Inside Factory OS, the Big Tech-backed modular home company looking to solve the affordable housing crisis CNBC 2/7/2021
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The affordable housing crisis in the United States continues to be a problem and it s only getting worse. Nationally, there is a shortage of about seven million affordable homes for our nation s more than 11 million extremely low-income families, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition. Some areas are worse off than others, with the San Francisco Bay Area the heart of the U.S. tech industry among the worst.
Factory-built modular homes are gaining traction as a possible solution, and could reduce the cost of construction by 20 to 40%. Entekra, Blu Homes and Blokable are already using this building technique while Connect Homes, which is led by a former Apple exec, has raised $27 million to do the same. Google and Facebook have invested in another company, Factory OS, which is building affordable homes in the Bay Ar
Introduction
Michigan has a proud tradition of affordable public higher education, from world-renowned public universities to a system of 28 community colleges that enroll over 350,000 students, all of which engender state pride and drive local and regional economies. It is also a state that has been central to the movement for free or affordable college: the Kalamazoo Promise, announced in 2005, inspired a wave of programs across the country offering a guarantee of free tuition.
Today, over 500,000 students attend Michigan’s public colleges and universities.1 For each of these students, postsecondary education is a key step in achieving their professional and personal dreams and seeking to guarantee some financial stability. And yet policymakers in Michigan have continuously made this step harder through divestment in Michigan’s public higher education system, resulting in skyrocketing college prices. Policymakers have cut per-student funding by almost 30 percent over the pas
Affordable Housing advocates push lawmakers for action
MGN Online
BOISE, Idaho (KIFI) - Idaho’s Affordable Housing advocates are urging the Joint Finance Appropriations Committee and the state legislature to act quickly on emergency rental assistance funds. 39 agencies signed a letter to lawmakers Monday.
Idaho was allocated $164 million in the most recent federal relief package to help Idahoans who have been financially impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. The advocates say that funding will play a pivotal part in ensuring those people are stably and safely housed through 2021.
Approval of the full allocation has been delayed. The advocates say continued delay or failure to approve the funding will result in “devastating consequences for Idaho’s renters, landlords, and the economy.”