You can help prevent Homelessness, get some exercise, and visit scenic Washington Park on the beach in Michigan City- all at the same time!   Sign up for the Kevin Kohn Memorial Homeward Bound Walk to be held on September 29, 2012.  During any given year an estimated 1,500 LaPorte County women, children and men are considered homeless - and that doesn't include 'couch-surfers' who stay with friends and family.

You can help. Form a team for the walk or make a donation.  Funds raised will support Catholic Charities of LaPorte County, Gabriel's Horn Homeless Shelter, LaPorte County Habitat for Humanity, Men's Homeless Shelter, Michigan City Housing Authority, and Stepping Stone Shelter for Women. To sign up or donate visit  http://homewardboundindiana.org/la-porte-county.

Technology and Social Entrepreneur Avi Karnani Talks About Blending Technology and Behavioral Psychology

As mentioned earlier, IACED and IHCDA collaborate every year to deliver the Statewide Conference on Housing and Community Economic Development.  This year, we are excited to welcome technology and social entrepreneur Avi Karnani.  Avi works on digital products that change consumers' behavior, leading them to make decisions that promote satisfaction and measurable, positive financial outcomes. Says Avi, "I see companies as instruments capable of helping people and inspiring consistent, positive social change. I help develop products and partnerships that use a blend of technology and behavioral psychology to drive people to lead fuller, more satisfying lives."  

Avi will provide a workshop and plenary address on September 19, discussing the reasons why people make decisions to buy, borrow, and save and how organizations and institutions can impact those decision-making moments to improve consumers' financial outcomes. Understanding these behavioral economics helps organization encourage positive behaviors and financial institutions to develop sustainable products. Register for the conference by clicking here.  

Looking Beyond Job Satisfaction to Employee Engagement: Commitment to Professional Development

During the month of August, IACED staff members focused blog content on innovative opportunities for professional development. In this post, we focused on new research that suggests there are greater linkages between employee engagement and organizational productivity and profitability than previously suspected.    

According 2011 Employee Job Satisfaction and Engagement - Gratification and Commitment to Work in a Sluggish Economy: A Research Report by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), job security, opportunities to use skills and abilities, the organization's financial stability, compensation/pay, benefits, communication between employees and senior management and the work itself are the most important determinants of job satisfaction these days.  However, when comparing employee satisfaction with the aspects employees find most important to job satisfaction, the report found that there was a significant gap between the perceived importance of professional development and employees' actual satisfaction with the current level.  

As such, employers should seek new and additional ways to enhance employee satisfaction related to professional development. For more information and recommendations from the SHRM report, read our full blog post here.  

Top 10 Reasons Professional Development is Important

Another staff blogger, Rose, noted that as a Ball State grad, she couldn't help but write a "Top 10" list describing the reasons professional development is critical for organizations like those in IACED's membership. In recent years, with the economic downturn, we have seen a reduction in training budgets and less attention paid to professional development.  Employees no longer rate it as high as things like job security (SHRM 2011 survey).  However, there are still great reasons to remember that professional development is an investment, not a cost. Check out the list by clicking here.

Upcoming Professional Development Opportunities

Late summer and fall are popular times for professional development conferences and training sessions.  Perhaps it is that comfortable notion of going back to school in the fall that leads so many of these opportunities to happen at this time of year.  There are many opportunities out there for IACED members, depending on your specific focus within community economic development.  Here are a few upcoming opportunities for those with a planning related focus:

• Upper White River Watershed Alliance and APA-IN Greening of Local Ordinances: September 6-7, Indianapolis, IN
• Annual Statewide Conference on Housing and Community Economic Development: September 17-19, Indianapolis, IN (IACED is co-host with IHCDA) - Register by clicking here.
• OKI Regional Planning Conference: September 20-21, Columbus, OH (IACED staff and board members will be presenting on Friday morning)
• IEDC Annual Conference: September 30-October 3, Houston, TX

One more important opportunity for IACED members to seek out professional development is through Program 4 of a 4-part educational series entitled "Developing Indiana Neighborhoods" and hosted by Ice Miller, ICND and IACED on September 13. The program is geared toward CDCs and other nonprofit owners and economic development officials in Indiana.

Program 4 will include presentations on Indiana property taxes, environmental assessment and remediation, and a community development-focused "Ask-A-Lawyer" segment. There will be a reception/networking opportunity immediately following. The Series will be offered at no cost to ICND and IACED members.  Registration is requested, but not required. For more information or to RSVP, check out our blog post by clicking here.

