Mr.William's presentation on Community Wealth Building for the Illinois Task Force on Social Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Enterprise.

1. An Illinois
Community Wealth Building
Action Agenda
Presentation to the Governor’s Task Force on Social
Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Enterprise
Ted Howard
The Democracy Collaborative
April 24, 2013 – Chicago, IL

2. The Prevailing Economic
Development Paradigm
Some of its characteristics and elements include:
• Subsidies and tax breaks to entice corporations to relocate ($80B)
• Workforce training not linked to actual jobs ($37B)
• Regional trickle down strategies that do not reach low- and
moderate-income neighborhoods
• Growth & GDP – toward what end?
• Low-wage (non-living wage) job creation, often without benefits
• Exclusion of ex-offenders and others with barriers to employment
• Gentrification and dispersal of traditional residents
• “Throwaway cities” and their infrastructure
• Privatization of publicly owned goods

3. What is the Community Wealth
Building Paradigm?
A New Approach to Economic Development that:
• emphasizes democratization of wealth
• focuses on place & local economy
• promotes broader ownership of capital
• anchors jobs locally
• stops the leakage of dollars from communities
• supports individual & family wealth building
• reinforces stewardship over capital
• generates revenues to finance public services
• leverages anchor institutions for local benefit
• contributes to local economic stability
• total cost accounting of economic decisions

6. An Integrated Community Wealth Approach
Key Components
Putting the Pieces Together
 Help individuals build wealth
and savings
 Create community-owned
businesses and other entities
that provide living wage jobs
and root wealth in communities
 Link community businesses with
anchor procurement needs and
public expenditures
Family
Wealth
Building
Broader
Ownership
Anchor
Institutions

7. Retaining Jobs and Building Wealth
through Employee Ownership
Action Agenda:
• Develop an Illinois Employee Ownership Center to retain existing jobs
• Assist Illinois banks to refinance employee ownership

8. Deploying State and Other Public Assets to
Reinvest in Illinois
Action Agenda:
• Leverage Hospital investment
• Promote greater community investment by universities in Illinois
• Invest state pension fund dollars in Illinois

9. Investing in Resident-owned Affordable
Housing
Action Agenda:
• Convert manufactured housing into resident-owned communities
• Redirect housing dollars to support permanently affordable
housing.

10. Supporting Cooperative Business Development
Action Agenda:
• Reform Illinois’ Cooperative Statute
• Support cooperative development in rural Illinois
• Catalyze cooperative job creation strategies in low-income
communities

11. Promoting a New Paradigm of Economic
Development for Illinois
Action Agenda:
• Convene Community Wealth Building Roundtables in key Illinois
cities

12. For more information:
thoward1@umd.edu
www.Community-Wealth.org