Publications
Seedco is committed to sharing our lessons and expertise with other nonprofits, policymakers and service providers.
|
From 'Work First' to 'Worker Mobility': A Critical Review of Career Advancement Strategies
December 2008 This report analyzes career advancement programs targeted to low-wage workers and contrasts those models with Seedco's new career advancement program, EarnMore. |
|
Project Reach Out: Building Effective Partnerships between the Public Workforce System and Faith-based and Community Organizations
Summer 2008 This product by the Technical Assistance department in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Labor outlines how to build effective partnerships between the public workforce system community-based organizations. |
|
Step Up: Career Planning Guide for Young Adults
Summer 2008 This product by the Technical Assistance department in conjunction with the New York City Department of Youth and Community Development helps young adults prepare and plan for future careers. |
|
The Limits of Social Enterprise: A Field Study & Case Analysis June 2007 The Seedco Policy Center provides a fresh perspective on social enterprise through a detailed assessment of a Seedco childcare initiative. |
|
New Orleans Small Business Resource Guide
August 2006 The New Orleans Small Business Resource Guide is designed to help New Orleans-area businesses access valuable resources in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. This site currently lists 51 services, provided by 39 different government agencies and nonprofit organizations. |
|
Fieldnotes, Summer 2006
Summer 2006 This edition of Seedco's newsletter features coverage of: Expansion of the EarnFair Alliance, Seedco's restaurant initiative, replication of EarnBenefits in Atlanta, the first job fair held in Lower Manhattan and the development of a community mortgage broker network in Tennessee. |
|
Fieldnotes, Fall 2005
Fall 2005 This edition of Seedco's newsletter features coverage of: New Structure for Seedco and its Board, the announcement of Seedco Financial Services as a separate entity, Seedco Financial Services' use of New Market Tax Credits, expansion of the Earnfair Alliance, EarnBenefits presence in Memphis and launching in Atlanta, the induction of three new members to Seedco's executive staff and more. |
|
Assessing Seedco's Lower Manhattan Small Business & Workforce Retention Program
September 2005 This report, prepared for Seedco by the National Community Capital Association (NCCA), with a preface by Seedco CEO, Bill Grinker, describes Seedco's activities in Lower Manhattan after 9/11. The NCCA report highlights how a multi-pronged strategy can be effective in meeting the needs of small businesses. Seedco used wage subsidies along with loans, grants, and technical assistance to provide quick and essential aid to small firms. This combination of economic assistance and worker supports filled a vital gap in the economic assistance programs available after 9/11. Seedco played a major role as an economic recovery 'first responder,' a role no other organization was able to fill. Seedco believes that lessons learned from this approach can make the recovery efforts along the Gulf Coast more efficient and effective. |
|
Partners on the Path to Self-Sufficiency
August 2005 This report by Leila Fiester offers a detailed examination of how Seedco and the community organization members of the EarnFair® Alliance work together to create opportunities for disadvantaged jobseekers and low-wage workers. |
|
Fieldnotes, Spring 2005
June 2005 This edition of Seedco's newsletter features stories on innovative workforce development services at both the Jefferson County WIA Career Center and the Upper Manhattan Workforce1 Career Center (p. 3, 4); the new ArtBusiness initiative, which offers technical and financial assistance to small arts organizations and businesses in Lower Manhattan (p. 6); and Seedco's collaborative neighborhood revitalization efforts with the Memphis Community Development Partnership (p. 7). |
|
The Transformation of Social Services Management in New York City: "CompStating Welfare"
May 2005 A report on the reform in New York City's social service agencies since the early 1990s, which was achieved using principles of performance management similar to those used by the New York City Police Department in the 1990s to effect a well-known reduction in crime. The report is based on a paper presented at the 26th Annual Research Conference of the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM) in Atlanta, Georgia, October 2004. |
|
Report to the Community on Seedco's Recent Alabama Activities
May 2005 Congressman Artur Davis (AL-7) (left) speaks at a May 2 lunchtime reception in Birmingham, Alabama, to release a Report to the Community on Seedco's Recent Alabama Activities. The report, released under the auspices of Seedco's Alabama Policy Advisory Board, details nearly $5 million in investments leveraged for Seedco's important statewide initiatives in economic development, workforce development, and affordable homeownership since 2002. |
 
|