Across the Nation   

Fall Federal Policy Preview: Sequestration Looms

Before leaving for August recess, Congressional leaders agreed to finish up a stopgap funding bill in September in order to avoid a budget showdown leading into the November elections.  The measure would fund the government through March 2013.  IACED will post updates on the progress of that effort, but both parties reached major agreement to fund programs using the $1.05 trillion cap passed in the Budget Control Act of 2011 (BCA).  Passage of a short-term budget, however, means the across-the-board cuts, or sequestration, mandated in that act would take effect automatically in early 2013 without the action of a lame-duck session of Congress or the new Congress and potentially new Administration next year.

Much attention has been paid to the potential sequestration's impact on the budget for the Department of Defense, however, this trigger would have severe implications for community development programs as well and the trajectory of our national economic recovery at large. According to the Campaign for Housing and Community Development Funding (CHCDF), a coalition of community development organizations formed by the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC), the housing impacts of a 8.4 percent across the board cut to discretionary programs would be devastating in this fragile time of economic recovery.  Our full blog post on their program-specific predictions and the Congressional Budget Office's predictions about our nation's overall economic performance can be found by clicking here.

Senate Finance Committee Approves Bipartisan Tax Cut Extensions

On August 2, 2012, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) released a summary of the Family and Business Tax Cut Certainty Act of 2012, as approved by the Finance Committee. The Family and Business Tax Cut Certainty Act of 2012 is bipartisan legislation extending dozens of tax-cuts known as "extenders" that have expired or are scheduled to expire at the end of this year. While the measure has yet to come before the full Senate for a vote, the Committee's bill includes a rate freeze for the 9 percent Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC). The low-income housing tax credit program provides a tax credit over a period of ten years after the housing facility is placed-in-service. The credit provided each year is determined by present-value formula based on the federal cost of borrowing.

Over the past few years, as the federal cost of borrowing has declined, so has the amount of tax credits that can be used to build a LIHTC project. To deal with this, in 2008, Congress adjusted the formula and set a minimum credit amount of 9%, which is based on the original credit rate when the program was created. The provision expires for facilities placed-in-service after December 31, 2013. However, given the long planning horizon for housing developments, the provision effectively expires this year. This proposal would extend the expiration date by changing the deadline to a commence construction date or to projects that have received an allocation before December 31, 2013. IACED will continue to monitor the provisions of the Family and Business Tax Cut Certainty Act of 2012  which impact members. Read additional information on this provision from Novogradac & Company.  

Indy-east Asset Development Re-launches, Expands Weatherization Program

IACED member Indy-east Asset Development, I·AD, re-launched an expansive energy efficiency improvement program to serve residents on Indianapolis' Near Eastside this month.  The BetterBuildings Near Eastside Neighborhood Sweeps Program (Sweeps) is funded through a Department of Energy grant aimed at reducing energy consumption in concentrated areas.  As one of 44 grantees, the City of Indianapolis decided to tie this effort to the Near Eastside Legacy project where the residents' Quality of Life (QOL) plan called for a broad neighborhood-wide weatherization program. 

As the community development corporation for that area, I·AD is the lead for many aspects of the QOL plan relating to housing and oversees marketing, outreach and case management for this grant.  I·AD initiated program planning in 2010, and the first homes received energy assessments in June 2011.  Several hundred residents had already begun or completed the program when it was put on hold in February of this year to allow a new contractor to help expand the program's capacity to serve households in the neighborhood. 

Initially, the program was expected to help 800 households reduce their energy usage through comprehensive assessments, air sealing, insulation, and other measures.  However, with the new contractor, the program re-launched during August with the ability to serve nearly double that number by May 2013. 

Rachel Mattingly, BetterBuildings Program Manager at I·AD, says the re-launch of this program, "represents a unique opportunity to substantially improve the lives of a significant number of residents in the neighborhoods we serve."  She also notes that through the BetterBuildings program, "there have been numerous approaches to improving energy efficiency throughout the country. This program will help identify best practices among those approaches in terms of outreach, capacity and the ability to make meaningful change in diverse settings." 

The organization previously had over 200 residents on a waiting list, but due to the expansion, the waiting list was moved to the active list and they are still accepting new applicants.  To apply or find more information on the program and its residential qualifications, visit  http://www.neareastsidesweeps.com/.

In addition to serving residents, I·AD will be able to accept applications from Near Eastside businesses and nonprofits for a Lighting Grant later this fall. This grant will offer a comprehensive assessment and lighting upgrades that will reduce energy consumption by at least 10%.

If you have program-specific questions, please contact Rachel Mattingly at 317-808-2385 or  rmattingly@jhbcc.org.