American workers say private business best-suited to impact community growth

Cost of living is the most important factor American workers consider when choosing a place to live and whether it’s time to move. But most agree that a thriving community has three key elements: jobs, economic growth, and safety, a new survey finds.

The fourth American Workers Survey, conducted in September on behalf of Prudential Financial, Inc. by Morning Consult, found that American workers believe the business community is among the best-suited to provide the financing needed to help their communities thrive—with small businesses and large employers ranking ahead of state government, individual community members and federal government. Only local government ranked higher.

“The research shows Americans’ expectation that multiple stakeholders—across both the government and private sector—have an important role in addressing community challenges,” said Scott Sleyster, chief investment officer for Prudential. “At Prudential, we’ve been able to leverage our investment portfolio to provide capital to increase affordable housing, strengthen schools and boost local economic development in communities.”

The survey also showed growing interest in the role of investments in addressing community needs. Four in five workers say investments should provide a financial return while also creating a positive impact on the community and 81 percent say businesses should be involved in community revitalization projects.

“Impact investments generate the most value when they provide capital to enterprises and organizations solving challenges that are not effectively addressed by government, philanthropy or traditional investors,” said Ommeed Sathe, who, as vice president of the Impact Investment group at Prudential, oversees a team that manages and tracks an $800 million impact investing portfolio.

American workers’ interest in the role of investments in addressing societal issues also shows up in their own investment decisions. The survey showed American workers would not only seek out more information about a fund dedicated to positive societal outcomes, but would strongly consider investing in such a fund and would want their retirement plans to offer them.

See the fourth American Workers Survey fact sheet for more of the survey findings. For more information on the results of this survey, contact Andrew Simonelli.