“NCRC is deeply committed to expanding our support for housing counseling agencies as they are truly the backbone of moving families from aspiration to ownership. So much of our advocacy work is aimed at shaping policy and encouraging lenders to make resources available, and that work translates into real change when housing counselors are there to walk families through the process,” said Jesse Van Tol, NCRC’s President and CEO. “They turn commitments on paper into actual opportunities for people trying to build a stronger financial future. We don’t talk enough about how central that role is to making stable housing through homeownership genuinely accessible to everyone. We are glad to partner with Key Bank and HSBC Bank USA, N.A. to bolster the housing counseling services available to families in their footprints.” 

The Field Empowerment Fund (FEF) enables NCRC network members to level up established housing counseling service lines. With the award of this grant cycle, NCRC has provided $9.46 million to 154 NCRC member organizations through the fund since its inception in 2021.

The Housing Counseling Services series within FEF supports HUD-approved housing counseling agencies in driving homeownership through pre-purchase counseling. In addition, the program builds agency knowledge on heirs’ property challenges to better equip low-wealth homebuying households with the know-how to begin their homeownership journey, with an additional goal of ensuring foresight into the long-term future of their home purchase.

The FEF-HCS series is funded in partnership with KeyBank and HSBC Bank USA, N.A. and targets communities within the KeyBank and HSBC Bank USA, N.A. branch footprints.

The 2026 NCRC Field Empowerment Fund – Housing Counseling Services grantees can be viewed here. 

Annually, these agencies serve nearly 85,000 households across the United States, with nearly 63,000 of those households falling under 80% of their regional median income levels. This grant funding will fuel their critical services, empowering families across the country to achieve housing stability and homeownership.

For more information about the Field Empowerment Fund, visit NCRC.org/fef.

“We are deeply saddened by Irvin’s sudden passing,” said Jesse Van Tol, NCRC’s president and CEO. “As one of the founding board members of NCRC, he played a pivotal role in shaping our organization and was a tireless champion of our cause. For many of us, he was a friend and a trusted voice — someone who cared very deeply for his family, his colleagues and NCRC. He was a lion of the community development movement. May he rest in power. ”

“Irvin’s leadership was grounded in a belief that every community deserves the opportunity to thrive,” said Carol Johnson, NCRC’s board chair and president and CEO of Johnson Consulting Group. “As Board Chair, I was fortunate to have in Irvin not only a trusted colleague and Vice Chair, but someone whose history with NCRC reached all the way back to its founding. He understood where this organization came from, why this work matters and how much perseverance it takes to turn our values into meaningful change. Irvin brought that perspective to every conversation, always keeping the people and communities we serve at the center. The standard he set and the work he helped build will continue to guide us.”

“For almost two decades I’ve served with, listened to and admired Irvin Henderson—a friend, a mentor and someone who used his knowledge, his intellect, and his voice to speak on behalf of communities of people for whom he cared so deeply,” said Bob Dickerson, past NCRC board chair, current board member and executive director of the Birmingham Business Resource Center. “I recall with gratitude Irvin pulling me aside when I first joined the NCRC Board. He welcomed me warmly and offered to share his experience and insight, saying he wanted to help me make a greater contribution. That gesture reflected who he was at his core: generous with his time, intentional in his support of others, and committed to lifting those around him. Irvin was always prepared, always thoughtful, and always spoke with wisdom. He carried himself with a quiet integrity that never needed to be announced, only witnessed. Those who had the privilege of working alongside him will never forget the steadiness of his presence or the clarity of his voice when it mattered most. I am deeply grateful for the years I had to serve with him. Irvin’s legacy lives on in the communities he championed, the colleagues he guided, and the many lives he touched along the way. He will be deeply missed and long remembered.”

“Irv was many things to me and others…bright, funny, impactful, smart and a leader,” John Taylor, NCRC founder and longtime CEO. “I owe him a great deal and I will remember him for the rest of my life.” 

“Irvin was a passionate, committed, incredibly hard worker – and for me personally, a dedicated friend and mentor,” said Bethany Sanchez, NCRC board member and fair lending administrator for the Metropolitan Milwaukee Fair Housing Council. “Irv’s passing will hit NCRC leadership and members hard, leaving a hole in our hearts.”

“Nobody cared more about, or supported more, NCRC and its work than Irv,” said Kevin Stein, NCRC board member and chief of legal and strategy at Rise Economy. “He was gracious and respectful to all stakeholders in talking about communities, always inviting people in. And he also had strong values and spoke forcefully and compellingly about the dignity and opportunities that people and neighborhoods deserved. May his memory be a blessing to his family, and to all of us.”

“In 2012, Irv Henderson and I were part of a team pitching to the city of Raleigh, NC about how to redevelop and revitalize the historic John Chavis Memorial Park, initially created as the ‘Colored park’ serving only Black people in the 1930’s,” said Vernice Miller-Travis, NCRC board member and co-founder of We ACT for Environmental Justice. “We were zipping through our presentation when Irv recounted how he had learned how to swim as a child in the pool at the park. But as he got older, he was unable to earn his Boy Scout Eagle Scout Badge because he needed to be able to swim the length of an Olympic-size swimming pool, and the only pool available to him did not meet that criteria. As I looked around the room at City of Raleigh Department of Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Resources staff, I could see as Irv was recounting his childhood experience with segregation that ran right through that very park, that that was when we won the bid. Today, John Chavis Memorial Park has been completely reimagined, redesigned and revitalized via a $40 million capital investment by the City of Raleigh based upon the revised master plan that we created. It has also been added to the National Register of Historic Places. It is but one in a very long chain of examples of how Irv saw things others didn’t see, imagined what could be, and then went to work to make his vision a reality.” 

“As a new Board Member in 2019, I remember with great admiration and respect meeting and seeing Irvin Henderson in action at the Just Economy Conference where we were meeting with FHA Commissioner Brian Montgomery,” said Aaron Miripol, NCRC board member and president and CEO of Urban Land Conservancy. “Irvin’s passion for community came out loud and clear as he spoke to the commissioner on the challenges NCRC’s members were having with FHA financing. In addition, Irvin was kind enough to include me, the newbie to NCRC, in the conversation and asked me to share my Colorado experience with Commissioner Montgomery. That is what made Irvin so special, his incredible knowledge and experience as a community developer and NCRC Board member, layered with his ability to include, engage and educate all of us. His passing is a loss for all of us, and yet Irvin’s greatest gift to NCRC was not just his expertise, but his commitment to lifting others up—and that is the standard we must all now aspire to. The call to action for NCRC has never been greater, and Irvin’s influence on all of us is what must lead the day going forward. Thank you, Irvin!”

