Progressive Planning Leader Pat Rosenthal and Common Wealth Inc. of Youngstown, Ohio by Pierre Clavel Common Wealth Inc. is a Community Developmen t Co rporation (CDC) fo unded in Youngs town, Ohio, th at began by sup por ting worker b uyo uts and cooperatives in the 1980s. Its story is largely that of Exec utive Director Pat Rosen th al. who turn ed to law school and or ganizi ng after three large steel mills closed and d ecimated You ngst own 's economy in 1978. Com mo n Wealth exe m plifies th e way ma ny CDCs changed in the 1980s and 1990s. CDCs built a lot of affo rdabl e housin g, and many beca me landlord s, but real estate dev e lopme nt threatened to displace th e or iginal commun ity deve lop ment mission of crea ting jobs and act ually involving local residents in im p rov ing thei r o wn ne ig h bo rhoo ds and their own live s. In co ntrast, Commo n \Vealth excelled as a CDC for its ability, ove r two-a nd -a-half decades. to n avig ate its dilem mas and survive with many of its original goals intact. Ro sen thal was the key to preserving the CDC's mission . She had begun organizing by helping i ncor po rate a wo rker -ow ned housecleaning coop era tive. In 1986 Rosenthal and her allies started th e C DC along with the Common vvealth Revolving Loa n Fund to su pport both wo rker-owned and -managed start-ups and the retention and growth o f exi s ting com pan ies. In 1988 Common Wealth inco rp orat ed a com munity land trust to rehab houses in the city's South Side. wh ile train ing local youth in con s tructi on trades. Committed Allies Ros enth al had comm itted allies. Law associate and me nto r Sta ugh ton L ynd had bee n in str umental in the You ngstown Ecumen ical Coalition's att empt to achieve a wor ker buyou t of one of the mills, and he helped organize Common Wealth's effort to 20 PROGRESSIVE PLANNING support cooperative ownership and also served on its board. Bishop James W. Malone, as head of the Roma n Catholic Diocese of Youngs town. committed matching funds and supported proposals submitted to the national Catho lic Campaign f or Human Deve lopment (CCHD). includin g a five-year grant that funde d Common Wealth from 1988 to 1993 and the loan loss reserve. John Logue. a political science professor at Kent State, focused on employee own ership and served as a unifying board member of Common Wealth from 1986 until his death in 2009. In 1987 Rosent hal go t the s upport and involvement of two ne wc ome rs to the city. One was Brian Corbin, who Malone hired as the social action director for
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Progressive Planning Leader Pat Rosenthal andCommon Wealth Inc. of Youngstown, Ohio
by Pierre Clavel
C om m on Wealth Inc. is a Co m m unity DevelopmentCo rp or a tion (C DC) founded in Youngs town, Ohio,
th at began by supporting w ork er buyouts andcoo p erat ives in the 1980s. Its story is la rgely that of
Executive Director Pat Rosen th al. who turn ed to law
schoo l a nd organizing afte r th ree large stee l mills
closed and decimated You ngst own's economy in 1978.
Co m mon Wealth exe m plifies th e wa y ma ny CDCscha nged in th e 1980s a nd 1990s . CDCs bu ilt a lot of
affo rdable hou sin g, and m any beca me landl ord s,
but rea l es ta te development threatened to d isplaceth e original community developme nt mission ofcrea ting jobs and act ually in vol ving local resident sin im prov ing thei r own ne ig hbo rhoo ds and theirown live s. In contrast, Co m mo n \Vealt h excelled as aCDC fo r its ab ility, over two-a nd-a-hal f decades. to
naviga te its d ilem mas and s u rvive with man y of itsor ig inal goa ls intact.
Rosenthal wa s th e key to p reserv ing the CDC'sm iss ion . She had begun orga nizi ng by helping
incorpo ra te a wo rker-owne d houseclea ning
coop erative. In 1986 Rose nthal and her allies startedth e C DC a long w ith th e Co m mo n vvea lth Revolvi ng
Loa n Fu nd to su ppor t bot h wo rker-ow ned and-m an aged start-ups and the retention an d growth
of exi sting companies. In 1988 Com mo n Wealthin corporated a com m u ni ty la nd trust to rehab houses
in the city ' s Sou th Sid e. wh ile tr ain ing local youth in
construction tra des.
