Public Meeting Regarding NationsBank and BankAmerica - Panel 28
Friday, July 10, 1998
Transcript of Panel Twenty-Eight
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1 MS. SMITH: Ms. Scott will be a panel of one.
2 MS. SCOTT: Thank you. I hadn't anticipated
3 that.
4 Good afternoon. My name the Lue Venia Scott
5 and I'm a program manager in the Oakland office of the
6 California Community Economic Development Association of
7 CCEDA. My testimony today is on behalf of CCEDA and our
8 Executive Director, Ralph Lippman
9 CCEDA is a statewide membership association
10 of community-based organizations that are actively
11 engaged in the revitalization of California's low-income
12 neighborhoods. In their respective communities, CCEDA
13 members produce results in many areas of community
14 building, including, but not limited to the production
15 of housing, industrial and commercial space, employment
16 training, job creation, business startup and expansion
17 and the provision or facilitation of human services.
18 State associations provide clearinghouses for
19 information and action. To build the capacity and
20 expand the resources for community-based organizations,
21 30 state associations advocate on behalf of the nation's
22 2,200 CDCs.
23 Critical partners are banks like NationsBank
24 and the Bank of America. Forty-eight percent of the
25 nation's community development corporations reported the
26 receipt of more than $50,000 in grants, investments or
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1 loans in a National Congress of Community Economic
2 Development study, which was published in 1993, called
3 "Against All Odds." This amount has substantially
4 increased over the last five years as deal structure
5 changed, subsidies shrunk and our members grew more
6 financially sophisticated.
7 State associations and CDCs are very
8 concerned that mergers may result in the attenuation of
9 partnerships with banks for community economic
10 development projects. In this time of devolution and
11 consolidation of resources at the state level, any
12 decline is a serious concern.
13 We have found that local groups and state
14 associations have a much more difficult time negotiating
15 support from their banks following a merger.
16 This is particularly underscored today. The
17 Bank of America, its foundation and Community
18 Development Bank have been unflagging partners of the
19 work of in CCEDA and its members.
20 Jim, Wagele, Susan Howard, Don Mulland and
21 Mike Mantle have been responsive and supportive.
22 The rural initiative and the economic
23 initiative are national models. To be at this juncture
24 in the merger and still have uncertainty in the absence
25 of written commitment about the organizational fate of
26 the Community Development Bank, the initiatives and the
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1 foundationss targeting is, in our view, unacceptable.
2 California deserves better.
3 We believe that CD Bank has acquired
4 considerable knowledge and expertise regarding
5 development in California. We would like to see it stay
6 here.
7 We note the integral role the foundation has
8 played in the operation of California's community-based
9 groups. A percentage of the bank's earnings would
10 ideally be earmarked for California's communities with
11 the decision-making group that is close to the ground in
12 the west, not the southeast.
13 We would like to see an established target
14 goal that would help us to back into conclusions
15 regarding how far the new initiatives will go.
16 Finally, the nations state CDC associations
17 want a firm commitment from banks that are merging to
18 work with their state associations. We want every
19 financial institution to recognize that policy advocacy
20 and training are important to the viability of community
21 economic development.
22 We suggest that merging institutions invest a
23 portion of their resources to support the work of state
24 CDC associations. An alternative approach beyond a
25 direct multi-year commitment to CCEDA and groups like us
26 such as housed in California could be for the banks to
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1 utilize the National Congress for Community Economic
2 development as an intermediary which would serve as the
3 granting entity and then distribute funding to
4 affiliated state groups in which the newly-merged entity
5 would do business.
6 We believe that banks understand that a rich
7 and vibrant environment is good for the community and
8 for business. We believe that they understand that
9 public policy is moving to the states. We urge a
10 written commitment to support California and state
11 associations. Thank you.
12 MS. SMITH: Thank you very much. Any
13 questions?
14 Thank you very much for coming this
15 afternoon.
16 We have gotten ahead of schedule. So, to
17 make up for all the breaks we didn't have yesterday,
18 we're going to take a one-hour break now.
19 (Recess taken.)