Nowak Metro Finance Lab

Solving America’s housing affordability crisis requires an all-hands-on-deck effort, involving the private sector, philanthropy, as well as cooperation across local, state, and federal levels of government. On October 24, join BPC's Terwilliger Center for Housing Policy and the Housing Crisis Task Force—a project of Accelerator for America and the Nowak Metro Finance Lab at Drexel University—as we convene experts and policymakers to share innovative solutions to improve housing affordability. Topics include land use, construction, capital, regulation, and housing delivery. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear the latest housing strategies and innovations.  https://lnkd.in/emrNc3GF  

The U.S. Needs a National Housing Industrial Strategy Bruce Katz, Benjamin Preis and Michael Saadine highlight the need for a national, coordinated approach to treat housing as an industry. We offer several policy recommendations: 1. Creating a federal entity to lead technological innovations in housing. 2. Developing new programs to attract and train construction workers and tradespeople. 3. Promoting off-site and modular construction methods that reduce build times and costs. 4. Modernizing outdated building codes to improve efficiency and ensure safety. By implementing these initiatives, the U.S. can address housing shortages, improve affordability, and support more equitable housing opportunities nationwide. https://lnkd.in/gkbDxm5U

The U.S. Needs a National Housing Industrial Strategy The housing crisis necessitates that policymakers do something they haven’t done for decades: treat housing like an industry. My latest piece with Benjamin Preis and Michael Saadine explores what this would mean. Producing housing at scale requires the nation to harness the full energies of the public, private and civic sectors to bring new homes and apartments to market as quickly and efficiently as possible. This means sparking innovation, bolstering supply chains and supporting a strong workforce. The recipe for designing and delivering an industrial policy already exists. In January, for example, the United States Department of Defense released its inaugural National Defense Industrial Strategy. The distributed housing industry is obviously quite different from the command and control nature of the military industrial complex. Nonetheless, the housing sector is approximately 1/6 of the entire US GDP and increasing shortages of housing necessitate a similarly urgent response. As we discuss, efforts used by the United States Department of Defense to stimulate technological advancements could be applied to the housing space. We need a burst of energy around modular and panelized construction, 3-D printing, mass timber and more, which could be catalyzed by a new Housing Innovation Unit af the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, modeled after the Defense Innovation Unit. Our proposal is put forward alongside the #NationalHousingCrisisTaskForce, which has been organized by the Nowak Metro Finance Lab and Accelerator for America. https://lnkd.in/eXSx3DFZ

After years of neglect and omission, housing has become our nation's most pressing policy challenge. In our third in a series of policy newsletters produced alongside the National Housing Crisis Task Force, Bruce Katz, Benjamin Preis, and Michael Saadine highlight the need for a national housing industrial strategy. Later this month, the Task Force, a bipartisan effort co-chaired by Utah Governor Spencer Cox, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, Cleveland Mayor Justin M. Bibb, and Fifth Third Bank’s Susan Thomas, will release a national policy agenda with recommendations that the federal government can implement to address our housing crisis. Subscribe on LinkedIn or at https://lnkd.in/gwpTAhYr to receive it. #NationalHousingCrisisTaskForce #HousingCrisis #AffordableHousing #Bipartisanpolicy

We are living through a time of unprecedented federal funding. This funding supports critical sectors like climate, healthcare, semiconductors, and R&D, offering an unparalleled opportunity for localities to fund transformative projects. However, the rollout is complex: funding is spread across hundreds of programs from agencies, each with unique processes, requirements, and deadlines. It also comes in many forms—formula grants, competitive grants, tax incentives, loans—making it challenging to navigate and maximize local impact. For over two years, the Nowak Metro Finance Lab has been tracking new funding opportunities from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Inflation Reduction Act, and the CHIPS and Science Act. The Infrastructure Tracker (https://lnkd.in/gqU9bw6F) provides cities, states, counties, nonprofits, and local entities with timely, digestible updates on critical federal funding opportunities—helping communities cut through the complexity and secure the resources they need. 📤 With updates sent within 72 hours of new program announcements, our IIJA tracker makes sure your locality never misses an important chance to apply for funding. Subscribe now to stay ahead! https://lnkd.in/gs2b_Uir #federalfunding #infrastructure

The National Housing Crisis Task Force is a bipartisan effort, co-chaired by Utah Governor Spencer Cox, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, Cleveland Mayor Justin M. Bibb and Fifth Third Bank’s Susan Thomas. The Task Force reflects the reality that states and localities are leading efforts to boost housing supply, with ambitious reforms around land, capital, construction, regulation and governance. The Task Force is staffed and supported by the Nowak Metro Finance Lab at Drexel University and Accelerator for America. Here is the latest oped from the Task Force leaders on how the federal government can step up to the challenge and lead the nation. https://lnkd.in/eb449fbU

