In an effort to boost investment in community development, the South Carolina Community Capital Alliance (SCCCA) held a conference on impact investing Tuesday at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Greenville. A series of nationally recognized speakers shared experiences and introduced new ideas about how to shift investment activity toward community development. Attendees across business and nonprofit sectors made up the packed event.
SCCCA comprises a group of loan funds and community development banking organizations from across the state. A broad range of areas, including affordable housing, healthy food and small business, could benefit from the funds, said Michelle Mapp, SCCCA chairman.
“This was really just the first conversation,” she said, “so one of the things we’d like to do from here is gauge where these investments are being made.”
Next steps are to have more intimate one-on-one conversations around the state.
Part of the challenge of making that assessment is an inconsistency in the ways nonprofits, governments, community developers and investors discuss impact investing, some attendees acknowledged.
Gage Weekes, senior vice president of strategic initiatives with Hollingsworth Funds, said the concept of impact investing is just emerging in the world of private foundations. He said there is an appetite for impact investing in the Upstate community as people recognize that traditional models alone are not doing enough to solve complex problems.
“It’s imperative that the theory become practice. We’re not talking about taking everybody’s assets [for impact investing], but 1 to 3 percent of assets would be a good start.”
Mapp said the Upstate has proved through its use of new market tax credits that it can make creative use of public-private tools. Organizations such as CommunityWorks Carolina, a certified financial organization, and Homes of Hope, which has revitalized neighborhoods with affordable housing, also do notable work in this arena.
Mapp said there is no way to measure the total level of impact investing in South Carolina.
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