A new white paper by Upstart Co-Lab published by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco proposes greater alignment between capital under the Community Reinvestment Act and the creative economy.

Creative places and businesses have been an integral part of comprehensive community development for decades. Research and experience have shown how nonprofit and for-profit cultural institutions and creative enterprises stabilize threatened communities by improving public safety, reducing obesity and raising academic attainment, and that the presence of creatives benefit regions looking to attract and develop quality jobs.

However, conversations with regulators, financial institutions, and the mission-driven partners who make up the Community Reinvestment Act ecosystem reveal a general misperception that opportunities in the creative economy do not qualify, or for some reason should be discouraged from seeking CRA consideration.

We hope this white paper will bring more attention to these types of projects among community stakeholders; increase awareness of their potential CRA eligibility; and lead to more CRA-motivated investment in the creative economy in the future.

This while paper was funded, in part,
by a grant from Deutsche Bank to Upstart Co-Lab.