“I will never forget the things Irv worked with us on at NCRC, from the Historic Tax Credit to the fights with Capital One to carrying the message, again and again, to Capitol Hill,” said Matthew R. Lee, NCRC board member and executive director of Inner City Press. “Irv’s passing leaves a hole in our advocacy. We must all work hard to keep up the fight, now with CRA under attack from the OCC and FDIC. Do it for Irv…”

“I was constantly awed by Irvin’s unrelenting advocacy for economic justice, his poise and decorum, and his work ethic,” said Elisabeth Risch, NCRC board member and executive director of Housing Opportunities Made Equal of Greater Cincinnati (HOME). “He showed up for calls in airports, cars, always en route across the country in pursuit of making local communities better and more equitable. He was a power-broker with the interests of the underserved community front and center. He never let me forget that family was the most important. He always asked about my family, reminded me to take care of myself and my family. That balance of fierce advocacy and genuine care is what I’ll carry forward.

“Having been a lifelong member of NCRC, I always associated Irvin with this wonderful organization more so than anyone else,” said Roberto Barragan, NCRC board member and executive director of ICON CDC. “His dedication, optimism and tenacious defense of CRA  was a sight to behold. His ability to speak on any subject to any audience with understanding and insight was always awe-inspiring.  And to see over the years, his love for the organization was never diminished, and his willingness to fight was greater than ever.”

“It was an honor to know Irv. He could always start a conversation or take the lead in any conversation in a positive manner – Irv knew everything,” said Charles Harris, NCRC board member and executive director of Housing, Education and Economic Development. “He was a mentor to all of us, and I noticed that whenever we were in a committee meeting and the moderator was waiting for a response  [when the room was quiet] everybody waited for Irv to take the lead or answer the question. When I became a member of NCRC, he gave me a great welcome and we became good friends. Over the years, outside of us discussing CRA and economic justice, we talked about jazz and blues music. NCRC and the industry has lost a person with lots of knowledge and he will be sorely missed.”

“I will miss Irv’s tenacious approach to all that he encountered,” said Peter Hainley, NCRC board member and executive director of CASA of Oregon. “That gleam in his eye! A true warrior for economic justice, he will be sorely missed.” 

“Irv had a total and wonderful devotion to NCRC,” said Sharon Lee, NCRC board member and executive director of the Low Income Housing Institute. “I loved what he would say in our meetings. His excellent leadership propelled the movement forward!” 

“I am saddened of the loss of my teacher, who became my dear friend and mentor,” said Ernie Hogan, NCRC board member. “His passion for uplifting underserved communities through preservation, affordable housing and economic development spilled over all of us he touched! It was Irvin who showed me the value of CRA! How it connected our work of communities with the banking and finance world!  That is was worth fighting for its future. His work, his words, his friendships will not be forgotten as we all take what Irv has taught us forward!! I will miss my friend!”

Henderson was the principal of Henderson & Company, a consulting firm and development company with particular expertise in the areas of community development and historic preservation, and commercial, residential and enterprise development. He was a trustee of the National Trust of Historic Preservation for Henderson, NC, and he sat on many additional boards devoted to community development and preservation. 

NCRC invites all who knew Irvin to submit stories, photos and tributes to be shared with the family.

Photo: Irvin Henderson at the 2026 Just Economy Conference, April 14, 2026, in Washington, DC.

MCCD advocates statewide for equitable housing and economic policies that generate wealth for people of color (BIPOC) and low-income communities. They focus on programs and initiatives that increase affordable housing, support small businesses and expand shared ownership models. In addition, MCCD empowers their members, renters, homeowners, entrepreneurs and worker cooperatives by providing opportunities and training to learn about advocating for policies and funding with lawmakers.

“We have been able to secure new funding at the state legislature for our members to carry out their work,” said Kari Johnson, MCCD’s director of policy. “We still have a housing shortage [and] we still have people that don’t have access to traditional bank capital.”

Since 2012, MCCD’s legislative advocacy has secured over $900 million in housing infrastructure bonds, providing capital to nonprofit developers and supporting the building and preservation of over 10,000 affordable homes. During that same time, MCCD secured over $90 million in small business funding to help businesses start, grow or transition into shared ownership models such as worker cooperatives. 

Over the past few years, some of MCCD’s affordable multifamily housing members notified the organization that they were struggling to get and maintain property insurance. These members are forced to go to the surplus lines market to obtain property insurance, leading to much higher premiums and less coverage – something they’re also seeing in the affordable homeownership market.

“We’re trying to help advocate for an expansion of the Minnesota FAIR Plan [and] support gaps in the private market so there is an alternative to the surplus lines,” Johnson said.

Following MCCD’s advocacy in 2025, the Minnesota legislature established a task force last year to examine rising property insurance costs for housing providers, homeowners and small businesses, with plans to pursue legislation for 2027 to address the issue.

In addition to their own advocacy, MCCD is empowering members to effectively advocate for themselves with the legislature. MCCD launched a state policy cohort last year to equip BIPOC professionals with the policy knowledge, skills and confidence to engage with the legislative process.

“For far too long, BIPOC professionals have been severely underrepresented in the policy space and BIPOC leaders are often asked to provide input on legislation without the ability to learn how to do so effectively yet held to different standards,” said Johnson. 

While MCCD focuses on state advocacy and policies, the team relies on the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) as an indispensable partner to track federal developments.

“It’s helpful because we don’t have a federal advocacy team,” Johnson notes. “If something big is happening, we really look to our national partners to let us know when we need to tap in and that’s a big reason why we remain members of NCRC.”

Kaitlyn Ridel is a Contributing Writer.

Photo description: Participants from MCCD’s 2025-2026 state policy cohort.

By 2000, Columbus, Ohio was home to more than 11,000 African-born residents as a result of a wave of immigration that had occurred in the 1990s. Joanne Mapis was one of them, carrying the tastes and traditions of home with her as she began building a life in a new city. 

