One of the biggest challenges facing America’s towns and cities is leveling the playing field for small businesses. Our new report shows how civic leaders...
On February 10th, 2022, ILSR and Main Street America hosted a conversation about how communities can use some of their federal American Rescue Plan Act...
At the Future Cities conference, ILSR Senior Researcher Kennedy Smith moderated a panel discussion about how cities can leverage federal recovery funds to revitalize their...
In Governing, ILSR Senior Researcher Kennedy Smith and Santa Cruz County Supervisor Ryan Coonerty examine how cities and towns can create affordable space for local...
Unlike the predatory Wall Street-backed apps, local delivery services charge lower fees, support restaurants, keep wealth in the community, and demonstrate that when it comes...
In this policy brief, we argue that moving aggressively to rebuild small, independent businesses and reverse the concentration of corporate power would produce a more...
ILSR Senior Researcher Kennedy Smith talked to the Mayors’ Institute on City Design about how to help Main Street businesses survive the pandemic.… Read More
Our research has found that cities, counties, states, and community organizations have established more than 800 programs to provide financial assistance to small businesses in...
ILSR’s latest report describes 26 actions that community leaders — including local governments, local business groups, nonprofit organizations, business improvement districts, and other entities —...
Wall Street-funded delivery services are taking a huge bite out of restaurants’ meager revenues. Restaurant owners are desperate and furious — and cities are pushing...
Host Jess Del Fiacco talks with Kennedy Smith, Senior Researcher with ILSR’s Independent Business initiative, about efforts at the state and local level to support...
We are building an ongoing list of grant and loan programs that can help small, locally owned businesses weather the COVID-19 pandemic. … Read More
Print this and post it around town, and share it on social media. We can all do our part to help support small businesses weather...
Cities and states must help support businesses and working families, especially until the federal response meets the scope of the COVID-19 crisis. In some places,...
The coronavirus pandemic has created an existential crisis for America’s small, locally owned businesses, which are the backbone of the nation’s economy. Here are some...