Cleveland Fed
-
Worker Voices Special Brief: Self-Employment, Dreams Versus Reality
Worker Voices participants described weighing the tradeoffs of self-employment from the independence it gave to its income generation potential. This research found that participants were pushed or pulled into self-employment for a variety of factors and their experiences did not align with their expectations of this work.
-
Key insights from the 2023 Small Business Credit Survey
The 2023 Small Business Credit Survey (SBCS) indicates that although small businesses are improving, they still face rising costs and high-interest rates. However, they remain optimistic about future revenue and employment expansion.
-
Regional groups use funding, skills training to build capacity in Appalachian communities
Together, Appalachia Funders Network and the Appalachian Regional Commission leverage each other’s networks to help bridge funding gaps — what they consider an essential ingredient in capacity building.
-
Lifting voices: The power of Fed community development advisory councils
The Fed involves community development advisory councils to consider diverse perspectives from low-income communities when making decisions about monetary policy.
-
Data to drive change: Veteran-owned small businesses
Small-business ownership allows military veterans to leverage skills gained while they served. The Fed’s Small Business Credit Survey shares insights about how veteran-owned businesses are doing.
-
The grass is greener where you water it: Perspectives from a Black business owner
Two rising high school seniors share insights from a Black small-business owner about the challenges of running a small lawn care business.
-
Community perspectives and conditions from the Fed’s Beige Book, July 2023
Here’s what nonprofit and community leaders, and workforce professionals serving lower-income people shared with the Federal Reserve for the July 2023 Beige Book.
-
‘It shouldn’t be this hard’: Small Business Credit Survey highlights funding challenges for startups owned by people of color
Half of businesses survive at least five years but many start on shaky financial footing. The Federal Reserve Small Business Credit Survey reveals unique funding challenges for startups owned by people of color.
-
Navigating a changing economy requires resources, data, ideas—and listening
More than 400 community development professionals met in Cleveland, Ohio in mid-June for Policy Summit 2023, an event that featured various sessions aimed at highlighting and addressing economic challenges in the current economy.
-
Worker Voices: Shifting Perspectives and Expectations on Employment
Worker Voices provides a unique view into how job seekers and workers in lower-wage roles navigated the labor market at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and through recovery—and how it changed what they expect from a job.