Why Community Wealth Building

Our economy has failed us over and over again. There is a history of negligence, discriminations, broken bonds on the part of both government and private entities. Where wealth inequality is an issue for all Americans, its worst form is more evident along racial lines. According to Pew Research the Median black household income was 59% of median white household income in 2011, up modestly from 55% in 1967; as recently as 2007, black income was 63% of white income.

What Is Community Wealth Building 

A regular economic development approach brings economic engine generators (industry, stadiums, short-term incentives) to a community. The problem with this approach is that the local economy heavily relies on these big generators and if they move, the economy moves with them leaving unmanageable damage to the local economy. Community Wealth Building programs aim to solve this problem with sustainable models that keep capital in local communities and prevent big industry from over leveraging community assets for outside gain.

SEIU FPSU Approach To Community Wealth Building 

We aim at strategically investing in our communities to provide democratic ownership and control of their assets and capital. Our approach builds on existing assets to attract capital resources for investment in institutions that remain within the communities. In other words promoting FIRE Economies (Finance, Insurance,Real Estate). This includes both for profit and not for profit institutions such as banks , credit unions, community development loan funds, insurance agencies, investment firms, real estate firms.

Our Path To Power

  • Better Wages and Local Economic Ownership
  • Development of Sustainable Economic Engines
  • Focused Political and Policy Efforts
  • Improved Education and Community Engagement