what 

Works! 

in the Empowerment Zones 

and Enterprise Communities 

volunle II 

\ 

Andrew Cuomo, Secretary 

U.S. Department of Housing and 

Urban Development 

Dan Glickman, Secretary 

U.S. Department of Agriculture 
I 

"My view is that the principal role of 

government is to provide the conditions 

and the tools to empower people to solve 

their own problems and then to work as a 

partner with state and local governments 

and the private sector and community 

groups-and as a catalyst to take ideas 

that work someplace and make sure they 

work everyplace." 

President Bill Clinton 

Wall Street Project Conference 

January 15, 1998 

"Empowerment is not a top-down 

program, but a bottom-up solution. It 

doesn't depend sOlely on the private 

sector, but it doesn't ignore the market's 

power in forging solutions. It doesn't rely 

on government exclusively, but it doesn't 

neglect government's role either. Instead, 

empowerment changed the mission of 

government. It holds that governments 

are more like hardware stores than master builders. We don't tell people what 

they must build and force them to do so 

according to our rigid, one-size-fits-all 

blueprint. We simply give people the tools 

to dO it themselves." 

Vice President Al Gore 
"EZs and ECs are not government handouts-they are a government catalyst for 

economic growth and community improvement.... They bring together 

different people, different interests, and 

different Ideas to craft a powerful engine 

that is fueling economic renewal clear 

across the country." 

Andrew Cuomo 

Secretary of U.S. Department of 

Housing and Urban Development 

Boston Globe 

July 18, 1997 

"As these success stories show so clearly, 

Empowerment Zones and Enterprise 

Communities are working: creating jobs, 

supporting new businesses, facilitating 

new opportunities for youth and famiHes, 

and stimulating innovations in healthcare 

and education. Working together, communities are making their dreams a 

reality and helping to build a sustainable 

future." 

Saul N. Ramirez, Jr. 

Assistant Secretary for 

Community Planning and Development 

U.S. 	Department ofHousing and 

Urban Development 
"Since day one the rural Empowerment 

Zone and Enterprise Community Initiative 

has energized rural America. Thousands of 

people are back at work, healthcare and 

educational services are more accessible, 

and hundreds of families are living in 

affordable and safe housing. The accomplishments in this book are attributable to 

those dedicated and committed men and 

women of rural America. congratulations 

on your success." 

Dan Glickman 

Secretary of u.S. Department ofAgriculture 

"This program empowers people all 

across America by partnering with rural 

citizens who work together to create jobs 

and opportunity in their communities. 

As a result, rural communities that have 

traditionally been left behind are now 

becoming full partners in our Nation's 

economic prosperity." 

Jill Long Thompson 

Under Secretary for Rural Development 

U.S. Department ofAgriculture 
Urban Empowerment Zones and Enterprise Communities 


Atlanta, Georgia, EZ 

Baltimore, Maryland, EZ 

Chicago, Illinois, EZ 

Cleveland, Ohio, EZ 

Detroit, Michigan, EZ 

Los Angeles, California, EZ 

New York, New York, EZ 

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania!Camden, New Jersey, EZ 

Boston, Massachusetts, EEC 

Houston, Texas, EEC 

Kansas City, Kansas/Missouri, EEC 

Oakland, California, EEC 

Akron, OhiO, EC 

Albany, Georgia, EC 

Albany/Schenectady/Troy, New York, EC 

Albuquerque, New Mexico, EC 

Birmingham, Alabama, EC 

Bridgeport, Connecticut, EC 

Buffalo, New York, EC 

Burlington, Vermont, EC 

Charleston, South Carolina, EC 

Charlotte, North Carolina, EC 

Clark County/Las Vegas, Nevada, EC 

Columbus, Ohio, EC 

Dallas, Texas, EC 

Denver, Colorado, EC 

Des Moines, Iowa, EC 

District of Columbia, EC 

East St. Louis, Illinois, EC 

El Paso, Texas, EC 

Flint, Michigan, EC 

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, EC 

Huntington, West Virginia, EC 

Indianapolis, Indiana, EC 

Jackson, MissiSSippi, EC 

Los Angeles/Huntington Park, California, EC 

Louisville, Kentucky, EC 

Lowell, Massachusetts, EC 

Manchester, New Hampshire, EC 

Memphis, Tennessee, EC 

Miami/Dade County, Florida, EC 

Milwaukee, Wisconsin, EC 

Minneapolis, Minnesota, EC 

Muskegon, Michigan, EC 

Nashville, Tennessee, EC 

Newark, New Jersey, EC 

Newburgh/Kingston, New York, EC 

New Haven, Connecticut, EC 

New Orleans, Louisiana, EC 

Norfolk, Virginia, EC 

Ogden, Utah, EC 

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, EC 

Omaha, Nebraska, EC 

Ouachita Parish, Louisiana, EC 

Phoenix, Arizona, EC 

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, EC 

Portland, Oregon, EC 

Providence, Rhode Island, EC 

Pulaski County/Little Rock, Arkansas, EC 

Rochester, New York, EC 

San Antonio, Texas, EC 

San Diego, California, EC 

San Francisco, California, EC 

Seattle, Washington, EC 

Springfield, Illinois, EC 

Springfield, Massachusetts, EC 

St. Louis, Missouri, EC 

st. Paul, Minnesota, EC 

Tacoma, Washington, EC 

Tampa, Florida, EC 

Waco, Texas, EC 

Wilmington, Delaware, EC 

Rural Empowerment Zones and Enterpr,lse CommunitIes 


Kentucky Highlands, Kentucky, EZ 

Mid Delta, MiSSiSSippi, EZ 

Rio Grande Valley, Texas, EZ 

Accomack-Northampton, Virginia, EC 

Arizona Border Region, f.C 

Beadle/Spink Dakota, South Dakota, EC 

Central Appalachia, West Virginia, EC 

Central Savannah River Area, Georgia, EC 

Chambers County, Alabama 

City of East Prairie, Mississippi County, Missouri, EC 

City of Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, Federal EC 

City of Watsonville/County of Santa Cruz, 

California, EC 

Crisp Dooly, Georgia, EC 

East Central Arkansas, EC 

Fayette County/Haywood County, Tennessee, EC 

Greater Portsmouth, Ohio, EC 

Greene and Sumter Counties, Alabama, EC 

Halifax/Edgecombe/Wilson, North Carolina, EC 

Imperial County, California, EC 

Jackson County, Florida, EC 

Josephine County, Oregon, EC 

Lake County, Michigan 

Lower Yakima County, Washington, EC 

Macon Ridge, Louisiana 

McDowell County, West Virginia, EC 

Mississippi County, Arkansas, EC 

Mora/Rio Arriba/ and Taos County, New Mexico, EC 

North Delta, MissiSSippi, EC 

Northeast Louisiana Delta, EC 

Robeson County, North Carolina, EC 

Scott/McCreary Area, Tennessee/Kentucky, EC 

Southeast Oklahoma, EC 

Williamsburg/Lake City, South Carolina, EC 

EZ: Empowerment Zone EEC: Enhanced Enterprise Community 

EC: Enterprise Community 
Introduction 


On December 21, 1994, President Bill Clinton and 

Vice President Al Gore designated 105 distressed 

communities across the Nation as Empowerment 

Zones and Enterprise Communities (EZ/ECs). 

Since the program began in December 1994, the 

EZIEC Initiative has been a catalyst to improving the quality of life in many of America's most 

distressed rural and urban communities. 

The EZ/EC Initiative is an innovative approach 

to community revitalization. It recognizes that 

attracting private investment is necessary for 

sustainable economic revitalization. The EZ/EC 

Initiative also recognizes that local communities 

working together, through a bottom-up approach, can best identify and develop local solutions to the problems they face. 

The EZ/EC Initiative is directed by Vice President 

Gore through the Community Empowerment 

Board, the Cabinet-level interagency task force 

designed to coordinate the Federal Government's 

effort to revitalize distressed communities. The 

Federal Government assists revitalization efforts 

by providing tax incentives for businesses to spur 

private investment. The Initiative also provides 

performance-oriented, flexible Federal grant 

funding so that communities can design local 

solutions that empower residents to participate 

in the revitalization of their neighborhoods. 

EZ/ECs are enjoying a variety of successes. They 

have used their Federal Government seed money 

to leverage billions of dollars in additional investment in communities that were once in severe economic decline. Communities are 

designing and implementing comprehensive 

strategies that enable residents to get the services 

they need to become gainfully employed. EZ/ECs 

have developed new partnerships; attracted 

private-sector investments; promoted business 

startups and expansions; generated thousands 

of jobs; helped to bring the information superhighway to hundreds of classrooms nationwide; 

provided job-training and job-placement services; 

improved access to childcare, healthcare, transportation, and education; and increased the safety and 

stability of many low-income neighborhoods. 

This publication, entitled What Works! in the 

Empowerment Zones and Enterprise Communities: 

Volume n celebrates the programs and projects 

that exemplify the principles of the EZ/EC Initiative. The examples in this publication represent 

only a fraction of the accomplishments found in 

the EZs and ECs, but they clearly demonstrate 

how American communities are meeting and, 
Communities 

many times, surpassing program goals, successfully leveraging resources, and effectively creating sustainable economic development. We know 

you will find the stories inspiring and we encourage you to learn more about the EZ/Ee Initiative. For more information, a contact name and 

telephone number are listed at the end of each 

story. As the stories demonstrate, the real success of this program lies with the committed, 

hardworking men and women in America's urban and rural communities. Their enthusiasm 

and vision for their communities has brought about 

much-needed economic opportunity and community revitalization. 
Table of Contents 


Strategic Vision and 


Community-Based partnerships .... ............................................ ...... 1 


Urban Communities ................ .. .................................... .......................................... ... ..................... ...... 3 


Volunteers Train Residents for EC Leadership: Albany, Georgia, EC .............. ................... .... .. .. .. .. ......................... 3 


Grassroots EC Board Develops Local Leadership: Lowell, Massachusetts, EC .......................................................... 3 


"Powerful Schools" Fosters Powerful Families: Seattle, Washington, EC ...................................... ........................... 4 


Rural Comnlunlties ............................................................................. ............................. ..................... 7 


Helping Families To Help Themselves: City ofLock Haven, Pennsylvania, EC ......................... .. ............................... 7 


Revolving Fund Launches Entrepreneurial Ventures: City ofLock Haven, Pennsylvania, EC ................................. 7 


Citizens Assist Neighbors With Disabilities: Scott/McCreary Area, Tennessee/Kentucky, EC ..................................... 8 


Economic Opportunity ......................................... ............................. ................. 9 


Workforce Development .. .. ............................................... ...... ......... .. ........................... .11 


Urban Communities ........................................................................................ ................................... 11 


Job Developer Helps Welfare Recipients Find Work: Albany, Georgia, EC ............................................................. ll 


Knocking on Wood, EZ Residents Learn Cabinetmakers' Trade: Baltimore, Maryland, EZ ................................. 11 


Former Bank Building Transformed Into Job Bank: Birmingham, Alabama, EC .......... ...................................... 12 


Computers Get Recycled in Burlington EC: Burlington, Vermont, EC ........................................................ .. .. ......... 12 


Job Resource Center Links EC Residents and Employers: Charleston, South Carolina, EC ................................... 13 


More Than 1,100 EC Residents Placed in Jobs: Columbus, Ohio, EC ............ ..................................... .. .. ..... .. ........ .. 14 


YouthBiz Trains Youth Entrepreneurs: Denver, Colorado, EC ........................................ .......................................... 15 


Broome Center Provides Opportunities for Youth: Flint, Michigan, EC ..................................... .. ..................... .. ... 15 


With Job Shadowing, EC Youth Envision New Possibilities: Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, EC ................................. 16 


Program Trains 40 Youth: Indianapolis, Indiana, EC ................................................................................................. 16 


EC Residents "Grow in the Zone": Kansas City, Missouri/Kansas, EEC ................................ ................................... 17 


EC Youth Overcome Obstacles: Kansas City, Missouri!Kansas, EEC .......................................................................... 17 


19 Welfare Mothers Find "Links to Employment" : Lowell, Massachusetts, EC .. .......................... .......................... 18 


Full-Service Resource Center Meets Residents' Priority: Manchester, New Hampshire, EC .................................. 19 


Unemployed Residents' Fortunes RISE!: Minneapolis, Minnesota, EC ...... ............................................................... 20 


An Invitation to a Job: Newburgh/Kingston, New York, EC .......................................................................... .......... ..... 21 


Training Program Promises To Deliver Jobs to EC Residents: Norfolk, Virginia, EC .. .. ........................................ 21 


EC Project Boosts Veterans' Jobs: San Antonio, Texas, EC ........................... .............................................................. 22 


Training Childcare Providers Helps Welfare-to-Work Efforts: San Diego, California, EC ............. .......................23 


Unemployed EC Residents Find Work and Self-Esteem as Home Health Aides: San Diego, California, EC .. .. ... 23 


Residents Build a New Community Through Demolition: San Francisco, California, EC .................................... 24 


NeighborLINK Will Place 1,400 EC Residents Into Jobs: st. Paul, Minnesota, EC .. .. .... .......................... ............... 25 

prise Communities 

Rural Communities ............................................................................................................................ 27 


West Branch Technology Center Retrains Workers, Attracts Business: City ofLock Haven, Pennsylvania, EC ......... 27 


Career Works Is Working: City of Watsonville/County ofSanta Cruz, California, EC ...... ...........................................27 


Job Training Helps Rural Residents: Fayette County/Haywood County, Tennessee, EC .................................................. 28 


Job Training Agency Expands With EZ Help; Unemployment Drops Significantly: 


Kentucky Highlands, Kentucky, EZ ............................................................................................................................ 28 


Hard-Hit Mining Area Finds New Skills and Hope: McDowell County, West Virginia, EC ..................................... 29 


Providing High-Skills Training for a Brighter Future: Rio Grande Valley, Texas, EZ ............................................ 29 


Businesses A s sisted ............................................................................... ........................... 31 


Urban Communities ........................................................................................................................... 31 


Minority Entrepreneurs Revive Dormant Cadillac Plant: Detroit, Michigan, EZ ........................................ ......... 31 


Determination Gives Factory Closing Story a Happy Ending: Huntington, West Virginia, EC ........................... 31 


Small Business Gets Boost: Lowell, Massachussetts, EC .............................................................................................. 32 


Whittier Emerging Business Center Assists 15 Local Businesses: Minneapolis, Minnesota, EC ........................... 33 


Tax Abatement Spurs Reinvestment in Zone: Muskegon, Michigan, EC ................................................................ 33 


EC Family Exemplifies American Dream: Newburgh/Kingston, New York, EC ........................................................ 33 


Saturday Night Live Producer Builds Business in Harlem: New York, New York, EZ .. ........................................... 34 


Entrepreneurs Find Motivation at Church: Ouachita Parish, Louisiana, EC .......................................................... 34 


B-KWIK Market Anchors Redevelopment of Shopping Center: Rochester, New York, EC ................................... 35 


Technical Assistance Launches 16 Small Businesses in the EC: San Diego, California, EC ................................. 36 


Youths Establish a Credit Union of Their Own: San Francisco, California, EC .................................................... ... 36 


Frogtown Center Gives Small Businesses a Jump-Start: St. Paul, Minnesota, EC ................................................. 37 


Tacoma Goes Global in Plans for International Business Zone: Tacoma, Washington, EC ................................ 37 


Rural Communities ............................................................................................................................ 39 


Environmentally Friendly Technology Park Attracts Growing Firms: 


Accomack/Northampton, Virginia, EC .......................................... ............................................................................ 39 


Artisan Co-Op Preserves Tradition and Creates Economic Opportunity: 


The Small Business Development Center Creates Businesses and Jobs: 


Williamsburg County Plans Industrial Park To Attract Businesses: 


Central Appalachia, West Virginia, EC ............ ........ .... ............................................................................................. 39 


City of Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, EC ....................................................................................................................... 40 


Business Flourishing Due to Training Center: Kentucky Highlands, Kentucky, EZ .................................................40 


Tobacco Farmers Find an Alternative Crop: Kentucky Highlands, Kentucky, EZ ............................ ........................ 41 


Dollar General Distribution Center Locates in EZ: Mid Delta, Mississippi, EZ ..................................................... .41 


EZ Businesses Investigate Equipment Resale in Central America: Rio Grande Valley, Texas, EZ ........................ 42 


Revolving Loan Fund Helps Turn Dreams Into Jobs: Rio Grande Valley, Texas, EZ .............................................. 43 


EC Brings Closed Battery Plant Back to Life: Scott/McCreary Area, Tennessee/Kentucky, EC ................................. 43 


Center Helps People Build Their Own Businesses: Williamsburg County/Lake City, South Carolina, EC .............. 44 


Williamsburg County/Lake City, South Carolina, EC ..................................................................... ........................ 45 

Access to Capital .... .................. ... ................. ................... ... ........................................... ....... 47 


Urban Communities ...... .. ....................................................................... .. .. ... .. ..... ..................... .......... 47 


EZ BOP Helps Small Businesses: Cleve/and, Ohio, EZ ............................................................ ...... .. ... ......... .......... ...... 47 


New NationsBank Branch Generates Business and Optimism in EC: Des Moines, Iowa, EC ........... .. ........... ..... 47 


Detroit's Shorebank Launches Community Lending: Detroit, Michigan, EZ .................................. .. .................... 48 


Community Development Bank Shifts Into High Gear: Los Ange/es, California, EZ ......... ................................... 49 


The Bank That Dreams With People: Louisville, Kentucky, EC .. ........................ .................. ............. .......... .. ...... .... .. 49 


EC Sees Its Small Businesses Grow: Muskegon, Michigan, EC ......................................................... ..................... .... . 50 


Former Teachers Bring "Credit Where Credit Is Due": New York, New York, EZ .............. ............... .. ... ....... .......... 50 


Ex-Football Player Scores With Community Credit Union: 


Phi/adelphia, Pennsylvania/Camden, New Jersey, EZ .. .. ....... .. ......... ..... ........................ ... .. ................. .......... ............. 51 


Microloans Jump-Start Small EC Businesses: Tampa, Florida, EC ................................. ........................ ................. 52 


Rural Communities ................ ....................................................... ...................................................... 53 


EZ Attracts 13 New Businesses: Kentucky Highlands, Kentucky, EZ ............................................... ........................... . 53 


Venture Capital Fund Helps Large and Small Businesses: Kentucky Highlands, Kentucky, EZ ........................ ..... 53 


Sustainable Community Development ...... .......... .. ............. 55 


Housing ............................ .... .. ...... ........ ....... ........... ................ ....... ........ .... ............ ................ .. ......... 57 


Urban Communities ............ ......................... ........................... .. ......................................... ......... ........ 57 


Abandoned School Site Yields New Homeownership Chances: Akron, Ohio, EC. ............................................. ... 57 


Homeless Families Become Homeowners: Atlanta, Georgia, EZ .... ........... ............................... .. .......... .................... 58 


Homeless People Become Homebuilders: Denver, Colorado, EC ..... .. .............. .............................. .... ........... ......... 58 


Performing Arts, Housing Transform the McFarland Building: Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, EC .......................... 60 


Operation Restore Pride Bolsters Community Confidence: Jackson, MiSSissippi, EC ....................... ... ..... .. .......... 60 


Mixed-Use Redevelopment Offers Townhomes: Los Angeles/Huntington Park, California, EC .............................. 61 


Redeveloped Public Housing Area Becomes Residential "Magnet": Louisville, Kentucky, EC ............... ... .......... 62 


HOPE VI Will Transform Public Housing in Pittsburgh EC: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, EC. ................................. 62 


HUD Agreement Transforms Foreclosures Into Futures: Rochester, New York, EC .. ......................................... .... 63 


Hundreds of Affordable Homes Built in EC: San Antonio, Texa s, EC ..... ........... .. ........ ......... ................................... 64 


Rural Communities ..................................... ................................. .............................. .........................65 


Hope for Homeowners: Accomack/Northampton, Virginia, EC ........... '" ............... ................................ .... .. ...... .......... 65 


Homeownership Becomes a Reality for Lock Haven Families: City of Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, EC ........ ........ 65 


EC Upgrades Homes for Elderly Residents: William sburg County/Lake City, South Carolina, EC ...... ..................... 66 

prise Communities 

P ub l ic Safety ............................................................................................................................. 67 


Urban Communities ............................................................................................................................ 67 


Block Watch Pays Off in Public Safety: Birmingham, Alabama, EC ........................................................................ 67 


COPS AHEAD Cuts EC Crime Dramatically: Flint, Michigan, EC ........................................................................... .67 


Community Gives Its Input Into Policing: Indianapolis, Indiana, EC ..................................................................... 68 


EC Adopts Community Policing for Business Area: Los Angeles/Huntington Park, California, EC ....................... 68 


Community Beat Cops Lower Crime, Raise Morale: Manchester, New Hampshire, EC ......................................... 69 


Springfield Police Officers Bring Work Home: Springfield, Illinois, EC. ..................... ............................................. 70 


Juvenile Drug Courts Tum Youth Around: Wilmington, Delaware, EC ................................................................... 70 


Rural Communities ............................................................................................................................. 73 


Rural Residents Get Improved 911 Service: Central Appalachia, West Virginia, EC ............................................... 73 


New Fire Trucks and Ambulances Upgrade EZ Area's Safety: Kentucky Highlands, Kentucky, El ....................... 73 


Community Teams Up To Build Shelter for Women and Children: 


Scott/McCreary Area, Tennessee/Kentucky, EC .......................................................................................................... 73 


Infrastructure ....................... ................................................................................................... 75 


Urban Communities ............................................................................................................................ 75 


Van Pool Links Inner-City Residents to Jobs in the Suburbs: Baltimore, Maryland, El ....................................... 75 


Road Runner Helps EC Residents Get Around: Burlington, Vermont, EC ............................................................... 75 


A River Will Run Through It: Providence, Rhode Island, EC ...................................................................................... 76 


Rural Comnlunities ....................... ................................................. ..................................................... 77 


Residents Agree: Rural Transit Has STAR Quality: Accomack/Northampton, Virginia, EC ................................... 77 


Library Expands To Fit Community's Needs: Arizona Border Region, EC ............................................................... 77 


Waterfront Restoration Enhances Community Ufe: City of Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, EC ................................. 78 


New Railroad Tracks Spur Industry: Fayette County/Haywood County, Tennessee, EC ............................................ 78 


New Construction Creates Jobs and Training: Kentucky Highlands, Kentucky, El ................................................. 79 


Town Receives New Energy Facilities: Kentucky Highlands, Kentucky, El ............................................................... 79 


Better Water and Sewer Services: Williamsburg County/Lake City, South Carolina, EC ............................................ 80 


Environment .. .. ........................... ................................................................................................ 81 


Urban Communities ......................................... ................................................................................... 81 


Field of Dreams: 8 Million Pounds of Tomatoes Grow on Former Steelworks Parking Lot: 

Buffalo, New York, EC ............................................................................................................................................... 81 


From Landfill to Playland: Ogden, Utah, EC ............................................................................................................. 81 


New Assessment Techniques Speed Up Brownfields Redevelopment: Seattle, Washington, EC ......................... 82 


EC Youth Clean Up and Earn: Tampa, Florida, EC ................................................. .......................................... .......... 83 

Rural Communities ............................................................................................................................. 85 


EC Funding Begins Flood Prevention Project: City of East Prairie, Missouri, EC .................................................... 85 


EC Turns Brownfield Into an Industrial Park With High-Paying Jobs: Greater Portsmouth, Ohio, EC ............. 85 


Health ............................................................ ................................................................................... 87 


Urban Commllnities ............................................................................................................................ 87 


Underserved Area Gets New Clinic: Flint, Michigan, EC ........................................................................................... 87 


Drew University Students Found Urban Medical Clinic: Los Angeles/Huntington Park, California, EC ............... 87 


Rural Communities ............................................................................................................................. 89 


EC Steps In To Save Services for Black Lung Victims: McDowell County, West Virginia, EC ................................. 89 


EZ Funds Much-Needed Health Center: Rio Grande Valley, Texas, EZ ...................................................................... 89 


Education ...................................................................................................................................... 91 


Urban Communities ............................................................................................................................ 91 