“The closest thing we had to African food was Jamaican food,” Mapis said. “That was the only thing that reminded you of home.”

This absence became impossible to ignore when she began to organize her first African food festival in 2019. Despite trying to bring together members of Columbus’ growing African immigrant population, the event only featured a handful of African food vendors willing to set up a table. Instead of accepting that reality, Joanne decided to change it. 

She launched Columbus’ first African food truck, laying the foundation for what would become Fork in Nigeria, a restaurant introducing Nigerian cuisines to new audiences in the area while creating a place for immigrants to reconnect with home. Today, she proudly says that there are over ten African food trucks across the city.

“What I’ve realized in America is that sometimes you become an entrepreneur out of necessity,” Mapis said. “If you look at the businesses around our cities, many of them are immigrant-owned because they saw gaps and wanted to create opportunities for themselves.” 

Her story reflects a broader reality shared by many Black immigrant entrepreneurs across the country. The American Immigration Council reports that they contribute trillions of dollars to local economies through job creation and innovation, employing almost 8 million American workers and generating $1.3 trillion in total sales in 2017. 

Yet, long before they even begin serving their customers, many of them are navigating barriers that are different from the average business owner in America. They are learning about unfamiliar financial systems, building their credit histories from scratch, overcoming racial stereotypes, and increasingly navigating uncertainty around immigration policies.

Black-owned businesses more generally continue to face persistent barriers to accessing the necessary capital to start and maintain their operations. They are less likely to receive the full amount of funding they need and, according to a 2016 Federal Reserve Small Business Report, are more likely to be denied access to credit more often than White-owned businesses. 

For Black immigrants, those realities often have a devastating compounding effect, creating challenges that are shaped by both race and the struggles that come with building a business in a new country. Joanne says one of the biggest obstacles she faced wasn’t finding customers but finding someone who was willing to invest in her vision. 

“I practically wiped out our savings to finance this business,” Mapis said. “If you don’t have a creditworthy history, not even a personal history but a business one, nobody wants to finance you.” 

These concerns have become even more urgent following recent federal administrative changes affecting eligibility for Small Business Administration (SBA) loans. Earlier this year, the SBA banned foreign nationals (including green card holders) and non-citizens from accessing SBA-guaranteed small business loans. However, these consequences extend well beyond just SBA loan applications. 

SBA loan guarantees can make banks and community lenders more willing to provide financing to newer or nontraditional businesses by reducing the financial risk associated with those loans.

“Banks don’t like taking risks because they make money by people repaying funds. CDFIs will take some risks, but they don’t want to take all the risks.” said Daniella Djiogan, NCRC’s director of small business support services. “The SBA mitigates risk for some financial institutions, which makes CDFIs more comfortable lending.” 

Without that added protection, some entrepreneurs may struggle to secure affordable financing altogether, pushing them toward predatory lending schemes. For business owners who are already struggling to stay afloat, taking on loans with abnormally high-interest rates or hidden payments can create even more financial pressure.

Mapis also worries that conversations surrounding immigration have made the work around inclusion more difficult but she hopes that future Black immigrant entrepreneurs won’t have to spend as much energy proving that they belong before they are even given the opportunity to succeed.

“I want an immigrant to feel equally safe and seen,” she said. “When you go looking for something, I want it to be based on your capacity.” 

To her, running Fork in Nigeria isn’t simply about selling meals. It is a place where immigrant families can celebrate their heritages, where friends can be introduced to Nigerian cuisine and where children born in the United States can connect with their cultural heritage.

America has long celebrated the courage it takes to be able to start something from nothing. Every day, Black immigrant entrepreneurs embody that ideal by rebuilding their lives, investing in their neighborhoods and creating opportunities not only for themselves but for their communities.

Their businesses preserve culture, create jobs and strengthen local communities. In cities across the country, they remind us that the American dream has never been about where someone begins. It has always been about whether they’re given a fair chance to build something new.

Oyindoubra Akika is an Intern with NCRC’s Strategic Programs & Development division.

Photo courtesy of Joanne Mapis/Fork in Nigeria.

The Skilled Labor Gap in Construction Trades

The shortage of workers in the skilled construction trades–professions like carpenters, electricians, plumbers and HVAC repair–is not new. Since the last housing boom ended in 2007, employers in the construction trades have struggled to amass enough skilled labor to meet the steady rise of housing development across the country. The retirements of industry veterans, limited interest from young people in entering these professions and surging demand for construction labor have delayed projects, increased labor costs and raised pressure on existing workers to be more productive and cut corners to meet project requirements.

In May, there were around 298,000 construction job openings, marking the third month in a row of increased openings in the industry and around a 34% year-over-year increase compared to May of last year. Those opportunities do not appear to be slowing down, with the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimating that employment in construction occupations is expected to grow by 5.2% between 2024 and 2034, putting it among the highest growing industries over the next decade. 

However, this gap represents a major potential roadblock for supply-side housing solutions. Even before Congress’s historic action last month, residential home construction was being stymied by deficits in skilled labor. The National Association of Home Builders estimates this led directly to a reduction of approximately 19,000 single-family homes not being built in 2024 alone and an aggregate economic impact of over $10 billion lost due to longer construction timelines.

Furthermore, the industry faces rising demand from multiple angles. Skyrocketing investment in physical infrastructure, renewable energy projects and now hyperscale AI data centers are set to squeeze the construction industry even more in the coming years. If it persists, the skilled labor shortage could derail supply-side efforts to address housing affordability as well as broader ambitions to build in America. 

The Solution: Investing in Apprenticeships 

The deep-seeded labor challenges facing construction firms cannot be solved overnight, but one essential piece of the solution is to increase investment in the workforce development system, specifically for registered apprenticeships. Pathways to construction and skilled trades careers exist almost entirely outside of the four-year college/university degree system and typically involve some combination of classes, credentialing and on-the-job training that culminates in the completion of an apprenticeship.

Apprenticeship programs are critical not only for preparing people with the skills to work in the trades but also attracting people from diverse talent pools to the industry, educating them about the career outlook and providing support services that make participation possible. Partnerships between employers, schools and community colleges help to build established pipelines to these industries, providing employers with trained talent and workers with the opportunity to enter the field while getting paid and not taking on any debt. This improves workforce diversity, bolsters labor supply and provides the next generation with meaningful labor market opportunities. 

