Meet the New Community Affairs Officer

Paul Kaboth

Paul Kaboth, a 25-year veteran of the Cleveland Fed's Supervision & Regulation department, was appointed Community Affairs Officer for the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, effective July 1, 2011.

Q: Why are you interested in serving as the Cleveland Fed’s Community Affairs Officer?

As a lifelong Midwesterner, I’m very concerned about the economic future of our region. The Community Development team here is in a unique position to collaborate with research economists, community advocates, state and local elected officials, bankers and bank supervisors to work on solutions to the economic issues facing our district. With my experience, I can not only continue assisting them in their research and outreach, but also help direct our efforts. We’ll continue to provide national and state policymakers with information to put appropriate, evidence-based policies into action to help our neighborhoods and regions.

On a personal level, the role gives me the opportunity to leverage the things I enjoy doing while making a difference in the region for my family’s future.

Q: What specific strengths do you bring to the role of Community Affairs Officer?

I can point to three. First, there’s my knowledge of the issues facing communities today. Previously I served as the officer over consumer compliance supervision, a role that gave me a deep understanding of the issues surrounding community development and the Community Reinvestment Act from a variety of perspectives. Second, I have a strong network of local and national contacts in the banking, regulatory, and community development industries. I very much look forward to building on this network of contacts by meeting and working with more of our stakeholders. Finally, I’ve had the good fortune to work previously with both the Community Development team and our research economists on a variety of policy issues, so I believe I can “hit the ground running” and continue to leverage their great work. In fact, one of my goals is to strengthen the collaboration among the Research, Community Development, and Supervision & Regulation departments to better address the most pressing issues facing our region.

Q: What are the most pressing issues facing the Fourth District in the next 12 months?

To me these include our housing environment; with foreclosures, vacant and abandoned properties, REOs, and the related ill effects on housing markets and communities throughout the district. In addition, the continuation of our economic expansion is of concern, as is the ability of entrepreneurs and small businesses to obtain credit and capital. Finally, as important as these issues are, we may also need to expand our thinking about community development to include issues such as education and other workforce development factors to develop a labor force with job-readiness skills. Our region may need to adapt to the new demands of the labor markets.

To get a better sense from constituents of these pressing issues, our team is developing a Community Outreach Survey, which will tell us what leaders across the region are most concerned about. We plan to use those responses, along with input we gather from meetings and other convenings with stakeholders, to further inform our data analysis and applied research efforts.

Q: What is the Fed doing to help communities facing these issues?

Here’s the “elevator speech” on what the Community Development team does: We conduct research and data analysis, provide technical expertise, and convene key parties in order to gain and share with policymakers knowledge on critical issues in community development. Last year, for example, we recommended important technical changes to the CRA that encourage banks to address their holdings of foreclosed properties. We conduct ongoing research and data analysis on foreclosures, vacant and abandoned properties, and loan modifications, as well as outreach on servicers and bank practices for the maintenance and disposition of bank-owned properties.

We continue to work with state and local officials on how land banks can help communities—particularly those in weaker markets—address blight. We’ve held numerous events with small business owners to learn about issues and challenges related to access to credit. Together with our regional economists, we held a highly regarded policy summit this past June, which broadened perspectives on housing and human capital issues, including education and workforce development, as well as inequality and its effect on communities.

And In our role within the Federal Reserve System, we continually update and inform national policymakers on the results of our work.

Q: How will your knowledge and experience help the Community Development team?

I believe I can champion our work within our region as well as within the System through my industry and System contacts while being able to build strong connections with our community partners and stakeholders. I hope I can share and educate the team about the supervision and examination of financial institutions, while using the team’s knowledge and work to simultaneously educate examiners. And I expect to play a key role in the Fed’s efforts to better link investment opportunities for banks with the community development needs of communities.

Q: What is your short-term focus for the Community Development team?

At a high level, my immediate focus is in three areas:


You can reach Paul by email at paul.kaboth@clev.frb.org or by phone at 2126.579.2951.
Learn more about the work of the Cleveland Fed’s Community Development team at www.clevelandfed.org/communitydevelopment.