Students Get Guidance on Manufacturing Careers: Akron, Ohio, EC ................................................................. 91 


Afterschool Activities: Chicago EZ Develops a Model Plan: Chicago, l/linois, EZ ................................................ 91 


Watts At-Risk Youth Get New Jobs: Los Angeles, California, EZ ................................................................................ 92 


Computer Mapping Program Helps EC Students Earn and Learn: Memphis, Tennessee, EC ............................. 93 


New Orleans EC Schools Become Safe Harbors: New Orleans, Louisiana, EC ........................................................ 93 


Success By Six Teaches ABC's of Early Child Development: Pulaski County/Little Rock, Arkansas, EC ................ 94 


Historic Black College Links EC to Higher Education: San Antonio, Texas, EC .................................................... 95 


Rural Communities ............................................................................................................................ 97 


Collaborative Efforts Help At-Risk Students Succeed: City of Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, EC .......................... ... .. 97 


Junior and Senior High School Students Prepare for High-Tech Jobs: 


City ofLock Haven, Pennsylvania, EC ....................................................................................................................... 97 


New Classrooms Give Preschoolers a Place To Learn: 

Fayette County/Haywood County, Tennessee, EC ...................................................................................................... 98 


County Residents Learn as the Arts Flourish: Imperial County, California, EC ...................................................... 99 


Young Parents Learn About Child Development: Southeast Oklahoma, EC. ....................................................... 100 


Human Services .................................................................................................................... 101 


Urban Communities ......................................................................................................................... 101 


Boosting Childcare Lets EC Mothers Get To Work: Burlington, Vermont, EC ....................................................... 101 


Onetime Casino Becomes Safe Haven for Youth: East St. Louis, Illinois, EC ........................................................ 102 


Historic Mansion Becomes Symbol of Renewal: Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, EC ........................ ........................... 102 


Elegant McKeesport Bank Building Becomes the "People's Building": 


Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, EC ................................................................................ .................................................. 103 


xl 
prise Communities 

Rural Communities .......................................................................................................................... 105 


New Family Center Registers 630 Residents: City of Watsonville/County of Santa Cruz, California, EC ............... 105 


Now Kids Have an Alternative to TV After School: Fayette County/Haywood County, Tennessee, EC. ................ 105 


Coalition Teams Up To Attack Social Problems: Josephine County, Oregon, EC .................................................. 106 


Comprehensive School-to-Work Program Realizes Hopes: La Jicarita, New Mexico, EC. ................................... 107 


Martin Cavazos Center Provides Training and Community Advancement: 


Rio Grande Valley, Texas, EZ ................................................................................................................................... 108 


Enterprise Camp Creates Young Entrepreneurs: Williamsburg County/Lake City, South Carolina, EC ............... 108 


Technology and Communications ..................................................................... 111 


Urban Conlmunities ......................................................................................................................... 111 


Neighborhood Paper Succeeds With EC Beat: Albany/Schenectady/Troy, New York, EC ....................................... 111 


Old North End Community/Technology Center links Residents to New Future: Burlington, Vermont, EC .......... 111 


Charlotte's Web Spins Electronic Empowerment: Charlotte, North Carolina, EC ................................................ 112 


EC Is a Big Hit on Local Cable: Columbus, Ohio, EC ............................................................................................... 112 


KCEP Radio: 10,000 Watts of Power, Unlimited Empowerment: Las Vegas, Nevada, EC .................................. 113 


Redevelopment Wires EC Homes for Computers: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, EC .................................................. 113 


Rural Communities ...........................................................................................................................115 


Rural Residents Receive High-Tech Hardware and New Skills: Greater Portsmouth, Ohio, EC ......................... 115 


Index by Community ........................................................................................ 117 


Resources ............................................................................................................................ 123 


A va i I a b I e pubIications ................................................................................. 125 


EZ/EC Main Contact List ............................................................................. 127 


Urban Contact List ............................................................................................................................ 127 


Rural Contact List ............ ................................................................................................................. 135 


Terms and Definitions........................................................... Inside Back Cover 

c:••r 

______ 

..tegic Vision and 

Iommunity-Based 

partnerships 

Community collaboration is the 

key to success. In community renewal, 

the Empowerment Zones (EZs) and Enterprise 

Communities (ECs) are finding a variety of ways 

to ensure that stakeholders from every segment 

of the community-individual citizens, business 

and civic leaders, grassroots nonprofit organizations, government agencies, and many othersare involved at every step in the revitalization 

process. From initial organizing and strategic 

planning through project implementation and 

monitoring of results, EZiECs are fostering empowerment through broad-based participation 

and partnerships. The examples in this section 

reflect these innovative partnerships. 

Strategic Vision and 


community-Based 

partnerships 

5 

Volunteers Train Residents 

for EC Leadership 

Albany, Georgia, EC 

Looking back at the opening session of Albany's 

first neighborhood leadership development class 

in the spring of 1996, Linda Beamon recalls nervously saying, "I'm still trying to figure out what 

I signed up for." The East Albany resident and 

her classmates quickly learned that grassroots 

leadership means going beyond the role of 

individual activist in a specific sphere of community concern. It means developing the skills 

of group negotiation and problem-solving to help 

concerned citizens and neighborhoods take 

unified action. 

Beamon joined a city commissioner and 67 other 

volunteers from 5 targeted neighborhoods for a 

6-month program in community leadership that 

was developed by the University of Georgia's 

Fanning Leadership Center. The course's 10 

facilitators were volunteers who had gone 

through a 3-day training in class content. One 

of the facilitators, Margaret Taylor, an English 

teacher at Dougherty High School, says she believes the time is right for such a program. "It 

is only by neighbors working together that 

we'll make Albany truly the good life," she 

comments. 

Different neighborhood organizations hosted the 

training sessions, which were provided at no cost 

to the participants. Members of the first class 

continue to meet each month for ongoing 

support and to share experiences with their growing activities in community affairs. 

The program, funded through a $30,000 EC 

grant, has received enthusiastic reviews from 

participants and the community. As a sign of its 

success in training people for leadership, program 

graduates are planning the program's next 

6-month course of study. 

For more information, contact Julie Duke, 

Community Services Director, City of Albany, 

Georgia, at 912-431-3234. 

Grassroots EC Board 

Develops Local Leadership 

Lowell, Massachusetts, EC 

The direction of Lowell's EC is in the capable 

hands of a new generation of leaders who, with 

the benefit of training and professional staff, are 

already becoming an important catalyst for developing ideas and partnerships. 

As conceived by the city's Interim Governance 

Committee during the planning stage of the initiative, the Lowell EC is administered by a 15­

member board, which is composed of both elected 

and appOinted members drawn entirely from EC 

residents and small business owners. A majority 

of the board's members are selected by EC residents through a full-scale public nomination and 
ise Communities 

election process, with one member representing 

each of the EC's eight census tracts. In addition 

to the elected representatives, the city government appoints seven board members to ensure 

ethnic, gender, and age diversity. Representatives 

of key public and private institutions-whose 

support is also crucial for achieving the 

community's goals-are invited to serve on EC 

advisory committees. 

The EC board receives advice and aid from other 

quarters as well, making it particularly fertile 

ground for training grassroots leaders. From the 

time of its first meeting in May 1996, HUD-funded 

consultants were on hand to provide training and 

capacity-building assistance. On a day-to-day 

basis, the board is assisted by an experienced EC 

project manager and a community organizer, 

whose work has been particularly important to 

Lowell's large Latino and Cambodian communities, as well as to other minority populations. 

The Lowell EC board has made the most of the 

talent and creativity of its members. It plays a 

dynamic role in designing and implementing 

major community partnerships, such as the new 

Business Assistance Center. The board awarded 

the project a seed grant and worked with its partners to hire a director, set a budget, and leverage 

funds. The board's public-private grant review 

working committee has used the EC's new database and integrated communications system to 

disseminate Notices Of Funding Availability and 

explore new partnerships that have helped bring 

approximately $65 million in investment from 

36 sources into the Lowell EC. 

For more information contact Sue Beaton, Lowell 

Department of Planning and Development, at 

978-970-4165 . 

"Powerful Schools" Fosters 

Powerful Families 

Seattle, Wasllington, EC 

Thanks to the private, nonprofit Powerful Schools 

program, 120 low-income families in the Seattle 

EC have recycled computers at home, for use by 

parents and children on a variety of school and 

work-related efforts. Through Powerful Schools, 

neighborhood residents have formed governance 

councils at two elementary schools in the 

ethnically diverse neighborhood of West Seattle. 

The success of the program led to its replication 

in three other EC neighborhoods. Parents, rather 

than teachers, are now running the program in 

all four schools in West Seattle. 

The computer giveaway program has evolved 

from a I-day basic computer skills class, where 

families earned refurbished computers to take 

home, to a "train the trainers" class, where 

parents train other parents. Graduates can earn 

computer upgrades by helping the next class, 

providing childcare, picking up and delivering 

the donated computers from a warehouse to the 

lab, or making computer repairs. A related 

Grassroots Technology program offers computer 

classes and an afterschool computer lab. More 

than 400 EC residents signed up to use the 

computer lab and 47 took the class during the 

1996-97 school year. Volunteers from area 

schools and companies that donate used computers provide the training. 

Powerful Schools offers afterschool classes, 

literacy training, and computer labs; hires parents from at-risk families to work in schools; organizes school-based community events; and 

facilitates the recycling of used computers. The 

organization provides a diverse mix of afterschool classes, including computer use, reading, 
strategic Vision 

martial arts, gymnastics, social skills, CPR, 

geology, earthquake preparedness, conflict resolution, bike repair, drama, music, dance, fine arts, 

cooking, nutrition, foreign languages, and even 

Lego projects. Learning with Your Children, a 

family reading program for parents who want 

to improve their own reading ability and learn 

with their children, focuses on basic reading and 

parenting skills for the adults, while children listen to stories, paint, draw, make books, and participate in other reading-related crafts. At 814 

adults and children, enrollment in the 1996-97 

school year was double the number expected. 

For more information, contact Greg Tuke, Executive Director, Powerful Schools, at 206-722-5543. 

strategic Vision and 


Community-Based 

partnerships 

e 5 

Helping Families To 

Help Themselves 

City of lock Haven, pennsylvania, EC 

"I knew that I wanted an education," says Lock 

Haven resident Stacey Glantz. "I wanted to leave 

the $5-an-hour jobs and lead a life that I choose 

and not one that chooses me. But I was scared. 

That's when I called the Intensive Case Management Program Office." 

Glantz, ~ho recently enrolled in Pennsylvania 

College of Technology, is enthusiastic about the 

case-management services offered by the 

Lycoming-Clinton Counties Commission for 

Community Action (STEP), Inc. liMy caseworker 

got me involved in a support group, helped me 

budget my money, and helped me get enrolled 

in college," says Glantz. "She helped me with the 

necessary paperwork for school and even helped 

me with a successful financial aid appeal process. I wouldn't be in school, majoring in human 

services, without her. She doesn't do things for 

me but rather, she leads me where I need to go." 

The Intensive Case Management Program provides Lock Haven residents and their families 

with a series of coordinated activities to determine the services they need to achieve selfsufficiency, coordinates the manner and sequence of the comprehensive services provided, 

and supports the families throughout the process. The program is a collaborative effort of the 

Lock Haven Enterprise Community and local service agencies, including the Clinton County 

Assistance Office, the Job Training Office, the 

Central Intermediate Unit 10 Development Center for Adults, HUD's Section 8 program, the 

Infant Development Program, the Hilton Safe 

House, and the Penn State Cooperative Extension 

Service. 

As of September 20, 1997, the program had served 

49 households. Program officials anticipate that 

10 to 15 new families will enroll in the program 

in 1998. Program participants receive help or 

referrals to address a wide range of issues, 

including housing, finances and budgeting, education, employment, transportation, mental 

health, and parenting. By participating in a casemanagement program that helps them overcome 

barriers to success, Stacey Glantz and others like 

her can gain control of their lives, raise personal 

expectations, and plan for a more promising 

future. 

For more information, contact Mary Lou White, 

Social Services Assistance Program Supervisor, 

STEP's Lock Haven office, at 717-748-6379. 

Revolving Fund Launches 

Entrepreneurial Ventures 

City of lock Haven, pennsylvania, EC 

Small, startup businesses are often unable to 

borrow startup money because banks and other 

lending institutions favor businesses with established track records. 

To help creditworthy startup businesses, the City 

of Lock Haven allocated $200,000 in EC funds to 

create the Commercial Revolving Loan Fund. 

Owners of retail, service, or commercial businesses 

in Lock Haven are eligible for low-interest loans of 

up to $25,000 to improve their facilities, expand 

an existing business, or start a new business. 

Because of the interest in revitalizing businesses 

and creating jobs in downtown Lock Haven, a 

number of organizations from the public and 
z Ise Communities 

private sectors are collaborating on the project. 

Four local banks are providing below-market 

interest rates, reduced loan fees, and floating-rate 

loans to applicants. The City of Lock Haven 

received a $500,000 USDA Rural Business Enterprise Grant in March 1997 to expand the loan 

fund; the city also developed a grant program in 

conjunction with the fund. Small businesses that 

are planning renovations or construction can 

apply for grants of up to $5,000. 

As of September 20, 1997, the fund had made 

six loans totaling $131,683 to small businesses 

in Lock Haven. Prime Time Catering received a 

$25,000 loan that it used as working capital to 

help purchase the Dutch Haven Restaurant. 

Another loan allowed Prime Time Catering to 

maintain a high level of quality and service at 

its restaurant, develop an aggressive schedule of 

offsite catering, and retain 22 full- and part-time 

employees. Other loan recipients include Bald 

Eagle Distributors, Beiter's TV and Furniture, 

Realty Lease Properties, ROxy Theater, and Willits 

Copiers. As a result of these loans, 14 new jobs 

were created and 32 existing jobs were retained. 

In 1998, the loan fund will provide at least five 

more businesses with capital to improve or 

expand, which will create and retain more jobs 

in the City of Lock Haven EC. 

For more information, contact Leonora 

Hannigan, City Planner, Lock Haven City 

Planning Office, at 717-893-5903. 

Citizens Assist Neighbors 

With Disabilities 

Scott/McCreary Area, Tennessee/ 

Kentucky, EC 

Community leaders in Scott County, Tennessee, 

one of the Nation's 40 poorest counties, wanted 

to help persons with mental disabilities remain 

in the community. The county was also facing a 

Federal mandate to downsize State-run institutions serving this population. Scott Appalachian 

Industries (SAl), a local public nonprofit organization, led an effort to build homes for persons 

with mental disabilities. SAl provides daytime 

education and services for the adults 

in cooperation with its private nonprofit partner 

organization, HOPE (Housing Opportunities 

and People Enterprises), Inc., a transportation 

provider. 

"Severely handicapped people have a right to 

remain in their own community," comments 

Larry West, who heads SAl and HOPE. Under his 

leadership, HOPE expanded to become a community housing development organization. 

HOPE has received a $15,000 EC grant and has 

applied for approximately $280,000 in State 

funds to buy and refit four homes. The first house 

will be home to three persons with physical and 

mental disabilities and will employ a staff of 

eight, including a nurse, to provide intensive 

support. The three residents, currently living in 

the State facility, will receive basic needs education. The program will enable Scott County residents with disabilities to remain near family and 

friends. The program will also provide service jobs 

for other county residents. "These homes will create jobs and are really going to help the quality 

of living for disabled people here," says West. 

For more information, contact Larry West, 

Executive Director, Scott Appalachian Industries 

and Housing Opportunities and People Enterprises, Inc., at 423-663-2881. 
ic Opportunity 


All across our Nation, designated Empowerment lones (Els) and Enterprise Communities 

(ECs) are reassessing their strengths, forging new 

partnerships, and developing innovative projects 

to create economic opportunity for their residents. 

The results are impressive. Through workforce 

development activities, EllECs are training residents and matching them to available jobs. With 

many large and small businesses assisted, Ell 

ECs are strengthening and diversifying their local economic base. New community institutions 

providing access to capital are making it possible for new businesses to start and existing enterprises to expand. This section describes 

examples of successful programs that are creating new economic opportunity in the EZlECs. 

Workforce Development 


Job Developer Helps 

Welfare Recipients Find Work 

Albany, Georgia, EC 

Getting a jump on welfare reform has led the 

Albany, Georgia, EC into a new and productive 

job placement program. Funded originally as a 

demonstration using only $12,600 in EZ/EC SSBG 

funds, this pilot program has identified 250 potential employers and placed 86 AFDC recipients. 

The program has won statewide recognition for 

its accomplishments. 

"This is a very good program. We have had some 

early successes and a lot of support from the 

whole community," states Esther Barwick, 

Albany's current job developer. 

Another partner, the Albany Technical Institute, 

provided life management seminars and assessment workshops through a Work Experience 

Program. The program also placed AFDC recipients in training programs with approved employers, who agreed to hire trainees after a probationary 

period if their work proved satisfactory. 

For more information, contact Esther Barwick, 

Job Developer, Albany Department of Labor, at 

912-430-5031. 

Knocking on wood, 

EZ Residents Learn 

Cabinetmakers' Trade 

Baltimore, Maryland, EZ 

Carpenter and entrepreneur Greg Dively is giving community members a practical boost by 

training 10 East Baltimore EZ residents in the 

skills of carpentry and cabinetmaking. 

Dively has a history of civic involvement. He has 

trained and hired ex-offenders after they leave 

correctional institutions. Butch Madden, one of 

those employees, says, "It made me feel good that 

there was a guy who was willing to give me a 

chance. He goes out of his way to help people; 

most businesses won't do that." Although his new 

trainees won't come from correctional institutions, Dively says that his experiences working 

with formerly incarcerated men has made him 

sensitive to the hardships some EZ residents face. 

Dively has committed to train 10 EZ residents who 

will be hired by his business or by his competitors. 

The agreement with the East Baltimore Management Corporation (EBMC) stipulates that these 

businesses will provide full-time jobs that pay more 

than $6.50 an hour and provide health benefits. 

For more information, contact Michael Preston, 

Public Information Coordinator, Empower 

Baltimore Management Corporation, at 

410-783-4222. 
z rise Commllnities 

Form,er Bank Building 

Transformed Into Job Bank 

Birmingham, Ala,bama, EC 

The Birmingham EC advisory board has transformed a former AmSouth Bank building into 

a full-service, community-based employment 

center. The Enterprise Community Job Bank, incorporated in October 1997, works to advance 

the long-term economic self-sufficiency of unemployed and underemployed residents. Through 

the Job Bank, work-ready applicants receive a 

direct line to local employers. It is conveniently 

located for EC residents, and employers find it 

an efficient facility from which to recruit and 

orient employees. 

Partners in the effort include the Alabama 

Departments of Industrial Relations and Human 

Resource Services, the Housing Authority of the 

Birmingham District (HABD), Childcare Resources, the United Way, and the Birmingham 

Independent living Center. These partnerships 

provide access to State job listings, childcare 

referrals, case management, job readiness training, and job coaches for disabled residents. Fourteen families identified through HABD are 

receiving intensive intervention and support at 

the Job Bank as they work toward self-sufficiency. 

The United Way coordinates transportation 

through a Work Routes Program for residents 

whose job sites are beyond regular bus routes. 

An employment interviewer with the Department 

of Industrial Relations-Employment Service is 

stationed at the Job Bank to assist clients with 

computer access to statewide job listings. A counselor with the Birmingham Independent Living 

Center staffs the Job Bank 2 days a week and 

provides employment services to individuals with 

disabilities. 

Monthly job readiness classes teach basic jobsearch skills and techniques and, at the request 

of employers, stress the attitudes, behaviors, and 

skills that lead to job retention. Approximately 

30 new applicants visit the Job Bank each week, 

and, on average, 40 people find employment 

each month. 

For more information, contact Denise Blue Poe, 

Program Manager, Birmingham Enterprise Community Job Bank, Inc., at 205-785-8941. 

Computers Get Recycled in 

Burlington EC 

Burlington, Vermont, EC 

ReCycle North's latest initiative is part vision, part 

entrepreneurship, and part common sense. 

located in the Burlington, Vermont, EC, the 

project trains homeless people to repair computers. The computers are then sold at a discount to 

EC residents who otherwise could not afford 

them, which provides income to continue the 

venture and reduces waste at local dumps. 

ReCycle North reconditions and resells household 

furniture, large and small appliances, and consumer electronics. Individuals and businesses 

donate items they no longer want, which ReCycle 

North repairs or dismantles for parts. Salable 

articles generally go to ReCycle North's retail shop 

in the EC. The enterprise is now 75 percent selffunded, with annual sales of $368,000 in 1997. 

ReCycle North trains workers, some of them 

homeless men and women referred by local shelters, to perform the repairs and operate the 

retail outlet. Trainees serve as apprentices for 

6 months, working 30 hours a week and earning 

$6 an hour during training. 
In 1997, EC funding made it possible for ReCycle 

North to accommodate the latest American 

throwaway: the computer. Prior to that, the 

enterprise's consumer electronics division generally worked with television sets and stereos. The 

$16,000 EC grant paid for a computer shop 

within the electronics repair facility, including 

capital improvements such as test benches and 

machinery and a full-time computer technician 

trainer, a position made more affordable through 

AmeriCorps/VISTA. 

ReCycle North enrolled its first homeless computer apprentice in May 1997. By the end of 

the year, three apprentices had graduatedincluding one trainee who was so impressive that 

ReCycle North hired him. Four more will soon 

complete the program. In its first half year, the 

initiative brought in $7,850 and diverted 

approximately 3 tons of computer components 

from landfills. Most ofthe 105 reconditioned computer systems were purchased for about $75 each 

by EC residents who gained access to the world 

of technology for themselves and their families. 

ReCycle is an employer as well as a trainer, 

explains Tom Longstreth, ReCycle North's Executive Director. "Being able to provide a wage lets 

us establish an employer-employee relationship. 

Since they're paid, there is accountability, just 

like in the 'real world.' If an apprentice does not 

meet expectations, then he or she experiences 

the real-world consequence-getting fired." 

Since it started, ReCycle North has engaged 

28 homeless apprentices, most of whom have 

finished training as scheduled (some left for other 

work, and some dropped out for other reasons). 

Within 3 months of completing ReCycle North's 

program, 80 percent of the homeless trainees 

have found jobs and all have found permanent 

housing. 

"They learn skills and, equally important, establish references and a work history," says 

Longstreth. "They become connected, assimilated, part of the community-able to support 

their families, and get on with their lives." 

For more information, contact Tom Longstreth, 

Executive Director, ReCycle North, at 

802-860-4893. 

Job Resource Center Links 

EC Residents and Employers 

Charleston, South Carolina, EC 

When Food Lion decided to open up a new 

grocery store in a then-abandoned mall in the 

Charleston EC, the EC turned to the City of 

Charleston Job Resource Center to help ensure 

that residents were prepared for and had access 

to the resulting jobs. The mall lay at the juncture of five EC communities, making it right in 

the neighborhood for many residents. Interest 

was high and in short order the Center trained 

75 residents, 53 of whom were hired. 

"We have an open-door policy, " says T.e. 

Drayton, the Center's program coordinator. "We 

provide an excellent community service in 
rise Communities 

assisting job seekers [to] find jobs, training, and 

positive referrals. II 

This can-do attitude has prompted 975 EC 

residents to take advantage of the Center's skills 

training and job-referral services. The Center 

monitors new hires, and this followup has earned 

the organization a solid reputation among 

employers. Businesses using the Center have been 

able to reduce recruiting costs and turnover by 

hiring job-ready, job-monitored workers. 

The Center's annual job fair draws more than 

100 employers and 2,000 job seekers, and plans 

are in the works to hold another fair in North 

Charleston. The event is free for both employers 

and fair participants. "We get feedback on who 

was hired," notes Drayton. "Such events help us 

meet and exceed our placement goals and maintain the Center's outstanding reputation in the 

community. II 

For more information, contact T.C Drayton, 

Program Coordinator, City of Charleston Job 

Resource Center, at 803-973-7239. 

More Than 1,100 EC 

Residents Placed in Jobs 

Colunlbus, Ohio, EC 

The Columbus Employment Consortium, 

an ambitious, broad-based collaboration of 

16 community organizations, is partnering with 

40 neighborhood groups to match hundreds of 

EC residents to jobs throughout the Columbus 

metropolitan area. Consortium efforts, staffed by 

a part-time (soon to be full-time) coordinator, 

have placed approximately 1,100 EC residents 

in jobs between 1994 and 1997. 