By the end of the Biden administration, there were more than 670,000 active apprentices, an increase of more than 100,000. The Trump administration has continued this trend of expanding apprenticeships, setting a goal of creating 1 million active apprentices. Yet, in the year since the announcement, the number has essentially flatlined, posting just 3% growth in new apprentices over the past year.

The stagnation appears to be driven by several factors including the current administration’s campaign against DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion), which has vastly limited the talent pool available to apprenticeship providers and employers. Women and people of color are vastly underrepresented in the construction industry, making them crucial for expanding the construction labor force and meeting the growing level of need. 

Apprenticeships could be a feasible and necessary pathway to achieving diversification in the sector. A 2023 Department of Labor report showed that there were higher proportions of women and people of color participating in apprenticeships than are present in the national construction workforce. Unfortunately, the Trump administration reportedly canceled dozens of grants under the Women in Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Occupations (WANTO) program. While women’s employment in the construction industry had been growing from apprenticeship participation, the administration has reversed that progress. Without diversifying the workforce, the construction industry’s labor shortages will continue. 

In addition to participation gaps, the lack of federal funding for supporting apprenticeship programs limits the number of people that can benefit from them. Apprenticeships for America estimates that the US would need to spend $5 billion, more than 17 times the $285 million currently allocated, to make a dent in the level of need and interest. Any strategy for addressing the deficit in skilled labor must double down on investments in apprenticeship programs and restore efforts to diversify participation from traditionally underrepresented groups.

Linking Economic Mobility and Affordability is Good for Everyone

The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act presents an extraordinary opportunity to alleviate rising housing costs while simultaneously promoting economic mobility. Apprenticeship programs alone may not solve the labor shortage overnight, but they are an important part of the solution. Restoring the housing supply will require expanded investment from Congress and strengthening oversight to hold the administration accountable for spending allocations made to registered apprenticeship programs like WANTO. Doing so will strengthen American capacity to build physical infrastructure across the board and help reduce housing costs all while promoting economic mobility for people from underrepresented backgrounds.

Simon Wang is the Economic Mobility Project Specialist with NCRC’s Economic Mobility team.

Photo credit: CONSTRUCCIÓN TOTAL via Pexels.

However, it is undeniable that in some parts of the country banks see a reason to expand their physical presence. This runs contrary to the conventional wisdom that physical bank branches were no longer relevant to consumers. It appears that in high growth metros banks find that physical locations are critical to their plans.

Three of the country’s eight regions – including the Southeast, the Southwest and the Rocky Mountain states – are adding branches, while the other five – including the Mideast and Northeast – are losing branches, with the losses being concentrated in a handful of large metro areas.

Some areas of the country are seeing growth while others continue to see branch closures

Table 1 shows the net change in bank branches across the country’s eight regions since the second quarter of 2026. It highlights the outsized role the Southeast plays in the country’s return to branch growth.

The Southeast is the clear driver of the national total, with the Southwest and the Rocky Mountain states also seeing positive branch growth. On the other hand, the Mideast –  including New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania together with Delaware, Maryland and Washington, DC –  is losing branches faster than any other region in the country. However, it is not that simple, with Sunbelt cities in certain states outperforming every place else.

Growth concentrates in a handful of Southeast and Southwest states

Table 2 shows bank branch trends in the Southeast and Southwest regions by state. It shows that branch expansion is not spread evenly across the region as Florida and Texas account for roughly half of the combined gain alone.

Florida and Texas account for a large share of the combined growth across both regions, more than the next several gaining states put together. Georgia, the Carolinas, Alabama and Tennessee round out a cluster of Deep South and Gulf Coast states that added branches in every quarter. Virginia and West Virginia, both a part of the Southeast under this framework, saw essentially no branch growth. Outside of Texas, the rest of the Southwest experienced flat to slightly negative growth, with Arizona showing no change and New Mexico actually losing branches.

New York’s losses are a story about scale, not decline

Table 3 shows the ten metro areas with the largest net branch change over the same five quarters. It shows that both the gains and the losses are concentrated in a small number of metro areas rather than spread broadly across the country.

Dallas-Fort Worth, Atlanta, Miami, Charlotte, Austin and Nashville lead the metros that reported a net gain in branches, with more branches opening than closing. The New York metro’s branch network is by far the largest in the country, more than three times the size of Boston’s or Philadelphia’s. On a percentage basis, New York’s decline was actually smaller than Philadelphia’s or Detroit’s over the same window, and roughly in line with Boston’s. However, the concentration of losses in a handful of legacy Northeastern and Midwestern metro areas is the most notable pattern. 

Growth is happening for full-service branches, not in-store locations

Table 4 shows net branch changes by service type (full-service brick-and-mortar branches versus in-store/retail locations, such as those inside a supermarket or big-box store) and how they are split between the Southeast and Southwest regions compared to the rest of the country. It shows that growth, even in the fastest-growing markets, is happening via brick-and-mortar branches rather than in-store locations, the latter of which are shrinking everywhere.

Even in high growth markets, in-store and retail branches are also shrinking in number. Nationally, only 19 new in-store or retail branches opened over the entire five-quarter window compared with 96 that closed, a pattern that held firm in every quarter regardless of whether the broader branch count was growing or shrinking. Full-service brick-and-mortar branches account for the overwhelming majority of new openings everywhere, suggesting the in-store banking format is being wound down as a category rather than relocated to high growth markets.

Banking trade press coverage points to a straightforward explanation: in-store branches were built to provide transactional convenience for customers who were already at the store for something else. Online and mobile banking have eliminated most of the reason for that kind of interaction since routine transactions no longer require showing up in person at all. When customers do still need to visit a branch, recent reporting on bank branch strategy suggests they prefer a full-service location better suited to private conversations about banking needs rather than a retail store built for foot traffic.