Committed Allies
Rosenthal had co mm itt ed a llies . Law associate andmento r Staughton Lynd had been instrumental in
the You ngstown Ecumen ica l Coa lition' s attempt toachi eve a worke r buyout o f o ne of the m ills, andhe hel ped orga nize Co mmo n Wealth 's effort to
20 PROGRESSIVE PLANNING
support coo pe ra tive ow nership a nd also served o n
its board . Bishop James W. Malon e, as head of th e
Roma n Catholic Diocese of Youngs town . committedmatchi ng funds and suppo rted prop osa ls subm itt ed
to the nati ona l Ca tho lic Campaign for HumanDeve lopme nt (CCHD). including a five-ye ar g rant
that funded Common Wea lth from 1988 to 1993and the loan loss rese rve . Joh n Logue. a political
science professo r at Ken t Sta te, focused on employeeownership and served as a un ify ing board memb er of
Co mmon Wealth from 1986 until his death in 2009.
In 1987 Rosenthal go t the support a nd in volvemen tof two newcomers to th e city. One was Brian Co rbin,who Malone hir ed as the socia l ac tion d irector for
th e d iocese a nd w ho was tasked wi th creati ng jobs.
The o the r was Jim Con verse. a socio log is t who had
worked at se veral unive rs ities and non -p ro fits .
Converse an d Rosenthal. wh o comple mented each
othe r profess ion ally, al so became a couple and
eventua lly married . w hi le a t th e same time p roviding
esse n tia l leadersh ip to th e o rga niz a tion.
Com m on Wealth moved ah ea d through tr ial and
error. Its effort to use th e loan fund to es tablis h
emp loyee-o w ned and -rn an aged bu sine sses
encou nte red o bs ta cles . Th e com munity land trust
fail ed to provide sig nifica nt jobs and training, and
residents were un able to ge ne rate equity or fun cti on
collec tive ly Rosenthal and Co nve rse could not
sus tai n th e em p loyee se lf-ma nagement a nd bu yout
mod el th ey initially en vi sion ed for th e loan fund .
Common Wealth's Housing Achievements
\Vha t Co m mon Wea lt h wa s abl e to do, inc rea s in gly
in th e 19905 , was d evelop affo rdable hou si ng.
Conve rse a nd Ros ent hal took th e lead gene ra ting
hou s in g p ro jects as they ma na ged p ubl ic h eari ngs
an d co nd uc ted o p ening negotia tions for two
projects beg in n ing in 1995 and 1996 in the land
trus t' s Sou th Side ne igh borhood . Later there we re
o the r project opport u n ities in surro u nd ing to wn s
li ke Ca m p be ll. and by 1999 Rose n tha l wa s abl e
to p ro ject ove r 300 units of new ho usin g und er
con structi on or co mp le ted .
Thi s expansion was possibl e because of Mark IVhipkey.
wh o star ted working for Common Wealth in 1991
and pla yed a major role in planning and pa ckag ing
these projects. Rosentha l descr ibed Whip key'S
functio ns as a d ifferent " laye r" of capacity, one she
and Co nverse could not ha ve p rovide d. T heirs was
represe nta tion, advocacy and political bridge-building .
But it wa s Whipkey who drov e the development team
professionals, pl ans and ap plications so that projects
could go for ward profitabl y. He also managed the
cons tru ctio n so that projects stayed with in budgets and
time lines, mak ing it poss ible rebudget construction
contingencies to cov er develop er fees ins tead of go ing
to cons truction cost ove r ru ns. Eve ntually there we re
nin e projects and severa l hundred un its yie ldi ng a
strea m of d iscret iona ry incom e.
Staying Focused on the Big Picture
O ne key to Common Wealths emergence as a ma jor
pl ay er in Youngstown an d the region in th e 1990s
was that it s leadership never p rojected a narro wness
of conce rn . The ori g inal mission ca me from th e
shared ex pe rience and mem or y of th e fail ed stee l
bu yout atte mpt at th e end of th e 1970s . It was n ev er
just hou sin g. And when it was hou sin g . it wa s a
conce rn w ith how hou sin g sa t within th e struct ure of
bu sin ess in th e community.
In ret rospect, a key m ove was Com mon Wealth's
decis ion to take the lead by inserting itself in
Co mmunity Rein vest ment Act (CRA) hearings. CRA
was the resul t of a 1970s fed era l law requiring banks
to invest in low-incom e co mmunihes if they wanted
to ex pand se rvices o r acqu ire small co mm unity
orien ted banks. Many took noti ce when Rosenthal
and Co nve rse, wi th a coa lition of advoca tes ,
que st ioned loca l bank pract ices. As a resul t of a
p rot est file d by the coali tio n, an att em pted ban k
merge r was denied by the Fede ra l Reserve Boa rd
and Conve rse, in part beca use oi his resea rch in to
bank practices, got th e a ttentio n of city and county
po litici ans and pla nners. Com mon ~Vealth soon was
a pl ay er in city effo rts to att ract fed eral an d st ate
hou sing fund s. Beg inn ing in 1988. Co nverse and
Rosenthal p rese nted a po licy pap er th at influ en ced
th e city'S firs t Com p re he ns ive Hou si ng Affordabil ity