The program works by directing to EC residents 

the latest leads on available jobs in the area's 

30 largest corporations-corporations that 

together may represent 1,250 entry-level job 

openings at any given time. The consortium surveys its target companies monthly, compiling 

and distributing job lead information to member agencies and their grassroots partners. 

The project is computerized, thanks to a 1995 

grant of $289,300 from the Telecommunications 

and Information Infrastructure Assistance Program of the National Telecommunications and 

Information Administration of the u.S. Department of Commerce. The grant supported creation 

of the Job Connection, a shared electronic database that coordinates employment, training, and 

local development efforts targeted to the EC The 

grant also established a training classroom in 

the EC with 10 computers and Internet access, 

invested in computers with Internet access for 14 

community-based organizations, and provided 

free Internet training for EC residents. 

Consortium members-large nonprofit organizations and government agencies-include the 

Greater Columbus Chamber of Commerce, 

Columbus Department ofTrade and Development, 

Ohio Bureau of Employment Services, Franklin 

County Department of Human Services, Private 

Industry Council, Columbus Public Schools, Columbus State Community College, Columbus 

Works, Inc., Ohio Industrial Training Program, 

Columbus Metropolitan Housing Authority, 

Urban league, Columbus Federation of Settlement 

Houses, Volunteers of America, Jewish Family 

Services, Columbus Metropolitan Area Community Action Organization, and Greenbrier Community Enrichment Center. 

The Employment Consortium also hosts issue 

forums. A September 1997 conference at Columbus State Community College, held in conjunction with the City of Columbus and the Greater 

Columbus Chamber of Commerce, explored 

1 
workforce development. The same partners plan 

a series of breakfast seminars with local 

businesses on job retention. 

For more information, contact Barbara Brugman, 

City of Columbus, Economic Development 

Division, at 614-645-7574. 

YouthBiz Trains Youth 

Entrepreneurs 

Denver, Colorado, EC 

After 4 years at YouthBiz, Inc., 19-year-old Leo 

Hernandez of the Denver EC is now a crew leader 

who trains new employees. He is also majoring 

in business in a local college. Such successes have 

been repeated over 250 times since 1992, when 

8 inner-city teens, working with a neighborhood 

activist, launched this youthful enterprise as a 

T-shirt silk-screening business in Denver's Cole 

neighborhood. 

/I Our program addresses the lack of life skills that 

often undermines the imparting of business 

skills," states Bryan Barhaugh, YouthBiz's Executive Director. Beyond linking inner-city youth 

with hard-to-find jobs, Youth Biz provides teens 

with leadership skills training, peer support, and 

a chance to put their creativity to work. It also 

works with local high schools where participants 

can earn academic credit for their business experience. Youth Biz incorporates teen employees 

into every stage of the business. Youth participate in hiring, production, and creative processes. 

Teens also sit on YouthBiz's board of directors. 

liThe valuable business and social skills gained 

from the YouthBiz experience will hopefully last 

a lifetime," says Barhaugh. 

Since 1992, Youth Biz's enterprises have generated 

over $250,000 in gross sales and reinvested 

$100,000 in Youth Biz training stipends in northeast Denver. YouthBiz has now expanded its 

scope to include a mail-order house for its 

printwear products, a recycling program that 

serves over 900 homes and offices, and an 

energy conservation program that provided 

75 inner-city homes with energy-saving devices 

as a joint venture with the Mile High United 

Way and the Governor's Office of Energy 

Conservation. 

For more information, contact Bryan Barhaugh, 

Executive Director, YouthBiz, Inc., at 

303-297-0212. 

Broome Center Provides 

Opportunities for Youth 

Flint, Michigan, EC 

Flint, Michigan's new Sylvester Broome Technology Training Center delivers multiple career 

counseling and skills building services to youth 

from the EC. The Broome facility, which opened 

in 1996, trained 262 participants in 1997. 

A former elementary school, renovated at a cost 

of $5.1 million with a fitness center and many 

classrooms and offices, serves as the center's site. 

It is owned and operated by Jobs Central, the 

local JTPA agency. 

The center offers many services: diversion counseling for youth ex-offenders, urban youth intervention and recovery counseling, teen parenting 

counseling and training services, welfare-to-work 

assistance for welfare recipients, youth apprenticeship services, cultural/humanities services, 

skills development and rendering for computer 

graphics, television and music production 

training, automotive service training, financial 

service training, leadership training, and remedial skills development. 
z Communities 

For more information, contact Chris Davenport, 

Flint EC Director, at 810-341-1499. 

With Job Shadowing, 

Ee Youth Envision New 

Possibilities 

Harrisburg, pennsylvania, EC 

Through the Career Shadowing Program, youth 

in the Harrisburg EC are exploring the world of 

work and learning about the challenges of particular careers. The program is funded by the 

Susquehanna Employment Training Corporation 

and sponsored by the Community Action 

Commission. 

Participants in the Pregnant and Parenting Youth 

Program provide the core of EC residents referred 

to this program. Before these young people 

participate in career shadowing, they must first 

graduate high school or earn a high school 

equivalency degree. 

Youth in the program visit a job site to interview 

an employee who has volunteered to be observed 

or "shadowed" at the job. Shadow project partiCipants ask about duties, responsibilities, 

salary range, type and length of training or other 

preparation needed, and the positives and negatives of the position. The youth return and share 

this information with fellow students so that the 

whole class benefits from the information. 

Students then tryout for internships in jobs that 

interest them. 

A wide variety of local businesses have invited 

interns to explore career opportunities, including Harrisburg Hospital; Hamilton Health 

Center; Hershey Medical Center; Polyclinic 

Hospital; Nationwide Insurance Company; Electronic Data Systems; Harrisburg Bureau 

of Police; McNees, Wallace, Nurick Law Firm; 

Channel 21 TV; and Dauphin Deposit Bank. 

The EC's goal is to provide a minimum of20 such 

internships each year. New welfare reform legislation limits students to 2 years of training or 

other preparation as they make a transition to 

full-time employment. 

For more information, contact Terri Martini, 

Director, Harrisburg Department of BuHding and 

Housing, at 717-255-6480. 

Proglram Trains 40 Youth 

Indianapolis, Indiana, EC 

The Private Industry Council of Indianapolis has 

developed the Manufacturing and Technology 

Training Network to fuel the city's economy by 

helping young people enter the job market. The 

program provides training and employment 
opportunities for economically disadvantaged 

youth between ages 16 and 29. The Industry 

Council has developed a comprehensive EC training umbrella by working with the city, Goodwill 

Industries, Inc., and two community development corporations-Eastside Community Investments, Inc., and Indianapolis Urban Enterprise 

Association. The council also uses a lOBLINK 

Network and an Urban Employment Network. 

The program has paid off. By the end of 1997, 

40 EC youth participated in the program, and 

34 have moved into jobs. 

For more information, contact lennifer Fults, 

CDBG Grants Manager, Indianapolis EC, at 

317-327-5899. 

EC Residents "Crow 

in the Zone" 

Kansas City, Missouri/Kansas, EEC 

In most urban areas, several miles often 

separate employment services, creating barriers 

for clients and inefficiencies for providers. One 

facility may provide job readiness training, for 

example, while another across town may offer 

job placement. Even when residents find jobs, 

they may still lack transportation to and from 

work. To consolidate services, a bi-State initiative in the Kansas City EEC has emerged to provide a continuum of employment services. Using 

$760,124 in EllEC SSBG funds, the Full Employment Council, Inc., created Grow in the lone to 

help unemployed youth and adults living in the 

EEe. 

The program offers" a lot of different things above 

and beyond traditional job training and placement," says Billie Carlson, Senior Program 

Consultant Evaluator at the Full Employment 

Council. Clients have "access to a whole host of 

services with this program." 

For EEC youth, the consolidation of services provides links to counseling, summer jobs, internships, participation in a jobs academy, and 

transportation. For adults, it offers counseling, 

skill training, job development, job search assistance, and job placement. Each participant works 

with a case manager to design an employment 

strategy that includes educational and occupational goals. Several onsite employment services 

help with job placement. In conjunction with the 

program, the city provides transportation 

between the EEC and the training and job sites 

for $1 a ride. Once placed in a job, workers get 

help retaining their new pOSitions through an 

employment support fund, transportation, and 

access to daycare and healthcare. 

By luly 1997, Grow in the lone served 1,038 EEC 

residents, placing 549 in jobs averaging $7.41 

per hour for adults and $5.01 per hour for youth. 

For more information, contact Billie Carlson, 

Senior Program Consultant Evaluator, Full 

Employment Council, at 816-471-2330. 

EC Youth Overcome 

Obstacles 

Kansas City, MissourI/Kansas, EEC 

A unique Empowerment Academy in Kansas City 

combines youth development with employment 

training to give low-income youth the will and 

the skills to make a better life for themselves. The 

Empowerment Academy, a motivational and job 

readiness training program, enhances young 

people's "confidence in themselves, in what they 

can do, and the knowledge that they can do it," 

said MarjOrie Owens, Program Director for Over­
ise Communities 

coming Obstacles, a job preparedness program 

that is a partner in the academy. 

To create the Empowerment Academy, Overcoming Obstacles teamed up with the Martin Luther 

King Urban Center, a Kansas City agency 

specializing in outreach services for low-income, 

minority youth. Located in a church adjacent to 

the EEC boundary that serves many EEC residents, the academy used $118,000 in EZ/EC SSBG 

funds from the EEC to provide a comprehensive 

series of life skills and job readiness workshops. 

The King Center works with three neighborhood 

schools to recruit students. It provides individual 

training in developing self-esteem, goal setting, 

conflict resolution, motivation, and time management. Professionals from the EEC talk 

with students about the obstacles they faced 

when growing up, and serve as successful role 

models. 

Students then begin Overcoming Obstacles' 

nationally tested curriculum on job readiness, 

which includes employment search techniques, 

employer expectations, resume writing, and field 

trips. The academy provides students with contacts from its job bank, as well as followup counseling to keep them motivated and help them 

overcome any challenges that arise. 

"We want them to understand that it's their 

responsibility to find a job, that no one is going 

to hand a job to them," says Owens. "We provide enough regular contact to help them work 

out any problems" during their job search and 

subsequent employment. A year after its first 

graduates completed the program, academy staff 

still contact them every 2 to 4 weeks. 

By July 1997, 61 high school-aged participants 

had completed the academy's workshops. It 

placed all 17 EEC partiCipants over age 1.6 in jobs 

in retail service, telemarketing, and computers. 

The academy won a $30,000 grant to serve an 

additional 12 EEC youth and is beginning a 

followup program that will take its graduates 

beyond entry-level jobs. 

For more information, contact Marjorie Owens, 

Program Director, Overcoming Obstacles, at 

215-898-0240. 

19 Welfare Mothers Find 

66Links to Employment" 

Lowell, Massachusetts, EC 

In fall 1997, 19 reSidents of the Lowell EC 

enrolled in a Welfare-to-Work pilot program. The 

4-month initiative, carried on in partnership with 

the Middlesex Community College and four 

local companies, placed candidates in manufacturing jobs. 

The EC, Middlesex Community College, Department of Transitional Assistance, and several private sector employers collaborated to design an 

integrated on-the-job training curriculum. The 

EC Program Coordinator recruited the participating employers, conducted site visits, and helped 

in program planning. The program works with 

supervisors and mentors trainees, including 

transportation and daycare components that 

have created a model expected to be replicated 

throughout the State. 

Typical of the partiCipants is Pam, an EC resident age 29 and the mother of two. She has been 

on welfare most of her adult life, and faces a cutoff of her benefits within a year and a half due 

to a new State law limiting families to 24 months 

on welfare out of any 60-month period. For 7 

years, Pam tried in vain to get a job at M/ A-COM, 

a manufacturer of electronic components and 
Lowell's second-largest employer. Thanks to the 

pilot program, she is working there part time and 

attending classes at Middlesex. She earns $6.60 

per hour during training; after graduation, this 

will increase to from $7 to $8.50 per hour, plus 

medical and other benefits. Pam and the other 

women enrolled in the first session of Welfareto-Work received initial rave reviews from their 

supervisors and coworkers. Just 2 weeks into the 

program, two of them were slated to be hired full 

time. At the end-if they show motivation, job 

readiness, and problem-solving ability-all 

participants are expected to graduate with jobs 

as well as new skills. 

The Welfare-to-Work initiative is an adjunct to 

Lowell's Links to Employment program, a major 

new job training initiative. With $200,000 in EC 

funds, the program will help residents overcome 

employment barriers by providing Englishlanguage proficiency classes, workplace skills 

training, multilingual childcare referral services, 

and after school and weekend programs for teenagers. Work readiness, job shadowing, and 

internships integrate the classroom into the workplace. Local employers in manufacturing, 

healthcare, hospitality, childcare, and transportation have agreed to participate. 

For more information, contact Sue Beaton, Lowell 

Department of Planning and Development, at 

978-970-4165. 

Full-Service Resource Center 

Meets Residents' priority 

ManChester, New Hampshire, EC 

A community's vision of a neighborhood resource 

center-a single location where residents can find 

employment, education, and information/ 

referral services-is becoming a reality in 

Manchester, New Hampshire. After 2 years of 

planning, study, and debate, the EC has broken 

ground on the new Manchester Community 

Resource Center. When completed in mid-1998, 

the new facility, built by the city on city-owned 

land, will house three classrooms, a computer 

center, a business center, a police substation, 

Resource Center staff offices, and a daycare 

center. 

The Community Resource Center represents the 

long-awaited solution to an underlying problem 

in the city, identified in the 1994 EC planning 

process: lack of coordination of resources that 

could help low-income people move toward economic self-sufficiency. Manchester had many resources, but they tended to be scattered and 

complicated to access. What was needed, residents believed, was a central location where residen ts could come. Technical assistance 

provided through HUD helped the EC Advisory 

Board define the need, establish goals, and 

create a development plan for the Center. 

A collaborative of three local service agenciesSouthern New Hampshire Services (SNHS), New 

Hampshire Catholic Charities, and The Hope 
ise Communities 

Center-will begin providing services in 

June 1998. More than 50 community partners 

collaborated in the venture, including businesses, 

schools, service providers, and religious institutions. With a commitment of more than 

$1.5 million in EC funding and $140,000 of the 

city's CDBG allocation, the collaborative has 

leveraged approximately $500,000 in private 

contributions. 

The Center will be offering short-term training 

(for example, cash register operation), long-term 

training (such as computer certification), job 

search assistance, computer literacy, and 

mentoring. Center programs will link to other EC 

efforts, such as the Small Business Incubator and 

Working Capital Program. The Center will also 

offer educational programs, including English as 

a second language, general equivalency 

diploma, and life enrichment classes, as well as 

information and referral for local social and 

health services. 

Parents attending classes or seeking other services 

at the Center may bring their children to drop-in 

daycare. Parents graduating from the Center's 

education and training programs may temporarily continue to use the Center's childcare 

service on a full-time basis while they look for 

and begin a job, easing the transition to permanent employment. 

For more information, contact Doug Heuser, 

SNHS Manchester Coordinator, at 603-669-0400. 

unemployed Residents' 

Fortunes RISE! 

Minneapolis, Minnesota, EC 

Founded in 1996, Twin Cities RISE! enables 

previously underemployed and unemployed 

adults to obtain and keep skilled jobs that pay 

at least $20,000 annually. This innovative 

program not only helps individuals become selfsufficient but also helps meet the demand for 

skilled workers. 

Twin Cities RISE! partiCipants receive 2 to 3 years 

of intensive, customized preparation in social, 

interpersonal, and vocational skills. A coach 

works closely with each participant to provide 

indepth individual assessments, one-on-one 

high-skills training, part-time job placement, and 

followu p su pport. Other forms of assistance (such 

as transportation, childcare, and chemicaldependency counseling) are also prOVided. 

A participant's goal upon graduating is to secure 

a job that pays at least $10 an hour and to stay 

in that job for more than a year. Twin Cities RISE! 

continues to work with partiCipants during their 

first year on the job-meeting regularly with both 

participant and employer and providing additional training as needed. This long-term assistance helps increase job success and retention. 

Twin Cities RISE! focuses its efforts on closing the 

wage and skills gaps that exist among men of 

color (40 percent of participants are African 

American, 30 percent are of Asian descent, and 

18 percent are Hispanic). Currently, 72 individuals participate in the program. In 1997, 15 

participants were placed in jobs. Support from 
private foundations has nearly matched EC 

funding . In the future, Twin Cities RISE! plans to 

function as a for-profit organization-receiving 

funding from employers who benefit from the 

program. 

For more information, contact Steve Rothschild, 

President, Twin Cities RISE!, at 612-879-D109. 

An Invitation to a Job 

Newburgh/Kingston. New YOrk. EC 

"Residents of East End Are Invited To Apply"­

and EC residents did apply when this advertisement for jobs appeared in Newburgh's Times 

Herald Record. C&S Wholesale Grocery Distributors-a company that supplies Grand Union, 

Pathmark, and other supermarkets-is hiring 

almost twice as many residents of the Newburgh/ 

Kingston EC as anticipated. The jobs at C&S involve packing, stacking, and operating a forklift 

at the distribution facility in the Northeast Industrial Park. 

The Newburgh/Kingston EC board of directors is 

supplying $25,000 for on-the-job training for 25 

EC residents. The Orange County Private Industry Council is providing another $25,000 in job 

training funds- enough to fully reimburse C&S 

for the costs of wages and training for 3 months. 

"Transportation could have been a problem 

because many prospective applicants don't own 

cars," comments board President Allison Lee. Lee 

solved that problem by requesting that the 

Newburgh-Beacon Bus Company reinstitute the 

bus line that operated when the C&S building 

was a Caldor warehouse. The State of New York 

has approved a grant to defray some of the costs 

of that service for the first year, and NewburghBeacon is now providing transportation from the 

city to businesses in the Northeast Industrial Park. 

EC residents who are eligible for subsidies and 

the Wage Opportunity Tax Credits are identified 

through a screening system. 

C&S expects to employ more than 300 people 

when fully staffed. So far, 50 are EC residents who 

responded to that original invitation. 

For more information, contact Allison Lee, President, Newburgh/Kingston EC, at 914-569-1680. 

Training Program Promises 

To Deliver Jobs to 

EC Residents 

Norfolk. Virginia. EC 

When the MacArthur Center shopping mall 

opens in downtown Norfolk in March 1999, 

up to one-half of the workers who constructed 

it and who work there will be residents of the 

Norfolk EC. 

Norfolk Works, Inc. (NWI), is providing job training now for 2,500 retail jobs that will come online 

when the $300 million MacArthur Center opens. 

The mall will house more than 100 stores, 

including Nordstrom and Dillards. Taubman & 

Company is financing the development through 

private funding, parking revenue bonds, general 

obligation bonds, and water revenue bonds. NWI 

has obtained a commitment that EC residents 

will have priority for 51 percent of the jobs. 

Retailers have submitted job requirements so that 

the training programs are designed specifically 

to meet them. Classes will be held at Tidewater 

Community College campus, which is located 

adjacent to the mall. Participants can work 

toward a certificate as a sales associate or toward 

an associate degree in retailing. Funding 
rise Communities 

is provided equally by the EC and the City of 

Norfolk. 

When construction began in spring 1997, NWI 

coordinated with the general contractor to match 

EC residents with jobs from its database of 5,000 

applicants. NWI meets weekly with the subcontractors to submit qualified applications, which 

receive first consideration. To date, 20 EC residents have been placed in jobs. NWI expects 100 

more residents to be hired during the 

construction phase. 

The local heating, ventilation, and airconditioning (HVAC) association and Tidewater 

Community College's Women's Center have collaborated with NWI to provide nontraditional 

training and internships that prepare female EC 

residents to repair and install HVAC systems. 

Participants receive 300 hours of training at the 

community college . NWI provides a toolkit, 

childcare, and bus fare to each participant. HVAC 

association members provided internships to successful graduates. The first class completed internships with Habitat for Humanity; of the nine 

1997 graduates, seven have jobs with salaries 

ranging from $6.50 to $8.50 per hour plus benefits. Enrollment will be expanded to 30 women 

in 1998. 

The Federal JTPA, a private boat-building company, and NWI have partnered to provide training and employment in boat fiber-glassing . JTPA 

provides the instruction and certification, the 

boat-building company has guaranteed 20 jobs, 

and NWI provided the necessary equipment. The 

first class of 10 began in November 1997. It is 

anticipated that 20 will participate in the program in 1998. Graduates look forward to an 

hourly wage ranging from $6.50 to $10.50 plus 

benefits. 

NWI held a reunion in August 1997 for graduates of all its programs to track their long-term 

success. Some 2,500 EC residents have used NWI's 

4 neighborhood centers; 1,042 have been referred 

for education or training programs; and 710 completed the programs, of which 60 percent are 

employed and 20 percent have sought additional 

education or training. NWI has coordinated with 

40 public agencies and private organizations to 

plan and implement its programs. 

For more information, contact Eleanor Bradshaw, 

Executive Director, Norfolk Works, Inc., at 

757-624-8650. 

EC project Boosts 

veterans' Jobs 

San Antonio, Texas, EC 

A broad partnership of public, private, and nonprofit organizations is improving jobs for 

disabled veterans in the San Antonio Ee. The 

South Texas Housing and Community Development Corporation has established Veterans 

Enterprises of Texas (VETS)-a nonprofit manufacturing company sponsored by the American 

GI Forum National Outreach Program-in the 

San Antonio Ee. The 25,000-square-foot facility 

is located in a census tract that is ranked as the 

11th poorest in the nation. 

VETS was created by using several sources of funding: $300,000 of mentoring and technical assistance from a Fortune 500 box-manufacturing 

company, $1.3 million from the Economic 

Development Administration, $150,000 in EZ/EC 

SSBG funds, and $179,000 from local sources. 

Since VETS opened its doors October 1, 1997, it 

has developed 65 new jobs for EC residents. 

Targeting jobs for community residents and 

homeless and disabled veterans meets a severe 
need. The VETS project has established a goal of 

providing a total of 100 jobs by the year 2000. 

For more information, contact Curley Spears, 

EZ/EC Coordinator, San Antonio EC, at 

210-207-6600. 

Training Childcare Providers 

Helps Welfare-to-work 

Efforts 

Sail Diego, California, EC 

The Chicano Federation, a nonprofit organization serving the San Diego EC, is training EC residents as childcare workers-seeing them through 

the process of licensing and certification. In the 

process, they are encouraging family daycare as 

a microenterprise among EC parents, particularly 

mothers who are trying to move from welfare 

to work. 

With an unemployment rate in the EC at an 

estimated 13 percent and more than 6,000 

unemployed adult residents, more than one-fifth 

of households in the EC are headed by women 

with children. But working mothers need reliable 

childcare and, although there are more than 

31,000 children under age 12 in the EC area, the 

capacity in local childcare centers is only 2,000. 

Opened in March 1996, the Federation's Child 

Care Training Center has graduated 6 classes 

with a total of 161 new childcare providers. The 

training has made possible the licensing of 

72 new daycare homes; another 12 applications 

are pending. The Chicano Federation is also pursuing a microloan program to help budding 

childcare entrepreneurs furnish and eqUip their 

homes for a daycare license. 

The program was paid for by $158,586 in EZ/EC 

SSBG funding and $45,414 levaraged in private 

support. The Euclid Elementary School and the 

Family Resource Center are partners in the effort. 

For more information, contact Ray Uzeta, 

Executive Director, Chicano Federation, at 

619-236-1228. 

Unemployed EC ReSidents 

Find Work and Self-Esteem 

as Home Health Aides 

San Diego, California, EC 

A pilot program in the San Diego EC successfully 

trained and certified more than 50 EC residents 

who had been homeless or on public assistance. 

The Golden Hill Health Careers Academy, operated by the neighborhood-based community 

development corporation, developed a program 

that carefully matched high-quality training with 

employment needs in San Diego for nurse's aides 

and home health aides. 