The regional split lines up with where money and higher earners are moving

For banks, their branch strategy is a business decision made for many reasons that this data cannot pinpoint, but the geography trends outlined in this article line up closely with outside migration research. Demographic analysis published by Brookings Institute has tracked domestic out-migration from large coastal metro areas, including New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston and Seattle, alongside sustained in-migration to Sun Belt metro areas, such as Dallas, Tampa and Raleigh, since the early part of the pandemic. The same research found that a lot of what looked like a population rebound in big metro areas in 2023 and 2024 was driven mainly by a rise in immigration from abroad rather than a reversal of domestic migration rates. The newest available analysis on this migration found that metro population growth is declining again as immigration slows.

IRS migration data, which tracks income rather than head counts, shows the steadier pattern of growth behind the population volatility. The most recent filing-year data available covering 2022 to 2023 shows Florida gaining more than $20 billion in net adjusted gross income from interstate migration and Texas gaining more than $5 billion, while California, New York, Illinois, Massachusetts and New Jersey experienced the largest net losses. This state-by-state pattern matches this article’s branch findings closely, with the same handful of states gaining income being the ones gaining bank branches. New York, despite an overall population that has recovered in recent years due to immigration, continues to lose more income to domestic migration than nearly any other state, which is consistent with its outsized share of branch closures.

A note on data revisions

The figures in this article reflect the FDIC’s BankFind Suite structural change data as of the article’s publication date. Banks sometimes file branch opening, closing and relocation records after the quarter has ended, with FDIC assigning these filings a processing date that can fall months after the effective date of the change. As a result, figures for a given quarter can shift in later reports as additional filings are processed. This article reflects the most current data available and updates the prior quarter’s figures accordingly. The five-quarter window shown here has been refreshed against the newest available data pull, which includes revisions to the third and fourth quarter of 2025 and the first quarter of 2026. Readers comparing figures across published analyses should accept small revisions to prior quarter counts as a part of normal data processing, not as corrections to the overall methodology.

Methodology note: Figures cover FDIC-insured institutions’ full-service branch locations (brick-and-mortar and staffed retail/drive-through) based on FDIC’s OSCR structural change filings for the quarter shown. Regional definitions follow the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis’s eight-region scheme rather than the Census Bureau’s four-region scheme.

Jason Richardson is the Senior Director of Research with NCRC’s Research team.

Photo credit: Monstera Production via Pexels.

The House voted to hand banks a green light to consolidate with less scrutiny, less accountability and far fewer safeguards for the communities they are supposed to serve.

H.R. 6955 would gut meaningful competition review for many bank mergers and force regulators onto an accelerated timeline that all but guarantees community voices will be ignored. Because roughly 4,129 of the nation’s 4,287 insured banks (or approximately 96 %) hold under $10 billion in assets, this carveout would cover a large share of community and regional bank merger activity. The problem is especially acute in rural counties and smaller local markets.

Bank mergers are not routine paperwork. They reshape local economies, determine whether neighborhoods retain access to basic financial services and can leave consumers and small businesses with fewer options and higher costs.

The bill’s core purpose is to weaken oversight and tilt the playing field toward large financial institutions at the expense of the public. This is a dangerous step backward for fair access to banking and community stability.

The drop in the unemployment rate was not because more people found new employment but because over 200,000 unemployed people left the labor force last month and stopped looking for work.

The labor market remains lukewarm as job openings, layoffs and resignations remained largely unchanged in May according to BLS’ data. While the rate of unemployment remains low overall, the slow labor market is affecting one group in particular: new college graduates.

As college graduation season ends, many graduates are struggling to enter the workforce. Their topline unemployment rate, officially called the U-3 rate, rose to  5.3% in April, an increase from the January 2025 rate of  4.7%. The U-3 rate is the percentage of the labor force that is unemployed. 

The U-6 rate, commonly called the underemployment rate, includes unemployed workers plus involuntary part-time workers and discouraged workers. The U-6 rate for new college graduates has risen faster than their U-3 rate. Since January 2025, the U-6 rate increased from 8.2% to a high of 10% in April.

The chart below shows both the U-3 and U-6 rates by race:

The increase in the U-6 rate suggests that a portion of new college graduates are turning to part-time and gig work as suitable full-time work becomes harder to find. Fortune Magazine reported on new college graduates turning to gig and entrepreneurial work as entry-level job openings have declined while the number of applicants for the remaining jobs has increased. This has led some to pursue work outside of their formal areas of study. According to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, 41.5% of recent college graduates work in a job that doesn’t require a college degree. 

Breaking down the data by race reveals a couple of interesting trends. First, both the U-3 and U-6 rates are higher for Black and Hispanic graduates compared to White graduates. The unemployment rate for Black graduates peaked at 12.3% in November of last year and then declined by over 5 percentage points (pp) to 6.9%, while the underemployment rate declined only 2 pp over the same period. Despite this decline, Black underemployment remains elevated compared to the beginning of 2025. Similarly, the U-6 rate for Hispanic college graduates has been steadily increasing since mid-2022.

A second important finding from the data is that not only are Black and Hispanic college graduates’ unemployment rates rising, but they are substantially higher relative to White graduates. The Black grads U-3 rate reached a low of 3.3% in March of 2024 and then experienced a spike to 6.9% in April, a 110% increase. For Hispanic grads, their U-3 rate increased by 80% from a low of 4.1% in January of 2025 to 7.3% in April. For White grads, their U-3 rate increased by only 36% from an October 2022 low of 3.18%.

While media attention has focused on unemployment among new college graduates, and rightfully so, it is more endemic for Black and Hispanic graduates. For college graduates overall, the reason for their employment woes has been broadly attributed to a combination of broader labor market weakness and AI changing the hiring decisions of companies. 

Firms facing higher costs, due in part to tariffs, are hiring fewer workers, including recent college graduates. Some of the layoffs result from poor management decisions in the past. For example, some companies over-hired in the post-pandemic boom and have now begun layoffs. These experienced unemployed workers are sometimes competing for jobs alongside new college graduates. These broader labor market trends are negatively impacting job hiring for all workers, including for recent college graduates.

While companies, particularly tech firms, have announced tens of thousands of layoffs this year, the biggest challenge for new entrants to the labor market is the drop in entry-level hiring. Firms are adopting a wait-and-see approach to AI by holding off on hiring junior workers until they better understand the capabilities of AI systems and who they can replace. Additionally, companies that are leaning into AI investments are letting workers go to free up capital for AI spending.

