For the past year, ILSR and Recast City have collaborated on bringing Equitable Lending Leaders, a program to help small business lending programs reach more underserved entrepreneurs and small business owners, particularly owners of color. Now that more than 120 RLFs have participated in Equitable Lending Leaders, we have identified several best practices.… Read More
In Governing, ILSR Senior Researcher Kennedy Smith and Santa Cruz County Supervisor Ryan Coonerty examine how cities and towns can create affordable space for local businesses and foster a built environment that supports entrepreneurship.… Read More
Wall Street-funded delivery services are taking a huge bite out of restaurants’ meager revenues. Restaurant owners are desperate and furious — and cities are pushing back.… Read More
A recent contract opens the way for billions of dollars in local government spending to shift to Amazon. The good news is that, for concerned citizens and public officials, Amazon’s push into the public sector offers a way to take action at the local level and start a concrete conversation about Amazon’s power and what we should do about it. In this fact sheet, we outline three strategies to use to take action.… Read More
As independent businesses are grappling with the rising cost of rent in many U.S. cities, a new strategy is catching on: Policies that set-aside space for local businesses in new development. Here’s a look at three new programs that show how this tool can work — and offer examples of a step that cities can take to strengthen locally owned businesses.… Read More
Local governments are increasingly turning to Amazon for their buying needs. When they do, though, citizens lose. Here’s why you should be concerned about this spreading trend — and 5 things you can do.… Read More
At a recent New York City Council hearing, ILSR submitted testimony examining the importance of locally owned businesses to the City, the crisis affecting them, and examples of effective and proven policy strategies to level the playing field for these businesses.… Read More
The decision of which firm will get the food service contract at the City Hall cafeteria doesn’t always make it into the news, but local governments spend a lot of money. In towns, counties, and states everywhere, there are roads to be paved, lawyers to be hired, and office supplies to be purchased, and the rules set up to govern those contracts—procurement policies—hold significant potential for governments to grow their local economies.… Read More
Under what has become known as the “dark store” method, big-box retailers are declaring their busy stores to be functionally obsolescent and therefore nearly worthless for tax purposes —and they’re winning big judgments for back taxes. It’s the latest example of the way that, even as local governments continue to bend over backwards to attract big-box development, these stores are consistently a bad deal for communities. … Read More