All of the students were economically disadvantaged. About two-thirds, 64 percent, were on 

public assistance and 12 percent were homeless 

at the time of enrollment. As of June 30, 1997, 

51 EC residents had been certified as either home 

health aides or nurse's aides. The community 
z Communities 

development corporation collaborated with a 

local medical center and private companies that 

provide such services to homebound, frail, elderly and disabled people to ensure that jobs would 

be available once trainees were certified. Participating employers included the Logan Heights 

Family Health Center, the Bayview Medical Center, Pulse Home Health Care, Gable House, and 

St. Paul's Convalescent Center. Of the EC residents 

certified, 81 percent moved almost immediately 

into full-time, permanent positions. 

An EC grant of $158,586 funded the first pilot 

program year. The program was so successful that 

it secured $400,000 in private foundation grants 

for its second year. Contributors included the 

Alliance Healthcare Foundation, the James Irvine 

Foundation, the Parker Foundation, the California Endowment, and the Katz Foundation. 

For more information, contact Arlene Hamlin, 

Executive Director, Golden Hill Health Careers 

Academy, at 619-696-9992. 

Residel,ts Build a New 

Community Through 

Demolition 

San Francisco, California, EC 

In Visitacion Valley in the San Francisco EC, the 

unemployment rate is 18 percent and the mean 

income of those who are working is only $13,090 

per year, about one-half of the citywide average. 

But the demolition and rebuilding of condemned 

housing projects in Visitacion Valley has brought 

well-paying jobs to 244 neighborhood residents 

during the past few years. Another 127 participated in job training. As of December of 1997, 

794 residents had received job training, referral, 

or placement. 

This major boost to resident employability came 

about through a 1994 arrangement between the 

City and County of San Francisco and HUD. The 

agreement earmarked for neighborhood residents 30 percent of the jobs associated with the 

anticipated demolition and rebuilding of Geneva 

Towers and other outmoded public or HUDassisted housing. In July 1996 an EC grant 

created Visitacion Valley Jobs, Education, and 

Training (WJEn to oversee the agreement. WJET 

began recruitment efforts that September. Partners in the program include the Sunnydale Tenant Association, Geneva Towers Resident Council, 

San Francisco State University Urban Institute, 

the local private industry council, San Francisco 

Department of Human Services, and a range 

of construction unions. Partnerships with 

construction-related unions, such as Locals 16, 

22, and 26, enable workers to join the union at 

prorated plans. 

VVJET provides comprehensive job readiness, 

training, placement, and retention. The program 

trains residents in life skills, asbestos removal, 

lead-based paint abatement, demolition, quarry 

work, dredging, and clerical work. Trainees also 

get referrals to other projects, such as dredging 

at San Francisco International Airport. Large new 

housing projects in Visitacion Valley-such 

as Britton Street and King Senior Housingpromise continued success for WJET and the residents of Visitacion Valley. 

For more information, contact Larry Fleming, 

Executive Director of WJET, at 415-239-2866. 
NeighborLINK Will Place 

1,400 EC Residents I nto Jobs 

st. paul, Minnesota, EC 

Through the St. Paul Workforce NeighborLINK 

program, a consortium of more than two dozen 

community- and neighborhood-based agencies 

will help place 1,400 EC residents in jobs by the 

end of 1998. Administered by the St. Paul 

Urban League, this program establishes a link 

between neighborhood-based agencies and the 

city-administered St. Paul Workforce Center by 

sharing job-development, technology, staff training, and other workforce-development resources. 

EC funding allowed the program to expand its 

"one-stop shop" services into five neighborhood 

centers. These new centers are strategically 

located to cover the entire EC. At each center, 

residents can access a computerized job bank and 

obtain information on an array of workforce programs. Although the centers work coUaboratively, 

each retains autonomy to provide services that 

meet the immediate community's needs. The 

neighborhood-based centers provide EC residents 

with the effiCiency of obtaining multiple employment-related services and the convenience of 

accessing these resources in a neighborhoodbased agency. In its first 2 months of operation, 

the program placed 302 EC residents in jobs. 

For more information, contact Wayne Young, 

City of St. Paul, at 612-266-6659. 

Workforce Development 


e 5 

West Branch Technology 

Center Retrains Workers, 

Attracts Business 

City of lock Haven, Pennsylvania, EC 

A skilled workforce is necessary when attracting 

new businesses to a community. The West Branch 

Technology Center is creating such a workforce 

in the Lock Haven EC. In its first full year of 

operation, the Center provided employee training to 714 workers and information technology 

education to 468 individuals. 

Twenty-four companies have used the Center's 

staff and computer labs to train their employees. The continued high enrollment indicates that 

the Center is meeting the needs of the EC. "People 

are leaving here with a lot more ability than they 

came in with," says Cheryl Cartwright, Staff 

Assistant with West Branch. "We're gaining a lot 

of business by word of mouth because this is 

really a service to the community." 

The Center has become a primary rural resource 

for local business and industry by providing 

training in specialized computer applications, 

quality control, safety, self-directed work teams, 

manufacturing processes, equipment maintenance, and customer service. The Center 

contracts with both the private and public sectors to provide specific training to the existing 

workforce. The Center also offers a full range of 

computer training courses for individuals. In conjunction with the West Branch Training Partnership, the Center plans to develop and use 

distance-learning resources to deliver training 

electronically in rural areas. 

For more information, contact Debra Burrows, 

Project Director, West Branch Training Partnership, at 717-893-4038. 

Career Works Is Working 

City of watsonville/County of Santa 

Cruz, California, EC 

An extensive employment training program is 

helping low-income families and youth achieve 

employment and self-sufficiency in the 

Watsonville/Santa Cruz EC. The program is a 

partnership between the EC, the Santa Cruz 

County Human Resources Agency, and the David 

and Lucille Packard Foundation. Career Works 

trains participants for medical, dental, and office assistant positions. The program will train 

15 EC residents. Six participants have completed 

their training and are now fully employed. 

Career Works covers the full cost of training. B usinesses taking part in this program are 

eligible for State business tax incentives, such as 

employer tax credits. The Packard Foundation 

has provided $31,500 for supportive services for 

trainees, including childcare, transportation, 

books and work materials. The City of 

Watsonville markets the program to local 

businesses and has recruited five participating 

businesses to date. Career Works subsidizes the 
Communities 

first 200 hours of employment for participants 

who successfuUy complete the training, a powerful incentive to area employers. 

For more information, contact Lisa Lampmann, 

EC Program Coordinator, at 408-763-4033. 

Job Training Helps 

Rural Residents 

Fayette county/Haywood county, 

Tennessee, EC 

With an unemployment rate that hovers around 

10 percent, the Fayette County EC determined to 

provide residents with a way to learn basic job 

skills and acquire computer expertise to make 

them competitive in the employment market. 

"For our community and country to move on, 

we've got to empower people," notes Walter 

Battle of the EC. In the beginning, the program 

faced a shortage of applicants, but since Jackson 

State Community College became a partner 

through its JTPA effort, it has provided a steady 

stream of new program participants. Local 

employers participate by guaranteeing an interview to all graduates of the program. The 

program's costs have been $150,000. 

Since the program's beginnings in late 1996, 

most of those trained-in everything from interview techniques to how to resolve conflicts at 

work, and up-to-date computer skills-have 

found and kept a job. 

For more information, contact John Sicola, 

Director, Fayette County/Haywood County EC, at 

901-576-4610. 

Job Training Agency Expands 

With EZ Help; unemployment 

Drops Significantly 

Kentucky Highlands, Kentucky, EZ 

Jackson County Rehabilitation Industries (JCRI) 

began as a limited program that provided training in sewing and small manufacturing to handicapped and disadvantaged workers. The agency 

was operating out of a remodeled former gas 

station when it received a $690,000 Rural Business Enterprise Grant from USDA to expand its 

operations and purchase a new site. In July 1997, 

JCRI used the grant to purchase a 24,000-squarefoot commercial building that had been recently 

constructed by the EZ. 

The agency now conducts a 4-month job 

training program that teaches new and prospective workers practical skills for successfully 

entering the workplace. Participants receive training in wiring for telecommunications, sewing for 

military backpacks and coveralls, repairing laser printers under warranty, and many other 

trades. Enrollment varies from 30 to 50 people. 

Participants who complete the training receive 

job-placement assistance. The expansion is not 

over for JCRI. Plans are under way to 

establish a second rehabilitation workshop in 

conjunction with Goodwill Industries to serve 

nearby Clinton and Wayne counties. 

The demand is high for appropriately trained 

workers. Unemployment in Jackson County has 

decreased from 23 percent in 1987 to 5 percent 

in 1997. "Current plants under construction will 

mean an additional 500 workers will be needed 

in the future, II says Michael Hayes, EZ Coordinator, "and we can cut unemployment even 

more." JCRI, already an integral part of this growing community, will prepare those workers for 

jobs as they become available. 
For more information, contact Jerry Rickett, 

President, Kentucky Highlands Investment 

Corporation, at 606-864-5175. 

Hard-Hit Mining Area Finds 

New Skills and Hope 

McDowell County. West Virginia. EC 

The 35,000 residents of McDowell County, West 

Virginia, have been facing declining opportunities as the coal mines-long the economic mainstay of the area-close. Spurred by this situation 

and the work requirements of welfare reform, the 

county's Catholic Community Services created 

learning centers where people can acquire skills 

necessary to pursue jobs in the emerging new 

economy. After a year in operation, the four 

Learning Centers of McDowell County are teaching such skills as reading and computer technique to approximately 420 children and adults. 

So far, six partiCipants have received jobs, 

and eight have earned GEDs. 

"We got started after Windows 95 came on the 

market in August 1995, " says Sister Mary 

Elizabeth Deliee, who heads the four centers. 

"Many businesses wanted newer computers, and 

so they gave their old DOS ones to us. Then kids 

who came to us for help wanted to learn word 

processing, so we started teaching them. Then 

other non profits upgrading their computers 

donated Windows 95 machines. Now we have 

eight machines with Windows 95, CD-ROMs, and 

modems at each center." To start the centers, 

Catholic Community Services got a grant of 

$100,000 from the EC agency, McDowell County 

Action Network, matched that with donated 

equipment and volunteer time, and received 

another $200,000 in grants from various religious 

organizations. 

The four centers-two located in former schools, 

one in a storefront, and one over a post officeare situated so that no family in the county is 

more than an hour's drive from one of the 

centers. Sister Mary Elizabeth and her staff of 17­

5 full- and part-time paid workers and 12 volunteers-are t eaching computer, clerical, and 

a variety of other job skills. The centers also 

cooperate with local schools to offer children 

reading, writing, and Internet courses. After a 

year of training success, jobs in the county are 

still scarce, but a data-processing firm with 200 

to 300 jobs may be moving in, and the people 

trained at the centers will be ready to compete. 

For more information, contact Sister Mary 

Elizabeth Deliee, Director, Learning Centers of 

McDowell County, at 304-862-3318. 

Providing High-Skills 

Training for a Brighter 

Future 

Rio Grande Valley. Texas. EZ 

The Valley Initiative for Development and 

Advancement (VIDA) provides residents of the 

Rio Grande Valley EZ with a special work skills 

training program that focuses on high-skills 

training that can lead to better paying jobs. 

Project VIDA, a comprehensive family support 

and training model, works with EZ residentsmany of them young mothers on welfare-in 

nurSing, allied health programs, and customized 

welding. The program also offers a host of support services, including recruitment and referral, 

personal development skills, counseling, longterm job skills, and job placement. 

Is the proj ect making strides? "Yes," says Bonnie 

Gonzalez, Chief Executive Officer of the EZ. For 
z Ise Communities 

example, in spring 1997, the project's first licensed 

vocational nurses graduated through the program. 

"We had 30 zone residents graduate. Of those 

30, half had been on welfare," comments 

Gonzalez. "Now they are all going to be earning 

between $15 and $20 an hour and have full-wage 

benefits. Plus they will help meet the healthcare 

needs of the community." 

The EZ is dedicating $1.2 million to Project VIDA 

over the next 5 years. The project has leveraged 

almost $3 million in additional funds, including 

financial support from the Texas Workforce 

Commission. Other partners in Project VIDA include the University of Texas at Brownsville and 

Texas Southmost College, which have provided 

3 contracts totaling $80,570 for 16 participants 

in a local oil rig manufacturer's customized welding training program. 

For more information, contact Bonnie Gonzalez, 

Chief Executive Officer, Rio Grande Valley EZ, at 

956-514-4000. 
Businesses Assisted 


In t IS 

Minority Entrepreneurs 

Revive Dormant 

Cadillac Plant 

Detroit, Michigan, EZ 

The new, 80-acre Clark Street Technology Parkbeing developed on the site of an old General 

Motors (GM) Cadillac Motor Car Company 

Division in Detroit's EZ-is giving a boost to 

minority entrepreneurs. 

"We wanted to redevelop the park [and] help 

Detroit businesses and the City of Detroit," states 

Matthew Cullen, GM's General Manager of 

enterprise activities and Director of worldwide 

real estate. "We thought it was natural to work 

with minority-owned firms and other suppliers. 

It is also in the Federal Empowerment Zone, 

which allows firms to tap tax credits for hiring 

local workers and possible training grants." Most 

of the buildings in the former GM site have been 

demolished; others are being refurbished. 

Construction began in 1997 on a $20 million 

facility being developed by VITEC, a joint venture between Walbro Corp., a large supplier of 

fuel storage and delivery systems, and two Michigan minority entrepreneurs: William Pickard, 

Chief Executive of Regal Plastics, and Lawrence 

Crawford, President and Chairman of Saginaw 

Plastic Molding, Inc. VITEC will produce plastic 

fuel tanks and other auto components. The plant 

is scheduled to open in spring 1998, 11 years after 

the old Cadillac plant closed. 

"We wanted to be in the Empowerment Zone, and 

the Clark Street site worked out well for us for 

its location near both freeways and rail lines," 

51 


comments Lambert Althaver, Walbro's Chairman 

and ChiefExecutive. "It's going to be a high-tech 

operation," he added, "and we will be training 

local workers." 

The 140,400-square-foot VITEC building is the 

third minority business to develop in the new 

Clark Street Technology Park. Piston Packaging 

and Hispanic Manufacturing have already 

begun operations. 

For more information, contact William Eisenberg, 

Farbman Development Group, at 248-351-4360. 

Determination Gives 

Factory Closing Story 

a Happy Ending 

Huntington, West virginia, EC 

The story of how the Huntington Industrial Center came into being is, in the words of Huntington Mayor Jean Dean, "An example of how 

a significant job loss brought the community 

together to strategically plan for job attraction 

that has now resulted in 450 new jobs." 

When the Owens-Illinois Glass Plant closed 

in 1993, taking 630 jobs out of the EC area, the 

citizens of Huntington did not take the loss passively. The factory shutdown became an immediate rallying pOint for town meetings and 

community action. Huntington community leaders believed the site had value. Situated on 41.8 

acres, 20 of them under one roof, the site is the 

largest available manufacturing building in the 

State of West Virginia, making it a prime location for potential businesses. 

After 3 years of planning and negotiationhaving raised approximately $5.5 million from 

HUD Section 8 loans, the State of West Virginia, 

the City-Community Development Block Grant 
z Communities 

Fund, and the U.S. Economic Development 

Administration-the City of Huntington purchased the vacant plant from Owens-Illinois and 

renovated it. The city gave the deserted plant a 

facelift and designated it as an industrial park 

adjacent to the EC in February 1997. As one of 

the conditions of sale, Owens agreed to remove 

its old smokestacks and monitor groundwater 

pollution at the plant site. 

The city's efforts began to payoff in May 1997 

when SNE Enterprises, a Wisconsin-based vinyl 

windows manufacturer, announced its plans to 

open a facility at the Huntington Industrial Center. In July the site was designated as the pilot 

brown fields site for the State. In September Pure 

Tech Plastics announced that it, too, would 

locate there. 

SNE and Pure Tech alone have announced more 

than 350 new jobs in the EC with the potential 

for 200 more. Huntington's acquisition and revitalization efforts for this EC site have been a tremendous success in the community's struggle 

against disinvestment and demoralization. 

For more information, contact Cathy Burns, 

Community Development and Planning, at 

304-696-4486. 

Small Business Gets Boost 

Lowell, Massachussetts, EC 

The Lowell Business Assistance Center (BAC) 

opened for business in temporary headquarters 

within the EC Guided by a 1996 assessment of 

local small business resources, undertaken with 

the assistance of a HUD consultant, the center 

came about after a year-long planning process 

involving the EC board and 55 public- and 

private-sector partners. 

Twenty-three development partners-including 

the Massachusetts Office of Business Development, 

the SBA, five institutions of higher learning, four 

key citizens' groups, all area banks, and other 

local businesses-signed a memorandum of understanding, pledging financial and in-kind commitments. Initial operating expenses were met 

by a $40,000 EC grant, a $50,000 allocation from 

the city's CDBG program and in-kind donations 

(furniture, eqUipment, books, supplies, various 

services) from a variety of partnership sources. 

One community partner, Middlesex Community 

College, is providing a permanent home for BAC 

in a closed U.S. Post Office which was transferred 

by the Federal Government to the college. When 

the new facility opens, BAC will be situated across 

the street from the college's downtown campus 

within the EC These efforts created efficiencies 

that cut the center's anticipated first year's budget from $300,000 to $104,000. 

BAC's program will use the latest computer technology and the local cable TV access system. Special training initiatives and flexible hours 

of operation will reach out to Lowell's Latino and 

Cambodian neighborhoods. BAC's director, 

chosen by the EC Board's Selection Committee, 

is a former Peace Corps volunteer, speaks four 

languages, and specializes in microenterprise 

development. 

For more information, contact Sue Beaton, Lowell 

Department of Planning and Development, at 

978-970-4165. 
Whittier Emerging 

Business Center Assists 

t 5 Local Businesses 

Milineapolis, Minnesota, EC 

In the Whittier neighborhood of Minneapolis, EC 

funds transformed a vacant warehouse into a 

thriving business incubator. The Whittier Emerging Business Center provides common space and 

services for 15 new businesses in a neighborhood 

where 31 percent of residents live below the 

poverty level. The businesses employ 44 local residents and have combined revenues of approximately $2 million. The warehouse was acquired 

with $136,791 in EC funds and $310,000 in 

financing from ZeroMax Corp., the original 

owner of the property. The City of Minneapolis' 

Neighborhood Revitalization Program financed 

$150,000 in renovations. 

In addition to supplying office space, the Center 

provides technical consultants that help prepare 

businesses for growth. Monthly seminars are held 

for building tenants and other local businesses. 

The Center received a 3-year, $110,000 technical 

assistance grant from the McKnight Foundation. 

The Minneapolis Foundation donated funds to 

hire a Center director. 

For more information, contact John Flory, Executive Director, Whittier Emerging Business 

Center, at 612-879-0109. 

Tax Abatement Spurs 

Reinvestment in Zone 

Muskegon, Michigan, EC 

The City of Muskegon, Michigan, is building on 

its EC and State of Michigan Enterprise Zone designations to create and retain jobs. 

Under the State's Industrial Facility Tax Exemption program, Burgess-Norton Manufacturing 

Company-a manufacturer of cast rocker arms, 

valve guides, machine keys, and miscellaneous 

castings for the industrial market-received tax 

abatement on its plant expansion located in the 

Muskegon EC. Burgess-Norton is receiving tax 

abatement for a new 25,000-square-foot industrial facility and an adjacent 5,000-square-foot 

office facility. It is also receiving personal 

property abatement on machinery, equipment, 

and office furniture. As a result of the tax abatement and the plant expansion, Burgess-Norton, 

working with the city and State, was able to 

create 25 new jobs and retain 150 jobs in 

Muskegon's EC. 

For more information, contact Cathy BrubakerClarke, City of Muskegon Community and 

Economic Development Department, at 

616-724-6977. 

EC Pamily Exemplifies 

American Dream 

Newburgh/Kingston, New York, EC 

The Gilmore family started as sharecroppers in 

South Carolina. Now, thanks to their hard work 

and the help of the Newburgh/Kingston EC, the 
Communities 

family runs a thriving and expanding business 

in New York. 

The seeds of this family business were planted 

when the family sold a shipment of South Carolina watermelons to finance a family vacation 

in the Catskills. The Gilmores saw a potential 

market in premium fresh fruit and looked for 

capital backing. After being turned down for a 

business loan at six banks, the family acted on a 

friend's advice and contacted Allison Lee, 

Newburgh/Kingston EC President, for help. Lee 

helped the family secure a $34,000 loan from 

the EC and introduced them to Dave MacFarland, 

President of First Hudson Valley Bank, who extended the Gilmores a $100,000 line of credit. 

The Gilmores located their business in Newburgh, 

hired two EC workers, and expect to add six more 

workers in the future. 

"Hopefully our success will spur more minority 

businesses to come to the Enterprise Community," 

comments Vincent Gilmore. As an extra bonus, 

at an EC conference in Boston in July 1997, the 

Gilmores met with Vice President Al Gore--who 

named them as examples of the American 

Dream. 

For more information, contact Allison Lee, President, Newburgh/Kingston EC, at 914-569-1680. 

5t1~urtltlv Niglt~ Lille 

producer Builds 

Business in Harlem 

New York, New York, EZ 

Saturday Night Live producer, Lome Michaels, is 

bringing high-tech jobs to Harlem with the opening of a $1.1 million post-production facility 

named Broadway Video. In partnership with 

Citibank, the New York EZ will lend Michaels 

$877,880 to buy equipment and renovate an 

existing building. "This is a critical deal for us," 

says Deborah Wright, President of the EZ. "We 

want to make sure that we invest in growing 

businesses and Broadway Video will create hightech, high-paying jobs for Upper Manhattan 

residents. " 

Broadway Video's new location, on the site of a 

former auto factory, seems "perfect," says the 

company's president, Peter Rudoy. The location 

offers "heavy freight and power capacity and 

access to public transportation," he adds. "The 

facility will set a model for other companies 

in our industry that will see this as a viable 

location for post-production businesses." The 

building will be used for video duplication, storage, and transmission of tapes by satellite. Rudoy 

projects first-year revenues of $2 million and 

expects the new facility to create at least 20 hightech and other jobs for EZ residents. Broadway 

Video owns the rights to Saturday Night Live, 

Wayne's World, and Late Night With Conan O'Brien. 

For more information, contact Deborah Wright, 

President and CEO, New York EZ, at 

212-932-1902. 

Entrepreneurs Find 

Motivation at Church 

Ouachita parish, Louisiana, EC 

Two church congregations in Ouachita Parish, 

Louisiana, are giving EC entrepreneurs a boost. 

At their own expense, the churches are providing faith-based counseling to EC residents who 

want to create or expand their own businesses. 

Hope United Methodist Church is holding entrepreneurial recruiting meetings in the community, 

and the Apostolic Lighthouse Church has created 

a small-business support group that offers 

34 

leadership, encouragement, and networking 

primarily to members of its congregation. 

"You can do it, you can do it! Don't get discouraged," Pastor Alvin Walker of Apostolic Lighthouse tells the 16 entrepreneurs his church is 

counseling. "We are interested in helping people 

who are not going to be selfish. We want them 

to become role models and help others get on 

their feet." 

One couple who intend to start a childcare 

center match this description completely. Deirdra 

Pierce is currently a youth director at a local community center. She and her husband Danzie have 

acquired a site for the future childcare center and 

are very excited about serving the community. 

"We want to provide a service and create some 

jobs, and now we have the means and opportunity to do it, II says Pierce. 

Four entrepreneurs have come to the EC for 

assistance in the past 6 months. EC Director Eric 

Loewe notes that many people have talents and 

skills but are discouraged by the lack of resources 

and opportunities. "By taking a step-by-step 

approach to starting or growing a business 

and bringing the necessary resources to the 

community," he comments, "this recruitment 

process uplifts everyone's spirit as each new step 

is taken." 

For more information, contact Eric Loewe, EC 

Director, Ouachita EC, at 318-329-4031. 

B-KWIK Market Anchors 

Redevelopment of 

Shopping Center 

Rochester, New York, EC 

The $11.3 million redevelopment of the Upper 

Falls Shopping Center in Rochester, New York, 

is breathing new life into the commercial retail 

district on Upper Falls Boulevard. Developers 

are revitalizing this vacant, dilapidated site 

that once housed a thriving Bell's Supermarket. 

