Dean Barr on the need to do more for communities and small businesses

Dean Barr on the need to do more for communities and small businesses

Hundreds of billions of dollars have been allocated to help small businesses and individuals in response to the COVID-19 financial crisis. Yet for low-income households and small businesses, accessing those funds has proved to be a challenge, according to Ford School Dean Michael Barr. In two commentaries, Barr argues that policy changes can help reach these underserved, under-banked communities.
More than 8 million households in the United States lack any savings or checking account, according to government data. And many banks approved by the Small Business Administration to process applications for the Paycheck Protection Program, or “PPP,” only worked with businesses …

CFLP and School of Information lauded for Detroit Community Tech Worker project

CFLP and School of Information lauded for Detroit Community Tech Worker project

The Center on Finance, Law & Policy is partnering with U-M’s School of Information (SoI) to provide Detroit’s Jefferson East Inc. (JEI) neighborhood organization, in a tech program aimed at aiding small businesses. Crain’s Detroit Business quotes JEI Director of Neighborhood Resilience Lutalo Sanifu as saying that he hopes to involve 140 businesses in the year-long project. “Tech experience is important, but not nearly as important as people being able to work with small business owners in underserved communities,” he said.
“We’re hoping this is a sustainable model. We are trying to build on a ‘train the trainer’ idea where the …