Green-G Network Influences

National Main Street Program

Main Street creates an Economic Development program that justifies the rehabilitation and restoration of historically significant properties in historic business districts. This is organized through meaningful community engagement and guided by an analysis of the district’s market position to guide and prioritize a revitalization program’s work.

The program of work is implemented through integrating the comprehensive work in four broad areas, known as the Four Points. These FOUR POINTS are aligned with the four forms of capital that define the value of real estate.

ORGANIZATION (Political Capital) involves creating a strong foundation for a sustainable revitalization effort, including cultivating partnerships, community involvement, and resources for the district. A successful revitalization effort starts with the people stepping forward, providing meaningful input and investing time and effort to implement the program of work. It all starts with the right people!

PROMOTION (Social Capital) positions the downtown or commercial district as the center of the community and hub of economic activity, while creating a positive image that showcases a community’s unique characteristics. This is where people meet and develop an understanding of place based development.

DESIGN (Physical Capital) supports a community’s transformation by enhancing the physical and visual assets that set the commercial district apart. This showcases the historical significance of the buildings in the district.

ECONOMIC VITALITY (Economic Capital) focuses on creating a flexible Capital Stack leveraging traditional capital with incentives, and other economic and financial tools to assist new and existing businesses, catalyze property development, and create a supportive environment for entrepreneurs and innovators that drive local economies. Capital should be organized in a manner that promotes access for individual projects and for district wide projects.

Local Initiatives Support Corporation

The Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) was founded in December 1979 by executives from the Ford Foundation. LISC acts as a community development financial institution (CDFI) to bridge the gap between private capital and underinvested neighborhoods across the United States. LISC expanded its programming by delivering development resources and mentoring to CDCs and CAAs around the country. LISC does not directly participate in specific projects, but brings financial tools to locally based development groups to execute projects.

LISC – National Equity Fund

As LISC started gaining traction with CDCs and CAAs across the nation, it became apparent that there was a need for access to a new sources of capital to fill two equity gaps: [1] cash to enable local development groups to complete projects; and [2] cash to prospective purchasers of residential properties to complete their financing package for traditional mortgages. Since being organized as an affiliate of LISC in 1987, the National Equity Fund (NEF) has donated more than $280 million in grants to support LISC’s nationwide community development work.

NEF developed an initial conduit for organizing capital through its Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) syndication platform and its lending and investing platforms. Beyond the LIHTC, NEF offers additional financial solutions to help close the affordable housing gap that are aligned with NEF’s mission.

Since being founded in 1987, NEF has invested more than $30 billion in residential development projects. In many cases, LIHTC purchases are facilitated through its syndication platform, with the purchases come from corporate entities essentially paying a portion of their tax liabilities through the LIHTC conduit.

Initiative for a Competitive Inner City

Founded in 1994 by Harvard Business School Professor Michael Porter, the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC) is a national nonprofit organization that pioneered a market-based model for urban revitalization, shifting the focus of inner-city economic development from traditional public-sector charity to private-sector investment and competitive advantage.

New Paradigm: Michael Porter published a seminal 1995 Harvard Business Review article titled “The Competitive Advantage of the Inner City,” arguing that urban cores were hindered not by a lack of potential, but by flawed strategies relying on government aid and social work rather than business fundamentals.

The essence of his strategy was that successful programs should be focused on assets available, grow them from within, and then export the resulting products instead of focusing on recruiting business projects that overwhelm the characteristics of the communities. Development should be scalable and appropriate for the market dynamics that empower locally owned small businesses to grow profitably, create quality jobs, and build generational wealth.

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