The 75,000-square-foot center will bring 

shopping facilities back to residents of this EC 

neighborhood. 

The anchor of the effort is the B-KWIK Market, 

which alone will create 130 full-time and parttime jobs. Many local community groups have 

already pledged their support. 

II Opening the supermarket is the easy part," says 

Rochester Mayor William A. Johnson, Jr. "Keeping it open will require the cooperation and support of the community. One source will be 

Partners Through Food, the neighborhood-based 

group that provided the initial effort to get the 

Upper Falls market open and operating again." 

The Rochester Economic Development Corporation (REDCO) proposed a creative financing venture to Tops Market, Inc.-a supermarket 

operator that is opening a number of stores in 

the Rochester area. Financial support for the 

project includes contributions from Federal and 

State EC funds, the City of Rochester, Urban 

Renewal Trust funds, RED CO, and private 

sources. 

Already other businesses have made plans 

to move into the shopping center: a McDonald's 

restaurant, a beauty supply warehouse, a shoe 

and sporting apparel store, and a Women, Infants and Children (WIC) supplemental nutrition 

center. The new Clinton Section Police Station is 

located in a nearby building to help improve public safety by increasing the police presence in 

the EC 

For more information, contact Valerie Wheatley, 

Coordinator, Rochester EC, at 716-428-7207. 
z Communities 

D.S.e SUNTAl OR 

EXPERT ALTERATIONS 

& RELIABLE TAILOR 

582-8696 

Technical Assistance 

Launches 1& Small 

Businesses in the EC 

San Diego, California, EC 

Sixteen new neighborhood retail and service 

businesses have opened since July 1996 in the 

San Diego EC, thanks to technical assistance from 

the Union of Pan Asian Communities (UPAC) 

Economic Development Program. The new businesses, many ofthem one-person operations, are 

located in the City Heights neighborhood of the 

EC. UPAC also helped six existing small businesses expand. 

One of the new enterprises is Ha Luu, a home-based 

business in herbs and tonics. Others include 

Bridges Janitorial Services, Canton Seafood, D&D 

Computer Training, Denise Ceramic and Gifts, 

DSC Clothing Design and Manufacture, Hillcrest 

Furniture, Oscar Travel Services, and Sun's Auto 

Repair. 

EZjEC SSBG funds totaling $158,586 made possible the business-skills training that UPAC provided. El Cajon Boulevard Central Business 

Improvement Association, Metropolitan Area 

Advisory Committee, and Accion San Diego also 

contributed to the project. 

For more information, contact Tri Tran, Economic 

Development Projects Director, Union of Pan 

Asian Communities, at 619-280-5197. 

Youths Establish a Credit 

Union of Their Own 

San Francisco, California, EC 

A credit union operated by and for youth? It is 

an unusual enterprise, but young residents aged 

6 to 18 from the Mission District and South of 

Market areas in the San Francisco EC are making it a success. Starting with as little as $2 for 

6- to 9-year-olds and $5 for ages 10 and older, 

young EC residents are joining, opening accounts, and working in the credit union-learning that it is as "cool" to save and track money 

as it is to spend it. 

The San Francisco Youth Credit Union Program 

(YCUP) began through the energy of 25 young 

people from the two neighborhoods, with help 

from the Mission Economic Development Association and the Mission Area Federal Credit 

Union (FCU). The youth developed a business 

plan and opened for business in May 1997 adjacent to FCU, which acts as a parent organization. Another corporate donation paid for the 

printing of a colorful brochure that the young 
people designed. Credit union membership has 

grown to 80 with total assets of $7,000. 

Receiving an EC startup grant of $40,000, YCUP 

also received $10,000 from the Friedman Family 

Fund and $10,000 from Citibank to capitalize 

a small loan fund. The Mission Economic Development Association, South of Market Foundation, and Arriba Juntos-all neighborhood 

nonprofits-supply oversight. YCUP had its 

heaviest day of business the day after Thanksgiving in 1997, the beginning of the holiday season, when a record level of transactions-more 

than $1,200 in 1 hour-were recorded. The 

program has received $60,000 in a round 

of EC funding. 

YCUP members have the opportunity to train as 

tellers and learn basic money management skills 

and elementary accounting. There are 12 teller 

slots in the credit union, which opens for business on Wednesday and Saturday afternoons. 

Teller trainees handle deposits, withdrawals, and 

new accounts, balancing the cash drawer at the 

end of the day. They count out cash for the day's 

transactions, maintain a cash count form, 

update individual member account forms and 

passbooks, and write out receipts for transactions. 

Youth managers open the credit union for business and make sure that sufficient staff are on 

board. An administrative director and other adult 

staff supervise and guide the youth managers. 

Experienced FCU tellers take some time from their 

own duties to help their young colleagues. Youth 

board members oversee both management and 

teller staff, enforcing transaction policies and 

ensuring smooth operations. An adult supervisor has final responsibility for maintaining the 

operation. 

In November 1997, through a $500 grant from 

Filene Educational Foundation, 10 young people 

represented YCUP at the annual meeting of the 

California Credit Union League in San Francisco, 

where the enterprise was officially recognized by 

the professional organization. 

For more information, contact Raquel Medina, 

Executive Director, Mission Economic Development Association, at 415-282-3334. 

Frogtown Center Gives Small 

Businesses a Jump-Start 

St. paul, Millnesota, EC 

Opened in August 1997, the Frogtown Entrepreneur Center is a renovated 7,800-square-foot 

commercial building that is home to between 

5 and 10 small businesses. This business incubator supports emerging and established small 

firms by providing affordable space, entrepreneurship training, a reference library, business 

retention assistance, help with marketing, and 

startup business support. The majority of the 

tenants are graduates of the Neighborhood 

Development Center's Micro-Entrepreneur Training program. The Frogtown Entrepreneur Center 

has provided an estimated 20 to 30 jobs for 

EC residents. EC funds totaling $150,000 are 

leveraging $316,000 in city funds and $32,000 

in private grants. 

For more information, contact Marshall Turner, 

City of St. Paul, at 612-266-6696. 

Tacoma Goes Global in 

Plans for International 

Business Zone 

Tacoma, Washington, EC 

The Tacoma Empowerment Consortium (TEC), 

administrator of Tacoma's EC program, is thinking locally and acting globally with a new 

initiative: creating an International Service 
z Ise Communities 

Development lone (ISDl)-a special trading 

district for international export businesses within 

the State's federally designated ECs and State 

designated Community Empowerment lones 

(CEls). 

TEC is spearheading the effort in collaboration 

with businesses, educational institutions, nonprofit organizations, State government, and other 

interested communities around the State. 

The Tacoma ISDl's recruitment efforts will 

emphasize headquarters or service centers of 

export companies and businesses. Advocates 

predict that ISDls will foster new economic 

growth through expanding international connections-rather than redistributing existing jobs. 

Tacoma's proposed 1 million-square-foot ISDl is 

located within the EC. With total costs projected 

at $193 million, the project is expected to create 

approximately 3,500 jobs. The 1997 session of 

the Washington legislature saw the introduction 

of a bill to pave the way for establishing ISDls. 

Passed by the State Senate, the bill was under 

consideration by the House as the session ended. 

TEC and its partners expect the measure to be 

reintroduced in the 1998 session and are optimistic about its passage. 

The ISDl concept is modeled on the International 

Financial Services Centre in Dublin, Ireland, 

which attracts international business through a 

combination of training programs, tax incentives, and regulatory concessions. Established in 

1987, the initiative is credited with adding more 

than 3,400 jobs, locating more than 600 companies, redeveloping 27 acres, and constructing and 

leasing 1.5 million square feet of office space in 

Dublin. 

The Minister of Enterprise and Development 

of Ireland-roughly the equivalent of the U.S. 

Secretary of Commerce-visited Tacoma in June 

1996 to nurture the budding strategic alliance 

between the Irish Development Agency and the 

City of Tacoma. The following year, two delegations of TEC partners traveled to Dublin to examine the facility there and get ideas on how to 

establish an international trade zone in Tacoma. 

The trip enabled TEC to draw up a strategic plan 

that established the industry focus, finalized 

a budget, and delineated the steps-from legislation to marketing-needed to make Tacoma's 

ISDl a reality. 

For more information, contact Chris Andersen , 

Tacoma Empowerment Consortium, at 

253-274-1288. 
Businesses Assisted 


t e s 

Environmentally Friendly 

Technology Park Attracts 

Crowing Firms 

Accomack/Nortllampton, Virginia, EC 

An innovative approach to community development is attracting new firms while maintaining 

the area's quality of life. The people of 

Northampton County needed to create more jobs 

without sacrificing the relatively pristine natural environment of their unique peninsula area. 

The Eastern Shore, washed by the Atlantic Ocean 

on the east and the Chesapeake Bay on the west, 

has many beaches, estuaries, and wetlands that 

are vulnerable to careless development. So, the 

county crafted a careful strategy to attract firms 

dedicated to both protecting the environment 

and to creating jobs. Now, thanks to this remarkable public commitment and a great location, 

the Cape Charles Sustainable Technology Park 

is successfully taking shape on the waterfront of 

the peninsula's old port town, Cape Charles, with 

overall support from the EC. 

"This is a real community effort," says Tim Hayes, 

the Executive Director of the County Park 

AuthOrity. "There's been an ongoing concern here 

that people's economic and environmental lives 

are intertwined. We've created this technology 

park because we've had leaders with vision, 

involved local people, and received a lot of State 

and Federal support. So we have cooperation 

instead of competition between the goals of 

development and the environment." 

The Park Authority broke ground in October 

1996 on the 300-acre site, which includes both 

developable land and historic buildings. The 

park's first new building will be completed in the 

fall of 1998 and will house a firm making components for water desalting machinery, space for 

conference rooms, and a small business incubator. Meanwhile, several buildings have been 

rehabilitated and are attracting firms that will 

provide 100 jobs. A former school building now 

houses a Swiss solar energy firm, and a concrete 

manufacturer located near the town's sewage 

treatment plant will reclaim sewage water for 

industrial use. The park also includes a waterfront nature preserve. 

Building space and land are leased rather than 

sold to firms, which are charged lower rents if 

they provide educational opportunities, use recycled materials, and pay their employees higher 

wages. 

For more information, contact Tim Hayes, 

Executive Director, County Park Authority, at 

757-331-1998. 

Artisan Co-Op Preserves 

Tradition and Creates 

Economic Opportunity 

Central Appalachia, West Virginia, EC 

In the heart of West Virginia, Poplar Forest has 

become a place to shop for special handicrafts. 

The vision and support of the Central Appalachia EC is fostering an industry that helps 

local artisans and crafts people make a living by 

selling their handmade creations. 

"West Virginia has a special tradition of handmade crafts," explains Connie McColley, Director of the Central Appalachian Arts and Crafts 

Cooperative. liThe State had already built a special retail building on Interstate 77 that showcases our best crafts and food products. In this 

spirit, our cooperative is a new venture to serve 
z Communities 

our region of the State." The year-old cooperative at Flatwoods Outlet Mall in Poplar Forest now 

houses 130 members whose creations-homemade or handmade quilts, baskets, weavings, 

jams, cornbread, and other delicious foods-are 

sold at the Poplar Forest shop 7 days a week. The 

co-op plans to give seminars in product marketing and business skills and has received a grant 

to fund craft apprenticeships for members. A 

$75,000 grant from the EC helped fund the environmentally sensitive and well-designed 

mallspace. 

Sales have exceeded expectations, and there are 

plans to build several new motels, restaurants, 

and a conference center. 

For more information, contact Connie McColley, 

Director, Central Appalachian Arts and Crafts 

Cooperative, at 304-765-3995. 

The Small Business 

Development Center Creates 

Businesses and Jobs 

City of Lock Haven, pennsylvania, EC 

Faber Bruner Company manufactures and 

installs commercial burners-and business is 

booming. Faber Bruner is 1 of 210 small businesses that have received computer training and 

technical assistance from the Lock Haven University Small Business Development Center 

(SBDC), established in March 1996 with funding 

from the Enterprise Program and Bucknell 

University's Small Business Development Center. 

SBDC holds regular computer training seminars 

for interested EC residents and provides technical 

assistance to any existing or startup small business in the community. Individuals pay only $10 

to participate in a seminar. SBDC provides up to 

40 hours of assistance at no charge. Assistance 

includes training on how to set up and maintain 

accounting and payroll systems, prepare business 

plans to start or expand a small business, and prepare brochures and advertising information. 

SBDC helped Faber Bruner prepare a business 

plan and successfully apply for a $210,000 SBA 

loan and a $150,000 loan from Clinton County, 

Pennsylvania's, revolving loan fund. Faber 

Bruner will eventually employ more than 

15 people. 

SBDC exceeded its 3-year goal during its first year 

of operation. "We have to turn people away," said 

SBDC Director Dawn Datt. "We have more clients than we can serve. This is truly an example 

of private and public sectors working together to 

bring industry to Lock Haven." Current plans are 

to serve 90 clients and conduct 12 seminars each 

year. 

For more information, contact Dawn Datt, 

Director, Small Business Development Center, at 

717-893-2589. 

Business Flourishing 

Due to Training Center 

Kentucky Highlands, Kentucky, EZ 

Teresa Truett has a real talent for creating beautiful baskets, so she decided to take her interest 

in basketry and other crafts a step farther and 

go into business. "She had developed a number 

of little jobs for household income, but she 

wanted to go full-time into basket making," says 

Phil Danhauser, Executive Director of the Jackson County Entrepreneurial Training Center. "She 

was in our first class 2 years ago. We introduced 

her to the guilds and helped her with marketing 

and publicity." Now people all over the world can 

find her creations through the Truett's Quality 

Baskets & Crafts catalog on the Internet. 
Center training has helped more than 15 new 

businesses open: a greenhouse, a daycare center, a catering business, an upholstery shop, 

a driving range, and a telephone-pole contracting business. The center began when Jackson 

County Empowerment Zone Community, Inc., 

contracted with Eastern Kentucky University 

to open an entrepreneurial training center in the 

county, providing $ 70,000 per year in EZ funds. 

The classes meet twice a week and guide participants through business plan development. Six 

new businesses grew out of the initial class and 

all continue in operation. When the center 

recently began its fourth 12-week session, the class 

again filled to its maximum of 15 participants. 

The training center houses the Small Business 

Association's One-Stop Capital Shop and also 

provides technical assistance to local businesses 

on request. Danhauser established an Entrepreneurship Club at Jackson County High School. 

The students identify the type of business or products that interests them, develop partnerships, 

and learn about marketing. The extracurricular 

club provides capital, and the project culminates 

in a trade fair. "We held it at a Friday night basketball game against an arch-rival," Danhauser 

reports. "The students sold items like jewelry, 

tapes and CDs, and holiday gift bags. They don't 

get rich, but they learn a lot about the process." 

For more information, contact Phil Danhauser, 

Executive Director, Jackson County Entrepreneurial Training Center, at 606-287-4184. 

Tobacco Farmers Find an 

Alternative Crop 

Kentucky Highlands, Kentucky, EZ 

Farmers in the Kentucky Highlands EZ are 

growing ginseng, mums, and greenhouse vegetables as part of a plan to encourage farmers 

to experiment with other crops and become less 

dependent on growing tobacco. The Alternative 

Crop Venture Fund allows EZ farmers-many of 

them traditionally tobacco growers-to try a different crop, type of livestock, or farming method, 

at a minimal risk. 

The crop or farming method must be new to the 

farmer, and participants must share information, 

regardless of success or failure, with local county 

extension agents. The Alternative Crop Venture 

Fund offers a no-interest loan of $2,500 per year 

that farmers match with cash, labor, or in-kind 

materials. If the crop does not succeed, the loan 

becomes a grant. 

The fund is managed by a 20-person loan review 

committee-14 members are EZ residents and the 

others are extension service agents or similar 

partners. The committee recently approved 5 new 

loans, bringing the total number of projects 

funded by this program to 22. An additional five 

loans have been approved but have not yet 

closed. The fund, now in its third year, will operate during the 10-year period of the EZ and probably beyond that time. 

For more information, contact Gene Bundy, 

Kentucky Highlands Empowerment Zone, at 

606-864-5175. 

Dollar General Distribution 

Center Locates in EZ 

Mid Delta, Mississippi, EZ 

Using tax credits and EZ/EC SSBG funding, the 

Mid Delta EZ attracted a regional distribution 

center for Dollar General Stores that will create 

hundreds of jobs in this rural community. When 

completed, the 800,OOO-square-foot facility in 

Indianola will ship household projects to 370 

local stores. 
Communities 

"Dollar General really is a key success story for 

the Mid Delta Empowerment lone," remarks 

Harold Lathon, Executive Director of the El. Public and private investment in the project exceeds 

$38 million. The Mississippi Department of Community and Economic Development provided 

$2 million in CDBG funds. El tax credits provide 

up to $3,000 for every resident hired. Dollar General will invest at least $25 million. "The majority of money being invested in this project is 

private investment from Dollar General," says 

Lathon. "That's what makes this project really 

work. We are receiving a 30 to 1 return of investment on our $900,000." 

The shrinking job base in this largely agricultural area, due to technological and market 

changes in farming, adds to the pool of available workers. Dollar General CEO Cal Turner, Jr., 

says the company chose Indianola because of the 

"total community support" for the company. 

"The center will provide 500 good-paying jobs 

and the potential to help stop the 'brain drain' 

that has been going on for decades in this area," 

says Lathon. Company officials estimate that, 

eventually, the center could expand to 5 million 

square feet and double its employment. 

For more information, contact Harold Lathon , 

Executive Director, Mid Delta El Alliance, at 

601-254-9957. 

EZ Businesses Investigate 

Equipment Resale in 

Central America 

Rio Grande Valley, Teus, EZ 

The Rio Grande Valley El, adjacent to the U.S.­

Mexican Border in southern Texas, is aSSisting 

local business people interested in international 

trading. With the help of the El, seven local business leaders traveled to Honduras on the ferry 

Regal Voyager to establish contacts with potential customers in Central America. 

"Most of the trade opportunities lie within used 

equipment, which is like gold in Honduras," 

explains Bonnie Gonzalez, Chief Executive Officer of the El. Businesses represented on the trip 

included used-machine equipment companies, 

used-medical equipment companies, and produce farmers. 

Why did they choose Honduras? A major factor 

is that Port Isabel, on the southeastern coast 

of Texas, has an established trade route to 

Honduras and Honduran business leaders are 

anxious to trade with Texas. A group of Honduran businessmen had visited southern Texas 

earlier to investigate possible suppliers in the El. 

Since the trip in June 1997, the El has published 

a resource guide to identify El entrepreneurial 

businesses that have products or services to offer. 

The Regal Voyager has begun making weekly trips 

to deliver goods and produce to Honduras. 

Although it is too soon to know the effect these 

efforts will have on the region's economy, 

comments Gonzalez, it makes good economic 

sense for the El to seek partners outside the U.S. 

border. "If we are to sustain our economy," she 

says, "we'd be foolish to ignore these potential 

partners." 

For more information, contact Bonnie Gonzalez , 

Chief Executive Officer, Rio Grande Valley El, 

at 956-514-4000. 
Revolving Loan Fund Helps 

Turn Dreams Into Jobs 

Rio Grande Valley, Texas, EZ 

Since its inception in 1994, the Rio Grande 

Valley El has helped create 85 new small businesses and 1,000 jobs. Although help has come 

through different sources, 15 small business owners have taken advantage of the El's revolving 

loan fund program. 

Three counties within the El have set aside more 

than $4 million in Community Investment 

Fund monies for a revolving loan fund to help 

individuals start their own businesses. Hidalgo 

County set aside $2 million; Starr County, 

$400,000; and Willacy County, $625,000. An 

additional $1.5 million was leveraged for the 

fund. 

Many of the 15 loans-called small business 

development loans-are microloans ranging 

between $1,000 and $10,000. The El has provided two more substantial loans that are considered industrial/commercial loans. liThe project 

has been a huge success," reports Bonnie 

Gonzales, Chief Executive Officer of the El. 

A local baker borrowed $60,000 from the fund 

to begin a bakery, and in just 3 months, he 

expanded his business from 3 to 10 employees. 

h 

Additionally, the baker received a loan from a 

local bank to expand his business. "This was the 

first time that a private lender has invested in 

the small rural community where the baker has 

his business. We are excited because we are breaking ground there," says Gonzales. 

Gonzales attributes the entrepreneur's success to 

the support from the El's One-Stop Capital Shop, 

a critical partner in the revolving loan fund 

project. The One-Stop Capital Shop provides technical support in accounting, bookkeeping, and 

marketing to El residents. liThe counselors are 

in frequent contact with those who receive loans 

and are constantly helping them manage their 

businesses," says Gonzales. Another partner, the 

Council for South Texas Economic Progress, 

performs all the loan services for the El. 

For more information, contact Bonnie Gonzales, 

Chief Executive Officer, Rio Grande Valley El, 

at 956-514-4000. 

EC Brings Closed Battery 

Plant Back to Life 

Scott/McCreary Area, Tennessee/ 

Kentucky, EC 

When Alexander Battery closed its plant in the 

town of Norma, in Scott County, Tennessee, one 

of the Nation's 40 poorest counties, Elmer Hewitt, 

the plant's Director of Research and Development, didn't take it lying down . He had been in 

the business for many years and, in fact, had 

converted the town's old high school into the 

Alexander plant in the first place. So he went to 

the EC and got a $150,000 loan to reopen the 

plant. 

liThe EC money really helped with the startup, 

with spreading my risk, and with cash flow," 

Hewitt explains. Now he's president of Norma 
z ise Communities 

Battery, Inc., which opened in mid-1997 and has 

already rehired 13 former Alexander employees. 

Hewitt has invested an additional $550,000 on 

his own (including a $125,000 SBA loan) and 

sees more growth ahead for Norma Battery. 

/lWe're making cell-phone batteries and battery 

packs that can be used for drills, lawnmowers, 

small bikes, and household appliances, and I've 

patented batteries for electric cars that Detroit is 

interested in." Thanks to Hewitt's vision and the 

EC's help, instead of sitting abandoned, the 

former Alexander Battery plant is aglow with a 

growing number of good jobs. 

For more information, contact Elmer Hewitt, 

President, Norma Battery, Inc., at 423-663-4914. 

Center Helps people Build 

Their Own Businesses 

Williamsburg County/Uke City, 

South CarOlina, EC 

Since it opened 9 months ago, the Williamsburg 

EC's Small Business Development Center in 

Kingstree, South Carolina, has provided consulting services to more than 85 people and helped 

2 others secure loans for business startups. Nine 

jobs will be created in the community as a result 

of these two startups. 

One of the startups has opened and the other 

is scheduled to open in late February. Both businesses probably received more assistance than 

they had anticipated. /lWe helped each develop 

a business plan," explains Nicole Singleton, Area 

Manager for the center. /lOnce their plans were 

developed, these entrepreneurs presented them 

to our loan committee, which approved them for 

loans that combined totaled $105,038." 

USDA Rural Development awarded the EC 

$500,000 to capitalize the Small Business Revolving Loan Fund. It also awarded $1 million 

through the Intermediary Relending Program to 

fund a Business and Industry Loan Fund. 

Williamsburg's Small Business Development 

Center, the first of its kind in the county, offers 

personal consultations to budding entrepreneurs. 

Residents interested in starting a business meet 

with a center specialist for advice on business 

development and financial planning. A resource 

center offers business periodicals and other 

printed reference materials, small business 

videos, accounting and business software, and 

more than 150 startup guides on particular types 

of businesses. 

/lThe center helps people take the information 

and put it to work. We can assist them in developing plans and in applying for loans. They can 

also use a computer available at the center and 

set up such things as financial statements or 

business plans," says Singleton. 

In addition to advertiSing its services and 

writing a monthly question-and-answer column 

in the local newspaper, the center has sponsored 

several seminars to develop community awareness of its services. Topics to date have included 

an introduction to small business, cash-flow 

management, and recordkeeping. The center has 

also held a class in business fundamentals for 

middle school students. 

/lI'm really proud of what we've been able to 

accomplish in such a short time. I look forward 

to the future and the positive influence the 

center can have in helping the community," says 

Singleton. 