For recent Black and Hispanic college graduates, AI introduces another challenge – algorithmic discrimination. A study from Stanford University found that AI screening tools systematically discriminate against Black applicants. Research from the University of Washington has found that AI resume screening tools can show bias based on an applicant’s name. The tools they reviewed recommended applicants with White-associated names 85% of the time compared to only 9% for applicants with Black-associated names. 

When an AI underwriting algorithm is primarily trained on data from a pool of mostly White applicants, it can favor white candidates to the detriment of Black and Hispanic qualified applicants. A dataset of interactions between biased bank branch loan officers and applicants seeking a small business loan might produce an algorithm that reflects biases of the loan officers. Thus, AI can amplify existing systems of discrimination.

The labor market for recent college graduates is weak not only because of structural reasons like high costs and post-pandemic over-hiring but because of the AI shock. Declining entry-level job hiring is fueled by this dynamic. For non-White college graduates, potential discrimination from AI algorithms, in addition to the AI-related job hiring freezes, is directly affecting their ability to enter the workforce. The labor market is bad for recent college graduates. For Black and Hispanic grads, it’s even worse. 

Joseph Dean is the Racial Economic Research Specialist with NCRC’s Research team.

Photo credit: Safari Consoler via Pexels.

The proposed rule aligns with the Trump administration’s broader agenda to eliminate “discriminatory diversity, equity and inclusion practices” within the federal government, and the OCC justifies the removal of this language by asserting that it “implicates matters of social, political and economic significance not authorized by clear statutory authority.”  

These changes in the OCC’s regulatory guidance could undermine progress in reducing wealth disparities with significant consequences for NCRC members and the communities they serve. Financial institutions may respond by directing less capital to minority and women-owned entities that build affordable housing and provide credit to small businesses. The removal of clear nondiscrimination guidance may also weaken accountability and embolden predatory lenders to discriminate against certain borrowers. 

NCRC submitted a comment letter to the OCC opposing these proposed changes with the main points outlined below. 

The Impact of Public Welfare Investments  

OCC and Federal Reserve-chartered banks can invest up to 15% of their capital and surplus—essentially a bank’s financial cushion—towards public welfare. Known as public welfare investments (PWIs), banks can invest in community development activities, like expanding affordable housing access, providing support to small businesses or bolstering workforce training programs. However, banks must seek regulatory approval for their PWIs to exceed 15%. PWIs qualify for Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) credit since the bank’s investment would benefit low- to moderate-income communities. 

Regulators provide guidance to banks on how to effectively make PWIs, which includes a list of activities that qualify. The OCC’s proposal removes “minority and women-owned entities” from this list of identified examples, although the OCC would continue to permit investments in those entities. That change weakens the guidance’s emphasis on directing capital to communities and businesses that have historically been overlooked and underserved.  

The concern, therefore, is not that these investments would become ineligible. Rather, removing the explicit reference may discourage banks from pursuing them. In the current environment, some institutions may avoid investments specifically focused on minority- and women-owned entities out of concern that they could attract scrutiny under the administration’s broader campaign against diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. 

The Removal of Nondiscrimination Requirements 

In the same proposed rule, the OCC intends to remove nondiscrimination requirements for Federal Savings Associations (FSAs).  The requirements prohibit discrimination based on race or other protected characteristics in lending. The OCC’s stated rationale for removal of these requirements is that they were excessive and duplicative of the existing Regulation B, which implements the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA). Regulation B protects loan applicants from credit discrimination.  

The OCC’s removal of the nondiscrimination language could send the wrong message to lenders that the nondiscrimination requirements do not need to be taken seriously. On top of that, the CFPB recently weakened Regulation B by eliminating disparate-impact liability. This means that it will be more difficult to challenge lending practices that appear facially neutral on paper but disproportionately harm or exclude a group of people that share a protected characteristic, like race or gender. The combined effect of these changes could open the door for more lending discrimination against borrowers of color, amplified by significantly reduced accountability and oversight.  

By removing explicit language concerning equity and nondiscrimination, the OCC would make its expectations less clear for federally chartered institutions. Eliminating these provisions suggests that fair treatment of historically underserved borrowers and businesses is no longer a central supervisory priority. The OCC grants charters to lenders, obligating them to responsibly serve and treat all communities fairly, including minority and women-owned entities. OCC’s proposed removal of equity and non-discrimination-focused language undermines its charters and the principle of public trust.   

Manan Shah is the Policy Advisor for NCRC’s Policy & Government Affairs team.

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That was until Beltran connected with the Pima County Community Land Trust (PCCLT), a nonprofit that provides affordable housing to low- and moderate-income people in southern Arizona. The nonprofit helped her purchase an affordable home at a discounted price, even when banks told her she couldn’t afford one. 

Now, all Beltran thinks about is how she’s going to grow her seamstress business from her home rather than when she will be forced to move again. 

“Whenever someone comes to my house, they say, ‘Wow, look at how pretty your home is,’” Beltran said. “And to all the world, I say, ‘I went to the [Pima County] Community Land Trust, and all of them helped me out.’ For me, it’s a blessing.” 

PCCLT was founded in 2010 in response to the global financial crisis of 2008. The nonprofit works to create a steady supply of affordable homes in Pima County by rehabilitating existing affordable homes and developing new ones. Today, the organization has more than 127 properties in its portfolio. 

“We were created as a response to a crisis,” said Maggie Amado-Tellez, PCCLT’s executive director.

PCCLT also offers housing counseling services to about 150 households per year and connects homebuyers to down payment assistance through its partners at the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco and Pima County’s local government. 

“When people talk about affordable homes, they think of bricks and mortar, but it’s really about the families,” Amado-Tellez said. 

PCCLT’s work is happening at a time when many people in Arizona are struggling to find homes they can afford. Arizona has become one of the most desirable markets for global real estate investors because of the state’s population growth and tech employment. Meanwhile, the state has a gap of nearly 195,000 affordable homes for its lowest-income earners, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition. 

“Housing isn’t sexy because the idea is still that people need to earn it, and they don’t understand that the playing field is not level,” Amado-Tellez said. 

