban Agriculture Center in a St. Louis inner city food desert. The facility will provide residents of Lafayette Square with a 27,000 state of the art supermarket specializing in locally grown, affordable, fresh foods as well a job creating food processing facility and a 60,000 square foot food cultivation greenhouse. It is likely to be the first integrated food system enterprise in the United States and might provide a model for city-based food production/processing/merchandising ventures in other settings. This project will bridge rural/urban divides to provide rural St. Louis food shed farmers with increased income and urban consumers with access to affordable, safe, locally grown food. This project will involve helping St. Louis based Farm to Family Naturally LLC’s Sappington Farmers Market scale up a series of pilot ventures that link small family farmers to school, cafeteria, institution, daycare center and inner city markets in the St. Louis area. It includes populating and implementing innovative, online distribution tools, managing logistics for food packaging and delivery services, creating new jobs for city-based food handlers and food processors and creating new, growing markets for locally grown foods and farm made food products.
Company/Organization Name: Southern Bancorp, (http://www.banksouthern.com)
Contact: Ben Steinberg, bsteinberg@banksouthern.com
Focus: housing, finance and access to capital, small business, asset development, workforce development, education, health care, rural development, comprehensive community development
Hours contributed: 150
Description of innovation: Southern Bancorp closed on a $5 million equity investment from the Kellogg Foundation, representing a new type of philanthropy. By investing in Southern Bancorp, the Kellogg Foundation allows Southern to increase its geographic footprint and to increase its efficiency in operations, enabling it to reach more families in distressed areas. Southern will use the funds to enhance its efforts to revitalize rural communities in the Mississippi Delta. Mississippi is one of three areas of focus for the foundation, including Michigan and New Mexico. This investment will be used to replicate the community-planning work that has been done in Arkansas, in the state of Mississippi. Southern, the largest rural-development bank in the country with $1.1 billion in assets, is well-known for its efforts to revive Helena-West Helena and Phillips County. Southern has spent millions of dollars over more than six years, much donated by the Walton Family Foundation, to spark improvement in Helena-West Helena. The Kellogg Foundation bought $5 million in Southern shares and deposited another $6 million in a certificate of deposit to assist the bank in its community-development activities. Southern combines traditional financial services with nonprofit community development work. Southern hopes the commitment by the Kellogg Foundation will help the bank receive more investments or grants from other similar organizations.
Company/Organization Name: Southern Bancorp Capital Partners, (http://www.southernbancorp.com)
Contact: Shelley Loe, sloe@banksouthern.org
Focus: finance and access to capital, asset development, workforce development, rural development, comprehensive community development
Hours contributed: 415
Description of innovation: As part of the Clark County Strategic Plan, the public supported the need for a child care center in the industrial park to assist parents who may work non traditional shifts. Southern Bancorp Capital Partners researched and applied for a Community Economic Development Grant through the Department of Health and Human Services for $670,000 to build a 7500 square foot child care facility that could serve up to 125 children per shift. This application was submitted with a public and private partnership that included Clark County elected officials, countywide public schools, Henderson State University, Ouachita Baptist University, and Ouachita Technical College, Department of Workforce Services, industry leaders, local businesses and Southern Bancorp. Once the grant was awarded the construction was overseen by John French, President of Southern Bancorp CDC with Harrington Construction hired to complete the project. This is when my work really began. I along with the board began coordinating and overseeing the implementation of child care center regulations, play ground regulations, policy and procedure manuals and hiring experienced staff. With a very knowledgeable board of directors comprising of local superintendents, public school officials, industry leaders and university staff, Southern’s staff were able to create this start up business. The unique challenges of this project have been the 24 hour service. Overcoming the regulations and equipment needed to operate at night has been the easier part of this journey. Although the public stated non traditional child care as a priority, the center has only served 5 children for this need. Due to not being economically feasible the center returned to traditional hours until a waiting list could be filled to open the center for nights and /or weekends. Another challenge has been the cut of swing and night shifts in the industrial park which resulted in layoffs. As our industry has started hiring back their work force we see this as a temporary setback. At this time we have 116 children enrolled with a waiting list for infants and the after school program being filled for summer 2010.
Company/Organization Name: Crawford-Sebastian Community Development Council, Inc., (http://www.cscdccaa.org)
Contact: Karen Phillips, kphillips@cscdccaa.org
Focus: housing, finance and access to capital, small business, asset development, rural development, comprehensive community development
Hours contributed: 60
Description of innovation: We have a very innovative way of providing match funds for the Federal IDA program, Assets for Independence Act. After much conversation with the University of Arkansas, Fort Smith, Foundation they decided to provide the non-federal match for all IDA’s that were being used for education at UAFS. To date, they have donated $30,792 which was matched with $30,792 federal funds and another $15,396 in participants own savings. The Individual Development Account Program allows participants to save for their goals as they attend financial management classes to enable them to manage their money better. When they have saved their goal amount, their funds are matched $3 for every $1 they save (half of which must be non-federal match). The funds are then used for tuition and books.