For more information, contact Nicole Singleton, 

Area Manager, Small Business Development 

Center, at 803-354-9070. 
Williamsburg County Plans 

Industrial Park To Attract 

Businesses 

Williamsburg countY/Lake City. 

South Carolina. EC 

When Baxter Pharmaceutical left Williamsburg 

County, South Carolina, it took with it 1,000 jobs 

yet to be recouped by the county. The 

Williamsburg County Development Board 

applied for and received $800,000 in grants and 

low-interest loans from USDA's Rural Development Rural Utility Service to fund an industrial 

park. The project will be funded through the 

Farmers' Long Distance Cooperative and Santee 

Electric Cooperative. 

The project is intended to attract a variety of new 

potential employers to the area. Many residents 

currently travel 11/2 hours to work cleaning 

hotel rooms in Myrtle Beach, a resort town on 

the coast. Locally based businesses will not only 

eliminate long commutes but potentially pay 

wages that would raise the standard of living for 

EC residents. 

liThe industrial park will give us something to 

use to market and attract businesses to the 

county," says Faith Rivers, Executive Director 

of the Williamsburg EC Commission. "We're 

hoping this will provide an added incentive for 

businesses to move to our area." 

For more information, contact Faith Rivers, 

Executive Director, Williamsburg EC Commission, at 803-253-9070. 

Access to Capital 


EZ BOP Helps 

Small Businesses 

cleveland, Ohio, EZ 

"Our success comes from a lot of patience, brainstorming, partnership, collaboration, and 

communication between government officials, 

business people, and residents," says India Lee, 

former Coordinator for the Cleveland El, about 

Cleveland's new Business Opportunity Program 

with the catchy acronym: El BOP. 

Concerned about the lack of small businesses 

using Section 108 loans, the El office created 

El BOP in spring 1997 to help small family businesses, especially those located on the El's deteriorating commercial streets. Drawing on 

$2.5 million HUD Section 108 loans and $2.5 

million in EDr grants, EZ BOP has provided a total 

of $787,087 in small business loans. Structured 

as 90-percent financing through HUD loans, with 

lO-percent cash equity from the borrower, these 

loans are available in two forms: El BOP I and 

El BOP II. 

El BOP I is a small business loan with a 

6-percent interest rate for 10 years, providing a 

40-percent rebate of up to $125,000 after completion of improvements, with an additional 

$30,000 available for parking lot construction. 

El BOP II is a microloan program that offers a 

4-percent, fixed-rate loan for 10 years that can 

be used for working capital or to finance improvements costing up to $30,000. 

In addition to helping existing small businesses 

grow, El BOP has brought new companies into 

the zone. For example, since moving her business from Beachwood Avenue to Prospect 

Avenue last November, Michelle Stanich, owner 

and CEO of Sunrise Home Health Care, used El 

BOP to renovate her historic commercial building and has already increased her employment 

rolls by 100 staff members, about one-half of 

them from the El. 

For more information, contact Yvette Moses, El 

Coordinator, at 216-664-2804. 

New NationsBank Branch 

Generates Business and 

Optimism in EC 

Des MOines, Iowa, EC 

In 1997 NationsBank established a full-service 

retail branch in the Des Moines, Iowa, EC. 

Business owners and community activists hailed 

the bank's move. 

"We feel this area is underserved," remarks John 

Benner, Senior Vice President for Retail Banking 

at NationsBank in Des Moines, about the EC. 

"There is an opportunity for us to do some 

business." 
Ise Communities 

NationsBank was named 1997 Corporation of 

the Year by the National Association of Urban 

Bankers, an organization of people of color who 

are banking professionals. Chaunci Hall, who 

grew up in this southeast Des Moines neighborhood, is one of three managers of the branch. 

Located in a strip mall storefront, the new branch 

will make a significant difference in the lives of 

many community residents. "Now people won't 

have to drive to another part of the city to do 

their banking," says Don Graves, director of the 

Mid City Business Center, a local nonprofit organization that helps small businesses get off the 

ground. lilt will be a great asset." 

The presence of NationsBank is stimulating other 

businesses to set up shop in the neighborhood as 

well. And that's not all: NationsBank has donated 

$200,000 to the EC, dividing the money among 

local community-based organizations. 

For more information, contact Kathy Kafela, 

Coordinator, Des Moines EC, at 515-283-4151. 

Detroit's Shorebank 

Launches Community 

Lending 

Detroit, Michigan, EZ 

liMy interest is not in building houses," says 

Chauncey Mayfield. lilt is in building communities." Mayfield, President of the Shorebank 

Development Corporation (a subsidiary of the 

new Shorebank Detroit Corporation) is one of the 

leaders bringing new vitality to the Detroit EZ, 

the East Side, and other distressed areas of the 

old industrial city. Combining for-profit business 

acumen and nonprofit enterprise with a genuine motivation to rebuild long-neglected neighborhoods, the l-year-old Shorebank represents a 

new type of financial institution, a community 

development bank. 

Shorebank has gotten off to a strong start. When 

the bank opened its doors in January 1997, it 

had a goal of making $800,000 in residential and 

consumer loans by the end of 1997 and $38 million in commercial loans of more than $80,000 

in its first 5 years. By the end of September 1997, 

the bank had surpassed its first goal: It had closed 

on 17 residential properties worth nearly $1 million and made 7 commercial loans for more than 

$80,000. Additional loans worth $1 million were 

approved but not closed. Most of these loans enable residents to purchase and rehabilitate 

houses, boosting property values in the area. 

During the same period, the bank made rapid 

progress on its second goal-closing 29 loans for 

$5.3 million-with an additional $4.4 million in 

loans approved. Most of these loans went to 

minority-owned small businesses. 

The Shorebank Development Corporation, a forprofit real estate development subsidiary concentrating in the EZ and the East Side, had completed 

its first four single-family properties by the end 

of September 1997. Two houses have sold, one is 

on the market, and the fourth serves as a model 

and offices. 

On the commercial Side, Shorebank has acquired 

a 2-story, 8,OOO-square-foot property on the East 

Side and is investing $400,000 to rehabilitate it 

for multitenant office space. It is investing 

$350,000 in another office building across the street. 

Shorebank Enterprise, Detroit, the nonprofit arm 

of operations, is establishing an enterprise 

development loan fund to benefit local entrepreneurs. The fund will concentrate on minority 

businesses with a better-than-average chance of 
providing jobs for area residents. The fund has 

raised $4.6 million from the Ford Foundation, 

the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, and other 

philanthropic sources. 

For more information, contact Chauncey 

Mayfield, President, Shorebank Development 

Corporation, at 313-824-1050. 

Community Development 

Bank Shifts Into High Gear 

los Angeles, California, EZ 

The Los Angeles Community Development 

Bank (LACDB) is the engine driving business 

expansion and job development in the Los 

Angeles EZ (formerly the Los Angeles Supplemental EZ). From the loans it has already made, the 

bank is projected to create 1,097 new jobs in the 

EZ; about one-half of these jobs will be filled by 

EZ residents. 

Formed in November 1995, LACDB was awarded 

Economic Development Initiative and Section 

108 funds from HUD in January 1996, making 

its first loan in June 1996. By November 30, 1997, 

the bank had loan commitments of $39 million 

and had leveraged an additional $12.3 million 

in lending by commercial banks. A microlending 

program that assists local entrepreneurs with 

loans of less than $25,000 has helped eight EZ 

businesses while creating five new jobs. The bank 

also works with nonprofit and for-profit financial institutions to provide credit analyses, operate revolving loan funds, provide business 

technical aSSistance, and originate and package 

business loans at a cost lower than LACDB's 

direct loan program. Examples of recent loan 

activity include: 

• 	 A $1.7 million LACDB loan is allowing 

PractiCare, one of the few healthcare providers located in the EZ, to make a transition 

to managed care while remaining in the 

medically underserved area. Cathay Bank 

lent $450,000 to complete the deal. The loan 

creates 50 jobs; 26 are filled by EZ residents. 

• 	 A $200,000 loan to Golden Bird, a Los 

Angeles-based fried chicken restaurant chain, 

will create six jobs, three to be filled by residents of the EZ. Golden Bird plans to add two 

additional franchises within the EZ during 

the next 2 years. 

• 	 A $100,000 loan to Jorge's Market, a familyowned grocery store, will create three jobs, 

two to be filled by EZ residents. The LACDB 

loan allowed the market, rebuilt after the 

1992 civil unrest with an SBA loan, to purchase new eqUipment and to add a new meat 

and fish counter, a fresh vegetable stand, a 

small deli, and an ice cream counter. 

For more information, contact C. Robert Kemp, 

President and CEO, LACDB, at 213-759-7759. 

The Bank That Dreams 

With People 

louisville, KentuCky, EC 

"This bank is reaching out and dreaming with 

people; this bank doesn't sit and wait for people 

to come in the door," declares Louisville Mayor 

Jerry Abramson. The Louisville Community 

Development Bank (LCDB) opened in January 

1997. A year later the bank has grown from 

$21 million to $26.5 million in depOSits. The bank 

has made more than $5 million in commercial 
Communities 

loans, has doubled its first-year goal of assisting 

in the creation of 80 jobs, and has achieved six 

times its goal of developing 5 new businesses. It 

has made loans for daycare center expansion, 

apartment renovations, and preservation of older 

properties for an arts center. 

The bank's parent holding company, the Louisville Development Bancorp, Inc., has two 

subsidiaries-the Louisville Community Development Bank itself and a for-profit real estate 

development company. The bank operates only 

in the immediate area of the EC and offers 

no checking or savings accounts. A nonprofit affiliate, the LCDB-Enterprise Group, will support 

EC businesses as a technical assistance provider, 

incubator, and lender with $1 million in startup 

capital from the EC. 

LCDB had its origins after the 1992 Los Angeles 

riots when Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson met 

with the business community to explore programs to prevent such an event in Louisville. In 

1993, Shorebank Advisory Service of Chicago was 

hired to develop a community-focused bank in 

the city. In 1994, the Community Board adopted 

the bank as a key economic engine and its top 

priority. Investment capital was raised largely by 

personal appeals from the Mayor and other civic 

leaders to banks and businesses in the area, as 

well as to outside actors, including Fannie Mae. 

In June 1995 HUD awarded a $4 million EDI 

grant to Louisville, the first such grant to be used 

as a nonvoting stock investment for a private 

bank. That grant leveraged an additional 

$4 million in Section 108 loan funds. In 1996 

the city was awarded a $2.3 million Community 

Development Financial Institution forgivable 

loan from the U.S. Treasury. 

For more information, contact Carolyn Gatz, 

Executive Director of the EC, at 502-574-4210. 

EC Sees Its Small 

Businesses Grow 

Muskegon, Michigan, EC 

Muskegon, Michigan's Micro-Enterprise Loan 

Fund is giving small entrepreneurs a chance to 

launch and grow a business in the EC. The loans 

are targeted primarily to very small businesses 

that frequently have only a few employees. Some 

of the businesses assisted have increased their 

number of jobs. One of these companies, Great 

Lakes Metal Finishing, Inc., increased its number of employees from 5 to 16. 

Funding for the project is at $250,000. The EC 

has now made 15 small business loans totaling 

$120,373. By the end of 1997, 15 loans had been 

issued, 44 new jobs created, and 15 jobs retained. 

EC residents hold about 85 percent of the 

new jobs. 

For more information, contact Matt Dugener, 

Economic Development Planner, City of 

Muskegon Community and Economic Development Department, at 616-724-6702. 

Former Teachers Bring 

UCredit Where Credit Is Due" 

New York, New York, EZ 

In Washington Heights, in the New York EZ, 

residents who wanted to do business in the 

neighborhood had to rely on "loan sharks" 

who charged exorbitant interest rates of 300 percent or higher. Conventional banks often 

required loan collateral equal to the loan amount 

before approval. Recognizing the need for affordable banking services, Mark Levine, 27, and Luis 

De Los Santos, 31, quit their jobs as New York 

City Public School teachers to form a credit union. 

The Neighborhood Trust Federal Credit Union 

opened in Washington Heights in March 1997 
to provide II credit where credit is due"-credit and 

banking services to EC residents. "This is really 

going to help me," says Janice Morales, a single 

mother of four, who wanted to borrow $500 to 

open a daycare center and who had previously 

been turned down for a loan. 

Levine and De Los Santos say that most of the EZ 

residents depended on relatives, friends, pawn 

shops, or high-rate lenders for credit in the past. 

Instead of opening accounts, they preferred to 

hide their money at home because of their 

distrust of institutions and the less-thanwelcoming attitude of the few banks that exist 

in the neighborhood. To help residents overcome 

their fear of banking institutions, Levine and De 

Los Santos are visiting local churches and community groups to offer basic finance courses. 

The Neighborhood Trust Federal Credit Union has 

had a strong start. It has already met 34 percent 

of its first-year goal to sign up 1,000 members 

and to acquire $500,000 in deposits. In its first 

4 days of business, more than 50 people showed 

up to open accounts. Major banks like Citibank, 

Chase Manhattan Bank, and Fuji Bank have 

pledged nearly $500,000 in low-interest deposits 

to the credit union. The EZ contributed a $40,000 

grant and nearly $250,000 in low-interest loans. 

For more information, contact Deborah Wright, 

President and CEO, New York EZ, at 

212-932-1902. 

Ex-Football Player 

Scares With Community 

Credit Union 

Philadelphia, Pennsylvanla/ 

camden, New Jersey, EZ 

Former Philadelphia Eagle's player Herb Lusk 

followed his first calling when he left the game 

to pursue a career in the ministry. His second 

calling? Reopening a former bank as a credit 

union to help revitalize his crumbling North 

Philadelphia neighborhood. Reverend Lusk's next 

challenge is to raise deposits for the new credit 

union. In the initial drive, the People for People 

Development Credit Union received pledges of 

$385,000 from 785 prospective members within 

the neighborhood and $1.7 million in nonmember deposits. Lusk antiCipates many more. 

"We can get up to $100 million in nonmember 

deposits in the next 4 or 5 years," he predicts. 

"We think we can do it." 

Looking for a site for the credit union, Lusk 

teamed up with PNC Bank, which donated a 

three-story building in the Philadelphia EZ to 

People for People. The main floor of the building 

has already been reconfigured to train tellers for 

the credit union. 

PNC Bank has been Lusk's strongest corporate 

backer and has helped out before with training 

for his computer literacy program. In addition 

to the credit union, Lusk has arranged to have 

50 computers set up in the building to teach unemployed neighborhood residents computer 

skills. 

The credit union is a positive opportunity for both 

EZ residents, who badly needed this financial 

resource, and for PNC Bank, which has improved 

relations with the community. 

For more information, contact Kristin McGonigle, 

Public Information Coordinator, Philadelphia EZ, 

at 215-686-0490. 
Communities 

Microloans Jump-Start 

Small EC Businesses 

Tampa, Florida, EC 

A new pool of capital has recently become available to EC entrepreneurs and businesses through 

the Good Faith Micro-Loan Program, part of 

Tampa's EC initiative. Good Faith provides loans 

for working capital, plant expansion, eqUipment 

purchases, facade improvements, and other business purposes. 

Good Faith delivered 24 loans for a total of 

$400,000 between December 1995 and March 

1996. With these funds, 12 new businesses 

opened in the EC, and an estimated 25 new employees went to work. The program made three 

more loans in December 1996 that helped launch 

or expand five restaurants, three retail stores, an 

electronic distribution store, computer consultants and services, an immigration service, an 

employment agency, and an insurance company. 

By September 1997, Good Faith was able to take 

funds already repaid to its revolving loan fund 

and finance the formation of five new businesses: 

Access Management, Bar-B-Q King, 3N Media, 

Rene's Cafe, and Ware Enterprises. Loans to the 

new businesses totaled $40,000. 

Entrepreneurs obtaining capital from the Good 

Faith Micro-Loan Program must complete 15 

hours of business management consultatiol), and 

attend monthly borrowers' group meetings. These 

support groups provide these entrepreneurs with 

opportunities for professional development and 

networking. 

1/ A fledgling business's greatest need is business 

management training and help with accounting," reports Benjamin Stevenson, Executive 

Director of the Tampa EC. To ensure that the new 

bUSinesses stay in business, the Good Faith program has recently expanded to include additional consultants from the University of South 

Florida Opportunity Partnership Center and the 

Ariel Business Group. Experienced volunteers 

from the Service Corps of Retired Executives 

(SCORE) provide financial counseling. 

For more information, contact Benjamin 

Stevenson, Urban Planning Supervisor, City of 

Tampa, at 813-248-4339, ext. 304. 
Access To Capital 


e 5 

EZ Attracts 13 New Businesses 

Kentucky Highlands, Kentucky, EZ 

Since receiving its designation 3 years ago, 

the Kentucky Highlands EI, has assisted 13 businesses that have either located or made commitments to locate within the EI area. The EI has 

invested more than $4.1 million in local businesses, which now employ more than 160 residents of Clinton, Jackson, and Wayne Counties. 

One such business is Fantasy Custom Yachts, a 

manufacturer of aluminum houseboats. In 1996 

Fantasy secured three loans totaling $430,000 

from the EI for building, equipment, and working capital. The firm repaid nearly 10 percent of 

this amount by August 1997 and has come back 

to the EI for $287,600 in expansion funds. The 

boat builders want to expand the size of their 

building by 25 percent to approximately 7,500 

square feet and purchase additional production 

and delivery equipment. 

The nonprofit Kentucky Highlands Investment 

Corporation, which administers the EI, set a goal 

of adding 3,000 jobs by 2005 and expects an 

additional 1,400 workers to be hired over the next 

few years. 

For more information, contact Jerry Rickett, 

President and CEO, Kentucky Highlands EI, at 

606-864-51 75. 

venture capital Fund Helps 

Large and Small Businesses 

Kentucky Highlands, Kentucky, EZ 

From Clinton County Concrete to Fantasy 

Custom Yachts, the Kentucky Highlands EI is helping local businesses start up and expand. The fund's 

largest project, Cagle's, Inc., a poultry processor, is 

constructing a $30 million plant in Clinton County 

that will employ more than 1,000 residents. 

BMA Manufacturing, a silk-screening business, 

sells licensed goods to the U.S. Marine Corps and 

more than 30 colleges. Speciality Plastic Products 

of Kentucky, Inc., is building a second plant that 

will employ 175 EI residents. Image Entry, Inc., 

a data conversion business, opened two facilities in a 9-month period and plans to establish a 

home-keyer program for data entry operators. 

Using $11 million in EI funding, the Kentucky 

Highlands Investment Corporation manages the 

projects, helps prepare business plans, and helps 

to secure funding. The EI invests in projects that 

have not been able to secure revenue from other 

public or private sources and provides accounts 

receivable and inventory finanCing to manufacturing operations. 

The Venture Capital Fund has obligated $5.6 

million in EI funds and leveraged almost $40 

million of additional capital. New and expanded 

ventures have created 250 jobs and have commitments for more than 1,200 additional jobs. 

For more information, contact Mike Hayes, Coordinator, Kentucky Highlands EI, at 606-864-5175. 

ble Community 

Development 

Investing in the future of our country 

means actively working on all areas that affect 

the well-being of a community and its citizens. 

Of high priority is providing safe, affordable 

housing for low-income residents and offering 

new opportunities for homeownership. Many citizen initiatives and new community policing programs are significantly reducing crime in ElIEe 

neighborhoods, improving public safety and security. ElIEes are also augmenting their basic 

infrastructure, providing facilities for shops and 

other businesses and developing new transportation systems to link formerly isolated areas to 

the mainstream economy. Improving the environment is another priority, involving activities 

such as neighbors organizing cleanup days and 

restoring old industrial brownfields to productive 

uses. 

The ElIEe program is enhancing the quality of 

life for residents in several other ways as well. 

Many initiatives concentrate on improving the 

health and well-being of ElIEe residents and 

working with neighborhood schools to enrich 

education for the children and youth of the 

ElIEe. Human services programs, in many cases 

operating from new, ElIEC-funded community 

facilities, are offering employment-related, recreational, and supportive services to families and 

youth. And, EllIe technology and communications initiatives are linking residents to the 

world of information and the workplace of the 

future. This section explores outstanding examples of activity in each of these areas. 

Housing 


Abandoned School Site 

Yields New Homeownership 

Chances 

Akron, Ohio, EC 

In the Lane-Wooster neighborhood of the Akron 

EC, a symbol of blight has become a major asset 

for homeownership. 

The new asset rose on the site of the former Lane 

Elementary School, built in the 1890s and 

vacant since its decommissioning by the Akron 

Public Schools in the mid-1970s. Unlike other 

public school buildings, the marketplace judged 

Lane to be too old, too deteriorated, and most 

importantly, too poorly situated for new uses. Not 

located on a major street with good visibility and 

acceSSibility, but well within a residential neighborhood, the old school building passed from 

owner to owner, remaining abandoned, its 

scrawled graffiti and broken glass acting as a 

backdrop for an open-air drug market. 

The mid-1990s brought signs of hope. Even 

before the EC was established, neighborhood residents began organizing, establishing block clubs 

and safety watches, and petitioning the city for 

action and investment in the neighborhood. In 

1993, the city used CDBG funds to purchase and 

demolish the building at a cost of $250,000. This 

move set the stage for a series of vigorous redevelopment efforts. 

First, the Urban Neighborhood Development 

Corporation (UNDC), a city-sponsored nonprofit 

group, built Millerview, a development of 10 new 

houses on the site of the demolished school. 

Priced at $65,000, the three-bedroom, vinyl-sided 

homes on 7,200-square-foot lots, with two-car 

garages sold readily. Construction on MiIlerview 

began in 1995, with the last house sold in 

December 1997. UNDC built 4 other houses 

nearby and planning for another 10 is well 

under way. These houses are sold at market-rate 

without any homeowner subsidy. CDBG funds 

assisted with site-development costs. 

With the Millerview anchor in place, a combined 

effort of three groups-the East Akron Neighborhood Development Corporation, the Westside 

Neighborhood Development Corporation, and 

Neighborhood Revitalization Partners-created 

35 new single-family houses and 5 rehabilitated 

houses on infilllots on the streets east of the Lane 

School site. Begun in 1996, these three- and fourbedroom houses were completed by late 1997 

at an average cost of $94,000. Low-income families now occupy them on a lease-purchase 

arrangement. The $3.6 million financing 

included $2,470,200 in Low-Income Housing Tax 

Credits (LIHTC), $300,000 in city HOME funds, 

$300,000 in State of Ohio HOME funds, and 

$575,000 in mortgage financing. Lane-Wooster 

is only one of several neighborhoods in the 

Akron EC that have received a positive jolt from 

the LIHTC initiative, building many new houses 

in the area in a short time. 

Area homeowners are also partners in the 

improvement effort. Through Akron's Neighborhood Housing Petition Program, they are organizing in groupings of 1 to 4 blocks (between 20 

and 80 houses) and Circulating a petition agreeing to bring their housing up to code in return 

for city CDBG-funded grants and loans. Competitive funding is awarded according to the percentage of homeowners signing up. In Lane-Wooster, 

6 street segments, containing 183 houses, are participating in this effort. The city will make infrastructure improvements to the streets, such as 
Ise Communities 

new sidewalks, curbing, and street trees to 

complement the housing improvements. 

Today new, single-family homes and freshly 

rehabilitated properties stand where the crimeridden eyesore of the Lane School once stood. The 

neighborhood's other assets-a public library 

branch, a large city park, and a performing arts 

magnet middle school-are coming into their 

own. 

For more information, contact Jerry Egan, City 

of Akron, Department of Planning and Urban 

Development, at 330-375-2090. 

Homeless Families 

Become Homeowners 

Atlanta, Georgia, EZ 

"This is the best closing of my career!" exclaims 

Atlanta banker Lori Livesay. Her enthusiasm is 

inspired by the remarkable story of Calvin 

Robertson, his wife, and their two children; all 

overcame mental impairments to move from 

homelessness and assisted housing to homeownership with the help of Livesay and the Atlanta 

Center for Homeownership. 

Livesay first met Robertson at the Center's 8-hour 

First-Time Homebuyer Workshop. After receiving 

followup counseling and down payment assistance from the State of Georgia, the Robertsons 

were able to close on their newly rehabilitated 

home with a mortgage provided by Chase 

Manhattan Mortgage Corporation. 