Being part of the NCRC network has helped PCCLT navigate the local landscape by providing the tools and knowledge needed to secure funding. Amado-Tellez said NCRC’s research helped the organization navigate changes that the Department of Housing and Urban Development made to the Notice of Funding Opportunity for its Neighborhood Stabilization Grant. 

Litza Mendez, PCCLT’s operations manager, also credits NCRC’s educational resources for helping PCCLT’s housing counseling program remain in compliance. The training and oversight provided have not only helped PCCLT connect people with housing opportunities as part of NCRC’s Housing Counseling Network but also ensured that the organization put its Neighborhood Stabilization grant money to good use. 

“Providing training for a little nonprofit like PCCLT has really helped us provide for our community in ways we never imagined,” Mendez said.

Robert Davis is a Contributing Writer.

Photo courtesy of Pima County Community Land Trust.

This dataset draws on US Census data spanning multiple decades (from the 1970s through 2010s) and covering thousands of neighborhoods tracking demographic, economic and housing trends at the neighborhood (census tract) level across metropolitan areas nationwide.

Why this matters

Gentrification is one of the most debated topics in the housing and community development fields. Depending on how it’s measured, the same neighborhood can look like a success story or a displacement crisis. This dataset was built to cut through that confusion. It applies five research-tested methods for identifying gentrification so users can see how conclusions shift depending on the approach — and which methods are best supported by real-world evidence.

NCRC’s own research, published in the Journal of Urban Affairs, found that the methods included in this dataset were among the most accurate at tracking actual patterns of class change, racial turnover and housing market pressure. Using these methods, we estimate that roughly 60,000 Black residents left gentrifying neighborhoods in Washington, DC between 1990 and 2020 alone.

This new dataset has provided researchers and advocates with a more transparent and evidence-based way to understand where and how gentrification is occurring.

What’s in the dataset

The dataset includes neighborhood-level indicators over time, such as:

• Population and demographic change
• Income and poverty levels
• Housing values and market activity
• Employment and occupational shifts
• Gentrification indicators by decade

These indicators allow researchers to make consistent, decade-by-decade comparisons across thousands of neighborhoods in urban areas nationwide.

What we found

Using this dataset and our evaluation approach, we found that in Washington, DC – one of the most studied cases of gentrification – neighborhoods identified as gentrifying were also the primary sites of significant Black population loss between 1990 and 2020.

However, this does not mean every move was forced. But it does show that population changes were not random as they were concentrated in areas experiencing rapid economic and social transformation.

How this helps communities

This dataset is designed to support:

• Better public understanding of neighborhood change;
• More informed policy decisions, including tenant protections and anti-displacement strategies;
• Targeted investment by focusing resources where pressures are greatest; and allows for more
• Local analysis, allowing cities to apply consistent evaluation methods to their own communities.

A tool for action

By grounding the measurement of gentrification in real-world indicators, this dataset helps move the conversation beyond competing definitions and toward practical solutions.

When we can clearly identify where change is happening — and who is affected — we are better equipped to protect communities and promote equitable development.

To access the dataset and learn more about the evaluation methods, please see the following resources: 

• https://www.openicpsr.org/openicpsr/project/250783/version/V1/view
• https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/07352166.2026.2621717

Funding Sources 

National Institutes of Health’s National Institute on Aging (R01AG080401)

Bruce C. Mitchell with the Principal Researcher with NCRC’s Research team.

Photo credit: Erik McLean via Pexels.

Over the next decade, roughly six million baby boomer small business owners are expected to exit their companies, according to a recent McKinsey study. Over one million of these businesses, representing $5 trillion in value, will enter the market. 

At a time when wealth inequality in the US just hit a 30-year high, some owners are converting into employee-owned cooperatives that transfer wealth to workers rather than selling to private equity firms or shutting down. 

CFNE is a community development loan fund helping navigate this shift. While employee ownership can take various forms, such as employee stock ownership plans, CFNE finances worker-owned cooperatives, which are democratically-governed businesses where every employee has an equal say in major company decisions. 

For example, when the owner of O’Donal’s Nursery in Maine decided to retire, he wanted to preserve his legacy in the community and reward the people who helped him build the business. Rather than sell to outside buyers or close, he sold the business to his 36 employees.

Once the nursery converted in 2023, the new worker-owners hired a general manager, grew its revenue by $600,000, established a 401(k) plan, provided healthcare and raised wages. They went on to purchase 10 acres of land underneath the nursery to create supply chain resiliency, keeping the property locally-owned and helping to expand their operations.

O’Donal’s isn’t an isolated success story. Over the past decade, CFNE has financed 40 worker cooperatives with 39 still operating. 

The fund is part of the Northeast Transition Initiative, a collaboration with nonprofit developers the Cooperative Development Institute (CDI) and ICA Group, which aims to transfer wealth from one generation to the next through sales to workers. CFNE and CDI often work together to help business owners in the Northeast through the conversion process and by supporting employees as they become new owners. 

Going from employees to owners 

CDI works with local small business development centers and chambers of commerce to identify owners considering exit strategies by providing education on employee ownership models. CDI evaluates the business, assesses whether a sale is feasible and introduces the appropriate model to workers. 

If the employees decide to move forward, CDI helps them form a steering committee—which later becomes the cooperative governing board—to handle negotiations. CDI then supports the committee with ongoing business education, financial training and growth planning. 

“It’s a group of five or six employees who decide that they’re willing to do the work on behalf of the potential future cooperative to explore it and do the due diligence,” said Heather Foran, education and training manager for business ownership solutions at CDI. 

At this point in the process, CDI will connect the business with a cooperative lender like CFNE that can provide financing options. 

“One of the challenges in lending to cooperatives is if you’ve got 100 members, who’s going to put their house on the line? Who’s going to give the bank a personal guarantee? Banks tend to be nervous about trying to lend to something like that,” Edsell-Vetter said. 

CFNE fills that funding gap by evaluating and issuing loans based on the strength of the cooperative’s business model rather than individual personal guarantees. Typically, these transitions rely on some seller financing, where the retiring owner accepts payments over time. CFNE then provides loans to make up the difference. Some states like Colorado and Massachusetts are starting grant and incentive programs to help workers with these funding gaps.  