The first project to be funded by the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund was announced recently - a commitment of $31.8M in pre-construction financing from Climate United for a solar project to benefit the University of Arkansas!   In April, in partnership with Accelerator for America, Results for America, and Bloomberg Philanthropies, we published a #GGRF primer for local governments, detailing how cities can leverage this unprecedented opportunity: https://lnkd.in/gk8Fge5q

In an effort to map the federal contracting landscape as well as the small business service provider landscape in the city of Camden, New Jersey, The Enterprise Center of New Jersey leader Victoria L. Hosendorf, MS commissioned Drexel University's Nowak Metro Finance Lab's elijah e. davis and Milena Dovali and Kevin Lyons at Rutgers School of Business–Camden to create The Camden County Playbook for Diverse and Small Business Growth. As the playbook was unveiled by Davis, the business leaders, financial institution representatives, and small business service providers in the room hung on every slide, frequently chiming in with questions and comments as their own observations and experiences often mirrored and added nuance to the data unearthed by the teams at Nowak Lab and Rutgers-Camden. The data shows a daunting situation for diverse firms in Camden hoping to contract with the Federal government. Federal contracting with minority-owned firms is disproportionately low, with only 12 Black and Latino vendors winning contracts; these firms ultimately captured only 15.5% of Camden County's Federal spend. Of that 15.5%, only .3% was spent with Black-owned firms. (Source: USAspending.gov ) In a county where over 40% of residents are people of color, that low % of spend represents a huge disparity. These numbers, coupled with the low SBA 7a loan numbers for the county, led many in the audience, including Ray Jones, Capital Revolutionary Della Clark, Nichelle Pace, and Ray Lamboy, to entreat those in attendance to come together and spur action, as no one organization or financial institution can improve the Camden small business ecosystem alone. Indeed, increasing collaboration and enhancing coordination between service providers was one of the study's key recommendations. Victoria closed the presentation by thanking JPMorganChase's team for their generous support in funding this critical research and playbook, with special shoutouts to Camden native Josué Figueroa ⭐️ as well as Jac Rivers and Michele Lawrence. Our team at The Enterprise Center and The Enterprise Center of New Jersey would also like to thank key study partners Camden Business Association and LAEDA, Inc., as well as everyone who contributed to the research and this event, as your contributions are integral to improving the small business ecosystem in Camden. #CamdenNJ #NewJersey #SmallBusiness #diversebusinesses #federalcontracting

We're excited to also feature Bree Doldron, community organizer at Changing the Conversation for Progress in our conversation about voter engagement! Bree has a background in analyzing policy to advance equity and a proven track record of crafting impactful stories that allow her to approach work with empathy, cultural competence, and sensitivity. Register here ➡️ https://lnkd.in/eFGSkjV7

Excited to be back in my hometown of Camden, NJ today with Jac Rivers for the public presentation of The Camden County Playbook: An Ecosystem Approach to Developing Diverse Small Businesses in Camden. This JPMorganChase funded study focused on: • How local and minority-owned businesses can leverage federal spending opportunities • Assessing the effectiveness of the current Entrepreneurial Support Organizations (ESOs) • Providing actionable recommendations for stakeholders to create more opportunities for local entrepreneurs A special thank you to elijah e. davis for leading an important conversation and to Nichelle Pace for her call to foster a “collective will to collaborate” for a brighter future for Camden’s small businesses. Through JPMorganChase’s Coaching for Impact program, we’re helping support this ecosystem with complimentary executive coaching for established businesses. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/eAs29rTY, or feel free to contact me directly. It was also good to walk around City Hall for live music and a resource table hosted by Camden Special Services District. #SmallBusiness #Entrepreneurship #MinorityOwnedBusinesses #BusinessGrowth #CamdenNJ #ExecutiveCoaching #CommunityDevelopment #InclusiveGrowth #EconomicEmpowerment #CoachingForImpact #EntrepreneurSupport #JPMC #ChaseForBusiness Michele Lawrence Jac Rivers Sean Ramsaywak Kevin Hopkins Logan M Cino, MBA Jason Mancivalano Chase for Business Vaughn Lucas Deb Lawrence Mahmud Siddiquee Dr. Chandra Williams Nika Corbett Alban Corbett The Enterprise Center Della Clark Elizabeth Felt Victoria L. H. Ray Lamboy Ray Jones Nichelle Pace Jamila Powell, MBA Jeffrey Nash Raymond Romo Sean M. Brown, MPA Osiris Jackson Rutgers University - Camden Rutgers Business School Nowak Metro Finance Lab