The Atlanta Center for Homeownership is a joint 

project of the Atlanta Empowerment Zone 

Corporation and the Atlanta Housing Authority 

(AHA). At the 10,OOO-square-foot center, which 

includes training, consultation, and meeting 

rooms, clients work with certified housing 

counselors to develop personalized action plans 

for homeownership. Center staff work with local 

lenders to ensure that clients understand the loan 

approval process and meet underwriting standards. Comprehensive postpurchase counseling 

is also provided. 

Clients purchasing a home within the EZ are 

eligible for an $8,000 mortgage assistance grant. 

Strong partnerships with the Federal Home Loan 

Mortgage Corporation, Fannie Mae, and local 

lenders allow the Center to access additional loan 

products for its low- and moderate-income 

clients. It is also partnering with South Trust Bank 

to establish checking accounts for clients who 

have been denied checking elsewhere. Consumer 

Credit Counseling Service opened a branch at the 

Center to provide credit counseling at no charge. 

"This is not going to be a kind of social service 

agency," explains E. Mike Proctor, Deputy Executive Director for special housing and homeownership of AHA. "What we're trying to do is reshape 

the buying process for low-income residents./I 

In its first 10 months, the Center assisted several 

public housing residents in moving to homeownership, facilitated more than $12 million in home 

sales, and provided counseling assistance and 

training to more than 2,000 clients, resulting in 

the prevention of more than 75 foreclosures. 

For more information, contact Jeanne G. Gura, 

Director, Atlanta Center for Homeownership, 

at 404-588-3701. 

Homeless people Become 

Homebuilders 

Denver, ColoradO, EC 

Taking advantage of a tight labor market, an 

EC-funded training program is turning Denver's 

homeless into homebuilders. Working in partnership with Denver's St. Francis Center, local 
construction companies are hiring the homeless 

to work as house-framing apprentices through 

the center's Turnabout Cottage Industry Program. 

The program helps the homeless, who struggle 

with drug and alcohol addiction and other 

obstacles, find the path to gainful employment. 

The pilot program combines three ingredients: 

a cash incentive, a work readiness plan, and onthe-job training. "The clients still need that spark 

of desire to help themselves, but if they are willing, we can hel p them toward a better life," states 

St. Francis' Turnabout Director John Harpel. 

During the first week of job-readiness training, 

clients undergo background checks and drug testing. They then go through 2 weeks of classroom 

training and onsite work. The following 10 weeks 

are spent learning the house-framing trade 

as well as basic work habits and independent 

living skills. 

"We are not so naive to believe that our clients 

may not backslide from time to time," says 

Harpel. "Our job is to try to keep them on the 

straight and narrow while they are learning." The 

program has graduated 14 of its initial 30 trainees, who have found employment in the construction trades. Others, who had some training but 

did not graduate, also have gone on to find fulltime employment. 

The center draws on its EC grant to provide 

program participants with a small stipend and 

enough money to pay for shelter. The stipend 

increases as each client progresses through the 

program. A final lump-sum payment is made 

upon successful completion of the program. 

"By that time, the contractor picks up the salary 

of the trainee," says Jennifer Stevenson, 

St. Francis' Program Coordinator. "The lump-sum 

stipend is intended to be used to make the move 

from shelter to permanent housing and for transportation to the job site." 

Started with a $140,000, one-time seed grant, St. 

Francis hopes to generate enough revenues to 

support the program within 12 months. Overall, 

St. Francis' job referrals have placed 450 persons 

into permanent employment, adding $10 million to the Denver economy. 

For more information, contact John Harpel, 

Director, St. Francis Center Turnabout Cottage 

Industry Program, at 303-297-1576. 
z Communities 

Performing Arts, 

Housing Transform 

the McFarland Building 

Harrisburg, pennsylvania, EC 

The members of Danzante, a multicultural 

performing arts group, are eagerly anticipating 

the move into their new performance space in 

Harrisburg's former McFarland Press Building. 

Once a large industrial building owned by 

J. Horace McFarland, a printer, botanist, and one 

of the Nation's early conservationists, the building was closed due to changing economic conditions in the printing business. Now the space 

is becoming the site of 49 apartments and a 

7JOO-square-foot performing arts center. Leasing is under way to rent the one-, two-, and threebedroom apartments to low-income households. 

The new project will feature off-street parking, 

accessible units for persons with disabilities, 

an enclosed play area, laundry facilities, and an 

intercom entry system. 

The $6.4 million restoration of McFarland and 

adjoining buildings is "another example of 

Harrisburg's ongoing resurgence," comments 

Mayor Steve Reed. "We consider Harrisburg's older 

building stock among its greatest resources." 

Preservation of key architectural features and the 

facade have been integral parts of the restoration project. Penrose Properties, a Philadelphia 

developer, is the equity partner, and the Pro 

Development Company is doing the construction. The main catalyst behind the project is the 

nonprofit Community Action Commission, 

which will provide social services. Assembling the 

financing took 3 years. The City of Harrisburg 

made a commitment of $1.25 million in CDBGs 

and HUD HOME funds. The Pennsylvania Housing Finance agency authorized low-income housing tax credits, and the State authorized tax credits 

through its Neighborhood Assistance Program. 

For more information, contact Terri Martini, 

Director, Harrisburg Department of Building and 

Housing, at 717-255-6480. 

Operation Restore Pride 

Bolsters Community 

Confidence 

Jackson, Mississippi, EC 

"People take pride in their neighborhood when 

it looks good and is a safe place to live/' says 

long-time Jackson, Mississippi, resident Pickney 

Johnson at the 1995 grand opening of Operation Restore Pride, an initiative that turned his 

EC neighborhood into a model of housing 

opportunity. 

Operation Restore Pride has brought more than 

good feelings back to a deteriorated part of 

Jackson's midtown. A mix of public and private 

resources headed by the Jackson Metro Housing 

Partnership OMHP) has made possible the construction of 50 new homes and the rehabilitation of a 36-unit apartment complex. 
5 U 5 

One new homeowner is Perry Coleman, a Jackson police officer, who stated that he was confident that the new vision for the midtown 

community would work. "I'm just going to get 

in and do the best that I can," says Coleman. 

"I am looking forward to it." 

"It's about making neighborhoods safer, cleaner, 

and more productive places to live and prosper," 

states JMHP's former board chair Don Meiners. 

JMHP purchased most of an entire block and 

began the revitalization process by combining 

three substandard lots into two with funds contributed by partner banks, low-income housing 

tax credits, and city and Federal funding. The 

City of Jackson then widened and repaved streets, 

adding new curbs and gutters and installing new 

water and sewer lines, and the local utility company improved neighborhood lighting. 

Once these improvements were complete, the 

EC gave the property to Habitat for Humanity of 

Jackson, which worked with volunteers and 

homebuyers to construct the new homes. 

Churches and businesses sponsored individual 

houses by raising one-half of the construction 

costs. Habitat, in turn, matched the donated 

funds to construct the homes. 

To bolster these improvements, Christ United 

Methodist Church opened a neighborhood 

center in the area and residents formed the North 

Mid-Town Community Improvement Corporation to continue community-based housing 

development. 

For more information, contact Tim Collins, 

Program Coordinator, JMHP, at 601-969-1895. 

Mixed-Use Redevelopment 

Offers Townhomes 

Los Angeles/Huntington park, 

California, EC 

In April 1998, Vermont Village Plaza in the Los 

Angeles EC begins to tum the corner on 30 years 

of disinvestment and the destruction of property 

that occurred during the civil unrest of 1992. The 

distinct design, an attractive art deco facade 

along a city block at Vermont Avenue and 8Ist 

Street, was chosen in a competition sponsored 

by the former First Interstate Bank. Phase I of 

the project, just being completed, provides 36 

townhomes and 4,700 square feet of commercial 

retail space. The townhomes will be offered for 

sale to first-time homebuyers through the HOME 

program. In Phase II, the project will restore the 

historic Pepperdine administration building and 

convert it into a community facility to provide 

computer training to area youth. 

Phase I was financed with $4.5 million in HOME 

and COBG funds, which in turn leveraged 

$4 million in lending by Wells Fargo Bank. Phase 

II funding comes from $15,188 in EZ/EC SSBG 

monies, $400,000 from Wells Fargo Bank, and 

additional funding from the University of Southern California. 
rise Communities 

For further information, contact David Eder, 

City of Los Angeles Community Development 

Department, at 213-485-2956. 

Redeveloped Public HOusing 

Area Becomes 

Residential "Magnet" 

Louisville, Kentucky, EC 

In the Park-DuValie area of Louisville's EC, 1,000 

units of mixed-income housing are being developed on a former public housing site. Former 

HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros called the new 

Park-DuValie development "a magnet for people 

who want to come back to the city." City officials 

expect Park-DuValie to compete effectively with 

suburban housing. 

Even before the EC was designated, the Housing 

Authority of Louisville was planning to demolish two public housing areas-the Cotter and 

Lang projects-both built in the 1950s, and now 

outmoded and dilapidated. In October 1995, the 

housing authority received a $31.4 million HUD 

grant for an 8- to lO-year project of demolition 

and reconstruction. In 1996, Louisville received 

an additional $20 million from HUD's Hope 

VI program to continue the neighborhood 

revitalization work. 

Demolition is now complete and the first 100 new 

homes have been built. The new construction 

will ultimately result in approximately 300 

single-family, homeowner-occupied homes, 350 

market-rate apartments, and 350 units of public 

housing, scattered through the area and architecturally homogeneous. Plans include a clubhouse, a swimming pool, and new library 

services. Residents of the revitalized Park-DuValle 

area will also benefit from a variety of employment, education, and social services initiatives 

that the EC is bringing to the neighborhood. An 

expanded pool of Section 8 certificates will help 

residents of the former public housing projects 

find housing in the private sector. The housing 

authority is employing local contractors as much 

as possible to keep the grant money within the 

community, a high priority of the EC board and 

local government. 

For more information, contact Carolyn Gatz, 

Executive Director, Louisville EC, at 502-574-4210. 

HOPE VI Will Transform 

Public HOusing in 

Pittsburgh EC 

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, EC 

Pittsburgh's historic Manchester area is in the 

process of a dramatic revitalization of its public 

housing with the help of a HUD HOPE VI grant. 

"The significance of this grant is enormous," says 

Pittsburgh's Mayor Tom Murphy. "With this 

$ 7.5 million, Manchester will become the first 

community in Pittsburgh to demolish public 

housing as we currently know it and replace 

it with our house-for-a-house policy for each 

tenant in public housing." 

The Pittsburgh EC is working with the Manchester 

Citizens Corporation in this effort. Manchester's 

scattered-site public housing was outmoded, 

deteriorating, and isolated from the surrounding community. It was also a dumping grounds 

for drugs and criminal activity, deterrents to 

attracting new investment. 

The Manchester Development Partnership is constructing a combination of 94 new and rehabilitated historic single-family homes in 4 phases. 

More than one-third of them are finished. The 

remaining homes will be a combination of new 
construction and rehabilitated historic structures. 

To avoid saturating the local housing market, 

work will be staged over 5 years. 

Public housing residents were temporarily relocated during the 2-year demolition of 109 units 

of the old low rise public housing. Twenty 

replacement units have been completed, ahead 

of the original construction schedule, and some 

families have already moved back home. By summer, 30 additional units will be available for 

occupancy. 

Manchester used its HOPE VI grant as core financing for the demolition. Phased development and 

renovation of 238 homes is leveraging an 

additional $11 million in private and public 

financing. The partnership consists of the public 

housing residents, the Manchester Citizens Corporation, the Pittsburgh Housing Development 

Authority, the Public Housing Authority, the 

Urban Redevelopment Agency, private charitable 

foundations, lenders, and tax credit investors as 

well as other State and local partners. 

For more information, contact Beverly Gillot, 

Coordinator, Pittsburgh EC, at 412-487-6806. 

HUD Agreement Transforms 

Foreclosures Into Futures 

Rochester, New York, EC 

A 1997 HUD agreement is making the dream 

of homeownership come true for residents of the 

Rochester EC. This program markets HUDforeclosed properties to owner-occupants. 

Residents can buy a HUD home at a 23-percent 

discount using various financing sources, including Federal and city incentive programs. 

Rochester city officials meet with HUD officials 

weekly to review the latest inventory and, after 

inspecting the units, decide on rehabilitation 

costs and financing packages for interested buyers. The City of Rochester then advertises the 

properties and sells them through local realtors. 

The city monitors owner occupancy of the properties over the next 3 to 5 years. The original goal 

was to sell 50 homes during the first year of the 

program, but the city sold half that number 

after only 19 weeks of advertising. 

"Our housing system has banks, nonprofit and 

private developers, contractors, and others working in tandem and all playing a specific role in 

rehabilitation and construction," comments 

Thomas R. Argust, Commissioner ofCommunity 

Development. "HUD properties were always 

outside and independent of that system. Now 

these properties are in the tent." As a result, the 

city has more control over promoting sales to 

owner-occupants. Investors have purchased 

about 20 percent of the homes. 

This new arrangement will prevent the recent 

downturn in the Rochester housing market from 

slowing the EC's goal of providing affordable 

housing to 140 residents per year. Residents will 

no longer have to wait until the market improves 

to buy homes. They can benefit from the reduced 
l Ise Communities 

cost of existing homes through this cooperative 

effort between the city and HUD. 

For more information, contact Valerie Wheatley, 

Coordinator, Rochester EC, at 716-428-7207. 

Hundreds of Affordable 

Homes Rise in EC 

San Antonio, Texas, EC 

In San Antonio, Texas, the EC is rounding up 

Federal, State, local, and private resources to meet 

one of its most urgent needs: affordable housing. The EC is drawing on Federal CDBGs, HOME 

funds, Fannie Mae, the San Antonio Housing 

Trust, Inc., Enterprise Foundation, neighborhood 

agencies, and local businesses. In all, San 

Antonio has raised over $73 million to develop 

and rehabilitate 807 affordable housing units, 

train 280 EC residents for jobs, and provide 139 

new jobs. By the end of July 1997, the effort had 

yielded a total of 337 new units, with nearly twothirds of these devoted to family homeownership. 

A HOPE VI development of 425 units of singlefamily homeownership is nearing completion. 

For more information, contact Curley Spears, EZ/ 

EC Coordinator, San Antonio EC, at 210-207-6600. 
Housing 


Hope for Homeowners 

Accomacll/Northampton, virginia, EC 

When Virginia's rural Eastern Shore had its 

rainiest year on record in 1996-97, residents with 

leaky roofs who couldn't afford to fix them were 

in trouble. Then the Virginia Eastern Shore 

Economic Empowerment and Housing Corporation (VESEEHC) obtained a $30,000 grant from 

the EC, combined that with its own revolving 

no- or low-interest loan fund, and began offering assistance. The social services departments 

of both Accomack and Northampton Counties 

helped identify people who needed help. Local 

businesses donated materials, and many volunteers stepped forward to do the needed rehabilitation work. 

"We've been able to pull in volunteer labor from 

all over," says Lee Mapp, VESEEHC's housing 

coordinator. /I Along with local people, of course, 

there've been people from a statewide church 

organization, students, and sailors from Norfolk." 

The combined effort has already repaired 50 

roofs. There are 300 homeowners on the waiting 

list, and the project is continuing in the next 

funding cycle. 

For more information, contact Lee Mapp, Housing Coordinator, Virginia Eastern Shore Economic 

Empowerment and Housing Corporation, at 

757-442-2870. 

Homeownership BecomeS a 

Reality for Lock Haven 

Families 

City of Lock Haven, pennsylvallia, EC 

Ten families will become homeowners for the first 

time, thanks to the Homeownership Assistance 

Program of the City of Lock Haven EC In Lock 

Haven, where fewer than one-half of the residents 

own their own homes, Federal, State, and local 

groups have formed a partnership to increase 

homeownership and meet the needs of low- and 

moderate-income families. 

The Susquehanna Valley Development Group, 

Inc., is working with the City of Lock Haven to 

construct 10 two-story, three-bedroom homes at 

three locations within the EC Eligible first-time 

homebuyers can buy a new single-family home 

on a landscaped lot with city utilities. Mortgage 

loans are provided by Jersey Shore State Bank in 

conjunction with the Pennsylvania Housing finance Agency. The City of Lock Haven offers a 

grant to cover closing costs, and Pennsylvania 

Power and Light Company offers a $2,500 grant 

to help with the downpayment. 

In 1997, two families purchased homes through 

the program. Additional houses are under construction and in 1998 at least two more families 

will be able to purchase homes through the 

program. 
Communities 

For more information, contact Leonora 

Hannigan, City Planner, Lock Haven City Planning Office, at 717-893-5903. 

EC Upgrades Hon1es for 

Elderly Residents 

Williamsburg county/Lake City, 

South Carolina, EC 

The Williamsburg EC Commission has gone to 

great effort to upgrade or replace substandard 

dwellings that have major health and safety 

hazards for elderly residents. 

The EC has partnered with USDA Rural Development to upgrade or replace 40 substandard dwellings per year, committing $84,000 to housing 

renovations in 1996 and an additional $65,000 

in 1997. The EC also was successful in processing an additional $165,000 through the Housing Preservation Grant Program. 

The Williamsburg EC will continue repairing 

homes occupied by eligible senior citizens. It performs such home rehabilitation as installing 

handicap rails in bathrooms, fixing or installing wiring, repairing roofs, installing heating 

systems and air-conditioning units, replacing 

fixtures, and even installing bathrooms. Most of 

the rehabilitation projects were extensive. The 

partnership with USDA Rural Development 

"made it possible to perform rehabilitation on 

homes that Rural Development couldn't touch 

before," explains Faith Rivers, Executive Director of the EC. "Plus, we are able to work on more 

homes than planned because some don't need 

as extensive work as others." 

Their goal to rehabilitate 40 homes a year is on 

schedule. Since September 1997, 14 homes have 

been repaired, and Rivers expects that the EC will 

continue to meet or surpass its goal. 

For more information, contact Faith Rivers, Executive Director, Williamsburg EC Commission, 

at 803-354-9070. 
l 

Public Safety 


u 

Block Watch Pays Off in 

Public safety 

Birmingham, Alabama, EC 

IIYou've got to be the eyes and ears of the police 

department," says Bernard Mays, who coordinates public safety programs for Birmingham's 

EC. The community is putting lIeyes on the street" 

through 171 new neighborhood block watches. 

Birmingham is on its way to creating 300 block 

watches in a concerted effort to enforce zero 

tolerance of neighborhood crime. 

As part of the block watch program, residents 

work closely with police and become actively 

involved in neighborhood crime prevention. 

Community police attend weekly block club 

meetings and get to know residents. The EC has 

also purchased 30 cellular phones for emergency 

communications on patrol. 

lilt's working real well," says Jon Berry, President 

of the Rising-West Princeton Neighborhood 

Council. Residents had been afraid to sit on their 

front porches before block watch came to their 

neighborhood. Thanks to participation by 

approximately 85 percent of the neighborhood's 

households, residents can go out and about with 

confidence. Says Berry, IIWe who live in this 

neighborhood know everything that is going on 

in this neighborhood." 

Police agree that the striking reductions in EC 

crime rates are attributable in part to this 

resident involvement. Between 1996 and 1997 

in the EC, the incidence of robbery fell 22 percent and burglaries fell 17 percent. Incidents 

involving narcotics dropped by 15 percent, while 

both vandalism and disturbance calls went down 

14 percent. 

For more information, contact Bernard Mays, 

General Manager, The Urban Development 

Group, at 205-320-0310. 

COPS AHEAD Cuts 

EC Crime Dramatically 

Flint, Michigan, EC 

The Flint EC's new, comprehensive, community 

poliCing program, called the COPS AHEAD 

program, is providing a safe environment for residents and businesses throughout the EC. The incidence of many types of crime fell dramatically 

between 1994 and 1997. 

The number of rape crimes decreased by 70 

percent; arson, 66 percent; murder, 61 percent; 

robbery, 36 percent; larceny, 32 percent; and 

burglary, 24 percent. 

Program funds for the COPS AHEAD program 

came from an initial U.S. Department of Justice 

(DOJ) grant of $600,000, which the community 

matched with local funds of $552,400. Flint then 

received a subsequent DO} grant of $1 million, 

which it matched with $821,000 in local funds. 
z 

I 

tprise Communities 

A total of 176 block clubs are participating in 

the community policing program. 

For more information, contact Nancy Jurkiewicz, 

Flint EC Director, at 810-766-7436. 

Community Gives Its Input 

Into policing 

Indianapolis, Indiana, EC 

When the Indianapolis EC held a series of neighbor.hood meetings to ask for community help and 

inpuI, residents came up with a number of ideas 

for improving public safety. One neighborhood 

purchased mountain bikes to increase police 

visibility and approachability. Another helped 

plan the use of police overtime. New communications networks have been established 

in each of the seven neighborhoods in the 

Indianapolis EC. 

For more information, contact Jennifer Fults, 

CDBG Grants Manager, Indianapolis Division 

of Commercial Development and Financial 

Services, at 317-327-5899. 

EC Adopts Community 

policing for Business Area 

Los Angeles/Huntington park, 

California, EC 

The business community in the City of Huntington Park attributed sluggish business to a high 

incidence of crime-both real and perceived. 

Responding to the situation, the city, the Los 

Angeles County Sheriff's Department, and Los 

Angeles County developed a partnership to 

institute community policing in the EC. Plans 

included assigning a new mobile-command unit 

to the EC, hiring new deputies, orgamzmg 

merchant block groups and Neighborhood Watch 

groups, and increasing police presence through 

bike patrols and other community policing 

techniques. 

With the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department in attendance, business owners and community residents meet monthly to share 

information. The group includes one or more 

representatives, either a businessperson or 

a resident, from each of nine blocks. This representative monitors the block for suspicious 

or criminal activity and reports the activity 

to the county sheriff. The effort focuses police 

efforts on identified trouble spots on Florence 

Boulevard, a major commercial artery. 

The city acquired a mobile police station in 

August 1995 and placed it in the commercial 

corridor, increasing police presence in the targeted area. Officers no longer had to travel to 

headquarters to book and process suspects, file 

reports, use the telephone and fax, and use the 

computer to cross-check crime data on suspects. 

The command unit in the mobile station contains communications, surveillance, undercover, 

video, and related detective tools. 

The Sheriff's Department and the Los Angeles 

County Community Development Commission 

have worked together to set benchmarks, such 

as organizing merchant block groups, assigning 

COPS and HIT members to identified problem 

areas, working with the Gang Enforcement Team 

(GET), and collaborating with the Sheriff's 

Special Project Team. The Sheriff's Department 

is focusing on identified problems such as unauthorized sale of used cars on the streets and in 
vacant lots, parking problems, and illegal street 

vendors. Eight new deputies began working with 

Neighborhood Watch groups. One meeting on 

Florence Avenue attracted more than 100 people. 

The EC funded a bike patrol, increasing police 

presence on the streets. Both business people and 

residents reported finding it easier to approach 

bike police for assistance. EC funding for this 

activity leveraged twice as much in county funds. 

Since the beginning of the community policing 

program in August 1997, the incidence of purse 

snatching, car break-ins, loitering, and bartering on residential streets and commercial boulevards has diminished in the EC. 

For more information, contact Ted Ramirez, 

Project Manager, Los Angeles County Community 

Development Commission, at 213-485-6782. 

Community Beat Cops Lower 

Crime, Raise Morale 

Manchester, New Hampshire, EC 

Community poliCing has made an enormous 

difference in the Manchester EC. Overall crime 

has dropped by one-third in the 2 years since the 

program's inception. During this period, drug 

activity dropped 57 percent, robbery fell by 54 

percent, burglary went down 52 percent, and 

weapons possession declined 40 percent. Police 

calls in the EC fell from 34,763 to 27,795, a drop 

of 20 percent. About 60 percent of residents in a 

telephone poll reported that their quality of life 

had improved or held steady. Almost two-thirds 

of the residents indicated that they would feel 

"reasonably safe" or "very safe" being alone in 

their neighborhood at night, compared to slightly 

more than half when the program started. 