The broader impact of equitable ownership

CFNE has financed diverse conversions across the Northeast, including plant nurseries, architecture firms, hardware stores and landscape design companies like Earth Designs in New York, which converted to a worker cooperative in 2016 and has seen robust growth over the past decade. Last year, the fund helped Eastern Garage Door in Massachusetts become a worker-cooperative after 100 years in business. 

While financing may seem like the biggest hurdle to launching a worker cooperative, both Edsell-Vetter and Foran noted that the mental transition from an employee to an owner is often the biggest obstacle. 

“With conversions, one of the challenges is that you came into this job because you needed the job, not because you wanted to be your own boss,” Edsell-Vetter said. “There is really an ownership mindset shift that needs to happen.”

After making that leap, employees start to define success collectively rather than individually, working collaboratively on ideas that drive profit while serving customers, the community and each other. 

“Worker cooperatives are actually a highly resilient business model,” Foran said. “Workers know where to save money, they know what customers want and they’re very in touch with the market.”

To date, CDI has helped 40 small businesses transition to cooperatives, assisting them in securing over $45 million in capital and creating ownership opportunities for more than 700 workers in sectors ranging from manufacturing to energy and insurance. After converting, Foran said worker-owners have been able to move off government assistance programs, buy homes and save for their children’s college education. 

 “I think that the more that we can demonstrate that this is a viable business model in general, the more we can overcome the assumption that workers aren’t able to do this,” Foran said. 

Kaitlyn Ridel is a Contributing Writer.

Photo courtesy of the Cooperative Fund of the Northeast/Earth Designs.

Urban Neighborhood Initiatives (UNI) emerged from a coalition focused on a shared belief: Communities are best influenced by the people that live in them. What started as collaboration amongst residents grew into a place-based effort to strengthen Southwest Detroit’s Springwells neighborhood. 

UNI constructed an ecosystem designed around poverty reduction through a “cradle-to-career” pipeline, proactively providing assistance for their community. Their framework consists of a plethora of programs that provide opportunities for the youth in their community. 

Parents can enroll their newborns into the Flourishing to the Future program, a College Savings Account and Financial Literacy program for infants through 10 years olds. Enrollees receive matched funding in their college savings account, with UNI being entrusted to manage the funds for the accounts held by the child.

Students are also exposed to the Quality Team (Q-Team), a year round youth development program where they learn the intricacies of data collection and quality, receive hands-on training in graphic design, facilitation/leadership, research protocols and much more. 

These are just a few of UNI’s programs and partnerships that focus on social/emotional development and workforce exposure for the community’s youth. 

“At the end of the day, we’re addressing poverty by addressing our neighborhoods’ physical and human development needs so that as youth experience economic mobility they are also invested in the future of their neighborhood,” says Christine Bell, executive director of UNI.

In a 2024 census survey conducted by Data Driven Detroit, over 82% of neighborhood children are of Latine descent, with 36% of those children between the ages of 10-14, a crucial development window that UNI targets. 

If our 10-year-old fourth grader started in the program and continued through the Urban Neighborhood Initiative’s workforce development into early adulthood, they would be among the percentage of Latine children given opportunities to shape the trajectory of their future.

Via their partnership with the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC), UNI has strengthened its voice in conversations pertaining to community investment and economic development for their neighborhood in spaces like the Detroit Summit where they were invited by NCRC to speak on a panel discussion. 

“[NCRC] ensured that we were part of a panel that talked about economic mobility. They made certain that UNI’s priorities remain a priority with banks,” Bell said. “[NCRC’s] meetings have been helpful in being able to say to banks what is needed for our city.” 

After nearly three decades, UNI continues to prioritize the early and long term investment that does more than impact one person. It strengthens the community and the belief that an organized neighborhood is a harder neighborhood to disenfranchise.

Britni Brown is a Contributing Writer.

Photo courtesy of Urban Neighborhood Initiatives.

ULS has supported low- to moderate-income residents navigating housing, social security and public benefits challenges in Washington, DC since 1967. Their work has since expanded to include protecting the legal, civil and human rights of people with disabilities as well.

Supporting Housing Stability

The organization’s Housing Counseling Program (HCP) helps marginalized residents achieve homeownership and prevent foreclosure. Through their educational programming on topics such as foreclosure, budgeting, saving, improving credit and rehabilitating properties, residents are equipped with the tools to build and sustain long-term stability.

“Our typical client is a single mother with two kids who is interested in homeownership but uncertain if that goal is attainable,” says ULS’ Executive Director Jane Brown. “Our counselors are more than counselors – they are cheerleaders. Our clients feel relieved and confident leaving here knowing they have help navigating the path to homeownership.”

HCP offers workshops on city-sponsored housing programs in English and Spanish. The program also provides clients with opportunities for one-on-one collaboration with HUD-certified, bilingual housing counselors. 

Protecting Rights and Expanding Independence

For many residents, housing stability alone is not enough. ULS also works to ensure people with disabilities have the rights, access and support needed to stay in their homes and fully participate in their communities. 

ULS serves as the District’s designated Protection and Advocacy agency, providing legal advocacy and support services to protect the rights and well-being of people with disabilities. Its Disability Rights DC programs focus on protecting legal rights, strengthening independence and expanding access to community services and public accommodations – such as home health aids and employment supports – for people with disabilities. 

ULS also leads the DC Assistive Technology Program, which expands access to tools and resources that support greater autonomy in daily life.

Additionally, the organization’s Jail and Prison Advocacy Program advocates for returning citizens with psychiatric disabilities, intellectual disabilities, traumatic brain injuries and co-occurring substance use disorders in DC.

“We help ensure people are free from abuse and neglect, aware of their rights and that their rights are protected,” Brown says. “We blend housing counseling with disability rights services to work with people being released from DC jails. This not only impacts their ability to return to the community, but also cuts back on recidivism.”

Powering Impact with Support From NCRC

Sustaining this high level of service is increasingly challenging amid ongoing budget cuts. For ULS, these constraints directly affect their staffing capacity and the overall scope of services provided to residents.

“We rely on financial support from powerhouse national organizations like NCRC to accomplish our mission,” Brown says. “Funding from NCRC closes gaps and helps us retain services that have a huge impact on the community while ensuring more residents can remain in their homes and communities.”

Nicole Rothstein is a Contributing Writer.

Photo courtesy of University Legal Services.