The West Philadelphia Financial Services Institution, founded in 1997, is a not for profit community development financial institution whose role is to spur economic development, provide financial services to businesses and enrich the quality of life for residences in the West Philadelphia Empowerment Zone.
Housing finance is a growing concern exacerbated by a lack of information. In emerging market countries, a growing urban middle class exerts increasing political pressures to improve their access to formal sector housing in an environment where the proportion of households in informal and under-serviced areas remains stubbornly stable. There is a critical need to mobilize domestic resources through the scaling-up of housing finance systems. Expanding housing finance systems require a dramatic increase in the number of housing finance professionals in a variety of institutions--public, private, non-governmental and academic. These professionals need information, not just on housing markets and finance systems in their own countries, but comparative information across countries. In countries with highly developed housing finance systems, current practices and policies are being reconsidered. The lack of a cross-country knowledge framework limits the discussion on alternative practices. Few U.S. housing experts know, for example, how European countries fund their mortgages. International development agencies and consulting firms need cross-country comparable information, over time, on the health and strength of housing finance systems and policies beyond some indicators of size and type of participating institutions.
Founded in 1989 by the Wharton Small Business Development Center, The Enterprise Center provides access to capital, building capacity, business education and economic development opportunities to high-potential, minority entrepreneurs. Through our portfolio of business-acceleration initiatives, TEC seeks to better position minority enterprises to compete in the local, regional, and global economies.