The Double Bottom Line and Profiting from Purpose February 2005 Published with support from the MetLife Foundation, two new reports document findings from Seedco's Nonprofit Venture Network (NVN). The Double Bottom Line: Lessons on Social Enterprise from Seedco's Nonprofit Venture Network 2001-2004 and Profiting from Purpose: Profiles of Success and Challenge in Eight Social Purpose Businesses offer, respectively, a summary of Seedco's experience in social enterprise and in-depth analysis of eight nonprofits operating social purpose businesses. |
|
Fieldnotes, Fall 2004 November 2004 The Fall edition of Seedco's newsletter for friends and supporters features stories on innovative workforce development services at the Workforce1 Career in Harlem (p. 3); the National Housing Counseling Network, which bolsters the efforts of community-based organizations providing housing counseling to their local residents (p. 4); and Seedco's IT Consortium, a sectoral initiative to place low-wage workers in career-ladder positions within the high-growth information technology field (p. 6). |
|
The Promise and Pitfalls of Performance-Based Contracting June 2004 This report provides background on the development of performance management and measurement practices in New York City and discusses their implications for nonprofit social service providers. |
|
A Support Strategy for Small Businesses June 2004 This report illustrates best practices and lessons learned from providing technical assistance to small businesses as part of Seedco's Lower Manhattan Initiative. |
 |
Fieldnotes, Spring 2004 May 2004 This edition includes stories on Seedco's work with faith-based organizations in Memphis (page 4); Seedco subsidiary Empowerment Reinvestment Fund, LLC,'s first New Markets Tax Credit deal in Detroit (page 6); and a retrospective on the Lower Manhattan Small Business and Workforce Retention Project (page 7). |
|
A Toolkit for Developing a Social Purpose Business Plan January 2004 The Nonprofit Venture Network announces its new 'Toolkit for Developing a Social Purpose Business Plan,' a resource for nonprofits that are considering starting a revenue-generating activity or a business venture. Includes comprehensive organizational assessment tools and details for developing each part of a social purpose business plan. |
|
Benefits and Low Wage Work September 2003 A groundbreaking study that finds employer-based benefits and government subsidized income enhancements, like the Earned Income Tax Credit, Food Stamps and childcare subsidies, can provide important avenues for low wage workers to achieve long-term job stability and growth. |
 |
Lower Manhattan Newsletter: Issue 5 November 2003 This PDF document is the 5th issue of the Lower Manhattan Program's newsletter, and spans October and November 2003. Intended for Lower Manhattan Business Owners, it covers such topics as saving money on payroll costs, understanding the health impact of 9/11, and where to locate business information in downtown NY. |
 |
When Good Work Makes Good Sense: Social Purpose Business Case Studies
May 2003
After Seedco began the NonProfit Venture Network project in New York City in 2001 it became clear that the workshop training session would be substantially enhanced with
case studies that could portray a variety of nonprofit experiences with social purpose business.
This report, made possible through the support of the Metlife Foundation, describes the history and context, business strategy and structure, operations, outcomes, and next steps for four real nonprofit ventures: The Women's Home and Cottage Thrift Shop (Houston, Texas); Artists for Humanity and Art and Entrepreneurship for Urban Youth (Boston); Delancey Street Foundation (San Francisco); and the Fifth Avenue Committee and FirstSource Staffing (Brooklyn, NY). |
 |
Opening the Door: Technology and the Development of University-Community Partnerships October 2002 Opening the Door: Technology and the Development of University Community Partnerships, highlights the critical role that academic institutions can play in mobilizing technology resources to improve conditions in their host neighborhoods. The report is the second phase in Seedco's Community Development Technology Initiative (CDTI), a multi-year project designed to assess and enhance the use of information technology in the community development process. |
 |
Back in Business: The Lower Manhattan Small Business And Workforce Retention Project
April 2002
This report documents and assesses The Lower Manhattan Small Business and Workforce Retention Project (LMSB&WRP), a large-scale, privately funded initiative created by
Seedco in the immediate aftermath of the September 11th disaster to provide immediate financial and business support to small businesses devastated by the attacks.
According to Seedco President William Grinker, "the report provides a historical record of the efforts and insights that might be applied to less crises oriented economic and community development activities of the type that Seedco, as a national community development technical assistance and financial intermediary, normally engages." |
 |
The Evolving Role of Information Technology in Community Development Organizations March 2002 This publication details how community-based organizations are using information technology to carry out their work. The report, part of Seedco's Commnunity Development Technology Initiative, is based on the findings of a survey of over 300 organizations. |