Manchester expanded its community poliCing 

division in August 1995 with an EC-funding commitment of $731 ,000 over 5 years. Three officers 

and a police cruiser were assigned to a new 

substation in the EC's center-city area. Training 

began with 40 hours of classroom instruction on 

the concepts of community policing. The officers 

reviewed community issues ranging from youth 

gangs to the needs of residents in the EC's three 

housing projects for the elderly. They attended a 

2-week session at the National Crime Prevention 

Institute in Louisville, Kentucky. Another40-hour 

program focused on environmental design. 

"An important aspect of this component, " explains Sgt. Red Robidas, "is identifying property 

boundaries. Once you define these, and understand 

territorial behavior and protection mechanisms, 

you can begin to develop a neighborhood's sense 

of ownership and control." EC funds helped sponsor a 5-day seminar, Crime Prevention Through 

Environmental Design, attended by resident, 

business representatives, and city leaders as well 

as police officers. 

The community police officers regularly attend 

EC meetings and other local events. Last summer they helped with Revitalization Day, a 

cleanup and celebration in a neighborhood park, 

receiving plaques of appreciation for their work. 
communities 

Since the program began, two officers have left 

the EC for other positions and, in both cases, 

neighborhood residents hosted sendoffs. One of 

the officers who left missed the EC beat so much 

that he returned to the force and his community 

policing program aSSignment, to the delight 

of all concerned. 

The Manchester Police Department relies on volunteers to help with desk, telephone, and other 

"customer service" work at the substation. 

Among other volunteers from the city, one 

EC resident works five mornings a week, while 

five other volunteers also contribute time on a 

regular basis. 

Community policing is one of the EC's most 

successful and highly visible programs. The effort has reduced criminal activity, bolstered residents' confidence in the neighborhood, and 

created a partnership between citizens and law 

enforcement personnel that benefits the entire 

community. 

For more information, contact Sgt. Red 

Robidas, Manchester Police Department, at 

603-628-6144. 

Springfield Police Officers 

Bring Work Home 

Springfield, Illinois, EC 

Not only do police officers protect the people in 

the neighborhoods, now they are the people in 

the neighborhoods. The Springfield EC's Resident 

Police Program moved police officers into crimeprone areas of the community. Five officers 

received training in everything from simple 

intervention techniques to cultural diversity 

before they moved into their assigned EC 

neighborhoods. 

The officers in the program are pleased to have 

the ability to see a problem through instead of 

leaving it at the end of the workday. "When I 

was on the street," says Officer Crouch, "You took 

a report and were done. You didn't know what 

happened, if there was any followup or an arrest." Now Crouch sees first-hand the importance 

of his work and its impact on the community. 

The residential policing program has given 

police new ways to connect with the community. 

Mountain bikes are a great addition, Crouch 

comments, because they reduce barriers between 

police and residents. People often stop police on 

bikes to offer them tea or water or just some 

friendly conversation. 

Community police focus not only on maintaining public safety, but on neighborhood revitalization. Crouch is committed to securing a new 

park for the children in his neighborhood. "It's a 

social issue," he says. "If the kids don't have 

something to do and get into trouble, then it 

becomes a police issue." 

The Community Police Program is funded with 

$297,644 of Federal COPS AHEAD funds, 

$350,000 in EC funds, and $372,000 from the City 

of Springfield. 

For more information, contact Jacqueline Richie, 

Division Manager of Community Development 

for the City of Springfield, Office of Economic 

Development, at 217-789-2377. 

Juvenile Drug Courts Turn 

Youth Around 

Wilmington, Delaware, EC 

Wilmington's special Juvenile Drug Courts are 

working. The courts were created in April 1994 

I 
in New Castle County Superior Court as part of 

the Wilmington Ee's public safety efforts. Each 

year the program helps more than 80 juveniles 

who have been arrested avoid a criminal 

record. The program has a recidivism rate of only 

7 percent compared to the national rate of approximately 60 percent for juveniles not involved 

in drug courts. The approach has expanded beyond the EC to all of New Castle County and to 

the City of Dover. 

This innovative program is one of only 25 in the 

Nation in 6 States, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Such courts are seen as a way 

to deal more effectively with the increasing number of substance-abusing juvenile offenders 

because they offer much greater coordination 

among the court, the treatment community, the 

school system, and other community agencies in 

responding to the needs of young people. 

Wilmington's courts have developed two tracks. 

Under one track, Diversion of Juvenile Offenders, consistent with the Wilmington Ee's emphasis on strong families, the Juvenile Drug Court 

seeks to provide incentives for the family as well 

as the juvenile offender to cease drug use and 

related criminal activity. The other track, using 

a Department of Justice Correctional Options 

Grant, works with sentenced offenders who are 

institution bound. 

Special drug courts for adults are themselves a 

relatively recent innovation, with less than 250 

nationwide. Juvenile drug courts are designed to 

address negative influences from peers, gangs, 

and family members who may themselves use 

drugs, as well as to meet confidentiality provisions related to juvenile offenses. 

For more information, contact James 

Walker, Executive Director, Wilmington EC, at 

302-571-4189. 

Public Safety 


Rural Residents Get 

Improved 911 Service 

Central Appalachia, west Virginia, EC 

Thanks to support from the Central Appalachia 

EC, emergency 911 telephone service has greatly 

improved for residents of Clay and Nicholas 

Counties. Before last year, only 11,000 Nicholas 

households had basic 911 service, and 3,600 Clay 

households had none. With a $110,000 grant 

from the EC, the Nicholas County Commission 

set up what is "probably one of the best emergency service centers in the State," according 

to Dave King, County Director of Emergency 

Services. 

The two counties have recently partnered for the 

latest computerized service. The EC funds pay for 

the new facilities in Clay, and another $850,000 

was raised to improve the service already offered 

in Nicholas. A $2 monthly surcharge on the telephone bills of both counties fund the continuing 

operations. 

"The problems that often stand in the way of 

inter-county partnerships were worked out," King 

explains, "and now the two counties get a level 

of emergency service that neither one alone could 

afford. In Clay you had no one to call, and in 

Nicholas you had to give all the information 

manually. Now a computerized system automatically provides your location with all the details." 

The new service also created two jobs in Clay 

County and two in Nicholas County. 

For more information, contact Dave King, County 

Director of Emergency Services, at 304-872-7890. 

New Fire Trucks and 

Ambulances Upgrade 

EZ Area's safety 

Kentucky Highlands, Kentucky, EZ 

Access to emergency medical, rescue, and 

fire protection services in rural counties can 

be dangerously limited. But in Albany, Kentucky, 

the fire department will be better equipped to 

protect residents of Clinton County from fire or 

accident thanks to a new 2,800-gallon pumper 

truck and new ambulance. The 22-member volunteer fire department serves all of Clinton 

County, handling an estimated 150 fires a year. 

Wayne County also built up its stock of emergency equipment. Wayne County Empowerment 

Zone Community, Inc., purchased two ambulances and, with the additional funds in its budget, plans to purchase more fire personnel 

equipment and to provide training for emergency 

personnel. Wayne County also received a $20,000 

grant from the Kentucky Cabinet for Health 

Services. 

For more information, contact Mike Hayes, 

Coordinator, Kentucky Highlands EZ, at 

606-864-5175. 

Community Teams UP To 

Build Shelter for Abused 

Women and Children 

scott/MCCreary Area, Tennessee/ 

Kentucky, EC 

Women and children who suffered domestic 

violence had nowhere to go in Scott County, Tennessee. A local judge and other community leaders decided to create a refuge where people in 

this situation could get help. In 1996, Scott 

County established a volunteer-run shelter. Now, 

thanks to support from the EC, State and Federal 
z Communities 

funding, and local donations, a staff of 3 runs 

the shelter serving approximately 100 women 

and children a year. 

"Our goal is to stop the cycle of violence-to 

prevent children from having to grow up in a 

situation of domestic violence," explains Lisa 

Jeffers, the shelter's coordinator. She and other , 

staff members at the shelter-which can house 

four adults and children and three infants-provide food, clothing, and court advocacy. After 7 

days of this crisis care, they help the victims find 

a place to live and to make links with agencies 

that can provide them with long-term assistance. 

For more information, contact Dinah Carson, 

Executive Director, Scott County Women's 

Shelter, at 423-663-4444. 
Infrastructure 


Van Pool 	Links Inner-City 

Residents to Jobs in the 

Suburbs 

, Baltimore, Maryland, EZ

Affluent Howard and Anne Arundel Counties 

were having trouble attracting workers to lowand moderate-wage jobs. Residents of nearby 

Baltimore were anxious to fill those jobs but had 

no way to get to work. Most of the EZ residents 

do not own vehicles, and the Mass Transit 

Administration has been reluctant to expand its 

limited service within the counties. With the help 

of a $1.6 million HUD Bridges to Work grant plus 

$500,000 in EZ funds, the city has been able to 

solve both problems. The Bridges to Work grant 

created a van pool for East Baltimore residents 

who work in Howard and Anne Arundel Counties, opening a window of opportunity for EZ residents to look for work outside the city. 

The van pool can serve 400 people and operates 

mainly in the business corridor near BaltimoreWashington International Airport. Currently, 

54 people ride the van pool to jobs that pay an 

) 	 average of $7.50 per hour with benefits. Baltimore is in the process of negotiating with the 

Mass Transit Administration to expand its service to the surrounding counties. 

For more information, contact Michael Preston, 

Public Information Coordinator, Empower 

Baltimore Management Corporation, at 

410-483-4222. 

Road Runner Helps EC 

ReSidents Get Around 

Burlington, vermont, EC 

Many residents of the Burlington, Vermont, 

EC cannot afford to own a reliable car. Yet, lack 

of a family car makes commuting to work and 

shopping difficult and expensive. Partners in the 

Burlington EC have come up with several practical ways to ease the isolation of EC residents. 

EC initiatives are providing cars and bicycles to 

residents. Some EC residents are cycling to work 

and shopping, weather permitting, thanks to 

donations of refurbished used bicycles. More than 

100 bicycles and almost as many helmets, 

donated by local sporting supply stores, have 

been distributed. The Good News Garage, operated by Lutheran Social Services of Northern New 

England, repairs donated cars and provides them 

at low cost or no cost to people who need automobile transportation to find or keep a job. The 

garage also trains residents in auto mechanics. 

The Enterprise Community Transportation 

Project, operated by the Champlain Valley 

Office of Economic Opportunity with modest 

funding from the EC, has helped pay the fares of 

more than 12,000 low-income commuters on 

buses and taxis since 1995. The Sounding Board, 

a group of transit commuters, provides feedback 

on service gaps. "One thing that unites all the 

individual efforts of the project is highlighting 

the barriers to transportation faced by 

low-income residents," says Noah Berger, the 

Transportation Project's manager. "With the 

Sounding Board, we are able to really look at 

these gaps from the bottom up, rather than from 

the top down." 
ise Communities 

When the Sounding Board drew attention to the 

difficulty of getting to shift work using public 

transit, the Transportation Project launched the 

Night Owl. Approximately 75 EC residents working the second and third shifts at local plants 

now rely on this late-night bus service. 

Lutheran Social Services, with some EC funding, 

operates the Road Runner, a fixed-route van 

service linking EC residents with jobs and discount shopping at a suburban retail center that 

they cannot reach by public transit. The Road 

Runner makes 4 trips each day, averaging 100 

riders a week. 

The EC staff calculates that the Transportation 

Project and Road Runner have provided more 

than 6,000 rides to EC residents over the past 

2 years. Thanks to these initiatives, hundreds of 

people are now able to commute to work, obtain 

services, go shopping, take training classes, or 

look for jobs. 

For more information, contact Brian Pine, 

Assistant Director of Housing, Office of Community Development, at 802-865-7232. 

A River Will Run Through It 

providence, Rhode Island, EC 

The Woonasquatucket Greenway Project will construct a riverside park along an abandoned railroad line in the Providence EC neighborhood of 

Olneyville. The plan includes a park with bike 

and walking paths and canoe launching areas. 

Community members and project planners hope 

this revitalization will spur economic development for Olneyville. 

"Something like this could make all the difference in the world," says Reverend Kay Johnson 

of the Episcopal Church of the Messiah. "If you 

can make the area look better, more businesses 

may want to move in. I think it's very exciting." 

Olneyville is one of the poorest neighborhoods 

in Providence, but that was not always the case. 

Until the 1950s, Olneyville was home to textile 

mills and jewelry factories that provided good 

jobs for unskilled workers. However, after the 

mills moved out, housing and commercial facilities deteriorated and many residents sought 

homes in the suburbs. In the past 10 years, 

Olneyville has experienced a new influx of 

newcomers. 

Various partners-including Federal, State, 

and city governments, conservationists, historic 

preservation organizations, and private sources-­

have raised an estimated $9 million for the implementation of the Woonasquatucket Greenway. 

"More than 13 meetings were held in the community to incorporate the ideas and needs of area 

EC residents," reports Jane Sherman, Director of 

the Woonasquatucket Greenway Project. The 

project will offer canoe rides and environmental 

briefings to the neighborhood schools as part of 

its outreach efforts. 

Although the Greenway is still in its planning 

stages, neighborhood cleanup projects are 

already under way. Residents are removing refuse 

and planting flowers. Local merchants are sponsoring seasonal celebrations and other events. 

For more information, contact Jane Sherman, 

Director, Woonasquatucket Greenway Project, 

at 401-455-8880. 
Infrastructure 


Residents Agree: Rural 

Transit Has STAR Ouality 

Accomack/Northampton, virginia, EC 

In October 1997, more than 2,300 residents of 

Virginia's Eastern Shore rode the bus-from 

Chincoteague at the north to Cape Charles at 

the south end and points in between-thanks to 

the new STAR transit system. A year old in 1997, 

STAR (an acronym for Shore Transit and Riders) 

operates seven buses, mostly across a 72-mile 

north-south route on U.S. Highway 13. The fare 

is $1 from either end to the middle of the route, 

near Exmore, or a maximum of $2 from end 

to end. 

STAR has been in the works since a 1984 feasibility study documented the need for public transportation to serve the 45,000 residents of this 

rural area, but it did not begin to become a 

reality for more than a decade. In 1994, the 

Accomack/Northampton Planning District Commission updated the transportation study and 

applied for a State Demonstration Grant from 

the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation. In spring 1996, a grant of $150,000 

came through for FY 1996. 

In just 6 months, the commission selected and 

purchased rolling stock, hired drivers and other 

personnel, developed an operations plan, and set 

routes. Managers hoped for at least 50 riders in 

the first month. When the buses started rolling 

in October 1996, 326 riders came aboard. 

For more information, contact Arthur T. Carter, 

MD, Executive Director, Accomack/Northampton 

EC, at 757-442-4509. 

Library Expands To Fit 

Community's Needs 

Arizona Border Region, EC 

Housed in the old J.c. Penney's department store, 

the Douglas, Arizona, community library offers 

residents access to an expanded library collection, upgraded services, and the Internet in 

a newly renovated building that has become 

a cornerstone of community life. The space has 

almost doubled-from 5,000 square feet to 9,800 

square feet-since it opened in November 1996. 

The average number of people using the library 

each day has grown from 150 in November 1996 

to 200 in January 1998. City librarian Jule Devoe 

comments, "With the increased use of the new 

public library, with more space, comfort, and 

educational and informational resources, we 

have demonstrated our library is truly the cultural, educational, and informational center of 

our community." 

New landscaping and refurbished architecture 

coordinates well with the recent renovation 

of downtown Douglas (funded through USDA 

Rural Development) and catches the eyes of 

many a passerby. Once inside, Douglas residents 

can choose from the 32,152 books, periodicals, 

and other materials in the library's expanding 

collection. 

The library also houses a much-needed conference room. Community groups now have a place 

to hold meetings, workshops, and other gettogethers. Recently, the Arizona Border Region 

Enterprise Community (AZBREC) sponsored a 

grant-writing workshop to acquaint interested 

groups, including the Historical Society and the 

Association of Retarded Citizens, with application requirements for ED and other grants. 
z COl1lllunlties 

Perhaps the most exciting additions for library 

users are the seven computers with Internet 

access, word-processing capabilities, and CDROMs. In addition to the new library holdings, 

visitors can now surf the Net to expand their 

knowledge. School-age children and teens now 

have access to the World Wide Web for help with 

their homework and to learn about the world. 

For more information, contact foel Viers, 

AZBREC, at 520-432-5301. 

Waterfront Restoration 

Enhances Community Life 

City of Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, EC 

Entertainment and the arts have arrived at the 

River Walk in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, with 

the completion of the f. Doyle Corman Amphitheater and floating stage. The 2,500·seat 

amphitheater and stage-part of a broader EC 

restoration of the Susquehanna waterfront-were 

unveiled at a free concert and ribbon-cutting 

ceremony in October 1997. 

"We are working to develop the potential of the 

river to where it was once before," says Clinton 

County Commissioner Dan Vitello at the ceremony. As Lock Haven continues its waterfront 

restoration, the stage and theater will enhance 

community events and serve as an overlook for 

residents and visitors who want to enjoy scenic 

views of the west branch of the Susquehanna 

River. 

Lock Haven has applied for CDBG funds and for 

additional funds from the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources for 

the creation of a portable shell for the stage, a 

permanent concrete pier to moor it, additional 

electrical service, landscaping along the levee, 

railings at the amphitheater, steps for easier access to the theater, and a boardwalk overlook 

above the City Beach bathhouse. The city 

matches CDBG funds with a 50-percent in-kind 

contribution. 

For more information, contact Maria Boileau, 

Federal Enterprise Coordinator, City of Lock Haven EC, at 717-893-5907. 

New Railroad Tracks 

spur Industry 

Fayette County/Haywood County, 

Tennessee, EC 

Haywood County's industrial park in Brownsville 

was filling up, and there were almost no sites 

left with railroad access. 

"If anyone came to the park and needed railas almost any company does-they were out 

of luck," observes Franklin Smith, the County 

Executive. Although there were no companies 

waiting in the wings, the EC applied for a 

$600,000 Rural Development grant from USDA 

and started laying a railroad spur to the 

underserved area of the park. 

"A Fortune 500 company got in touch just as we 

were building the spur," Smith relates. "Now 

they're about to open a $20 million high-tech 

papermaking plant that will employ 35 people. 

Without the USDA money we would not have 

gotten that company. The timing was absolutely 

perfect." The project came in under budget, 

enabling a second spur to be built that will 

encourage more firms to move in. 

For more information, contact Franklin Smith, 

County Executive, Haywood County, at 

901-772-1432. 
New Construction Creates 

Jobs and Training 

Kentucky Highlands, Kentucky, EZ 

The Kentucky Highlands EZ is creating modern 

spaces for local enterprise-one building at time. 

The EZ wanted to attract new business and jobs 

to the Kentucky Highlands area, but lack of 

appropriate office space was a problem. Construction of a 24,OOO-square-foot building in the 

rural area was part of fackson County's 1994 

strategic plan. 

When the EZ was deSignated, the country provided $1 million in construction funds. The 

community's primary goal was to earn enough 

from the sale to finance construction on a second building. These goals were met with ease. 

Construction was completed in November 1996, 

at 25 percent under budget, and sold in fuly 1997 

to fackson County Rehabilitation Industries. The 

proceeds will not only finance a second commercial building, they will fund the expansion of 

a local company that makes computer and telecommunications components-creating 53 new 

jobs in the area. 

An added bonus is that the building's new owner 

provides job training and placement to local 

welfare recipients who are making the transition 

to the workplace. 

For more information, contact ferry Rickett, 

President, Kentucky Highlands Investment 

Corporation, at 606-864-5175. 

Town Receives New 

Energy Facilities 

Kentucky Highlands, Kentucky, EZ 

Residents of Annville, Kentucky, have access to a 

source of natural gas for the first time, thanks to 

the purchase of a privately owned natural gas 

system that will be extended into town. Delta 

Natural Gas Company will purchase the Annville 

Gas Company, a privately held business, and 

extend lines throughout the town. The City of 

Annville helped to finance the acquisition of the 

new natural gas system with line extensions, 

using $150,000 in EZ funds. 

Currently natural gas is available only in the 

industrial park, serving only six businesses. With 

this new agreement, all of Annville's residents 

have a source of natural gas. In return, the City 

of Annville will receive a 5-percent franchise 

fee on the gross sales of natural gas in the 

community. 

Annville is making other infrastructure improvements. Sidewalks have been extended throughout the town, financed with $50,000 in CDBG 

funds. The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet is 

constructing a $1.1 million grade, drain, and 

sidewalk project for KY-30, Annville's main street. 

The City of Annville also purchased $15,000 

of playground equipment for ALB Park with 

EZ funds. 

For more information, contact Mike Hayes, 

Coordinator, Kentucky Highlands EZ, at 

606-864-5175. 
z Communities 

Better Water and 

Sewer Services 

Williamsburg County/Lake City, 

South Carolina, EC 

For the past 2 years, Williamsburg County, South 

Carolina, and the Williamsburg EC Commission 

have worked together in establishing county 

water and sewer service to residents of the EC. 

The county is working toward providing water 

service to EC residents who depend on shallow 

wells and have poor or unsafe drinking water 

and increasing water and sewerage capacity to 

prepare for and encourage industrial growth. 

"If a business wanted to establish itself in the 

county, we couldn't take them because we don't 

have the water and sewer capacity to serve 

them," says Faith Rivers, the commission's 

Executive Director. "It is a huge disadvantage, 

but one that we are working to change." 

Recently, the commission awarded Williamsburg 

County $45,000 for water and sewer improvements. The money will be used to staffthe initiative and fund project selection and engineering 

costs. In June 1997, Kingstree, South Carolina, 

also received a USDA Rural Development loan 

for $3,241,800 to finance water and sewer 

improvements in the EC. 

For more information, contact Faith Rivers, 

Executive Director, Williamsburg EC Commission, at 803-354-9070. 
Environment 


Field of Dreams: 8 Million 

pounds of Tomatoes Grow 

on Former Steelworks 

parking Lot 

Buffalo, New York, EC 

Village Farms of Buffalo operates an 18-acre 

greenhouse on the former site of the Republic 

Steelworks parking lot in the South Buffalo EC. 

Agro Power Development CAPO), Inc., opened 

this $15 million state-of-the-art agricultural 

greenhouse as the first major venture in the EC's 

redevelopment plan. The project is seen as a 

model for brownfields development. 

"APD is proud to be the first of many companies 

to invest in Mayor Massiello's Field of Dreams," 

says Michael DeGiglio, Chief Executive Officer. 

"We are extremely pleased to see that the city is 

aggressively pursuing cleanup of an 85-acre and 

100-acre site for other companies who are 

leaders in their respective industries." 

APD operates the greenhouse through its subsidiary, Village Farms LLC, which markets premium 

tomatoes throughout the United States. It is the 

largest marketer in the country of high-quality 

beefsteak tomatoes and on-the-vine ripe tomatoes, using responsible integrated pest management techniques on nearly 200 acres of 

production facilities in the United States. Approximately 8 million pounds of tomatoes will 

be produced annually. 

The project will ultimately employ 175 people 

with job preference going to EC residents. The 

city and the Buffalo Enterprise Development 

Corporation contributed $500,000 of the total 

project cost of $15 million for site improvements 

and landscaping. 

For more information, contact Kevin Greiner, 

Buffalo Enterprise Development Corporation, at 

716-842-6223, ext. 163. 

From Landfill to Playland 

Ogden, utah, EC 

The Standard-Examiner, Ogden's local newspaper, 

could not have described it better: "There was a 

time when wetlands were swamps and landfills 

were dumps. And swamps became dumps. No 

more, at least not for Weber County." 

Weber County's former dump-containing 4 

million tons ofsolid waste on 68.5 acres of landis being transformed into one of Utah's largest 

urban nature parks. A pedestrian and bicycle trail 

will meander through a wildlife habitat and 

recreational facilities. As a result of the landfill 

closure, property values in West Ogden have risen 

rapidly, giving homeowners the equity needed 

to renovate their homes and transforming 

the face of what was once considered the least 

desirable neighborhood in the area. 

To prevent groundwater contamination, Geneva 

Rock Products is following EPA requirements for 
Communities 

landfill closures to the letter. /I Once the land was 

clear, the capping process began," according to 

Jesse Glidden, the chief environmental engineer 

overseeing the project. The construction company 

is using 120,000 cubic yards of clay, 180,000 

cubic yards of sand, and 20,000 cubic yards 

of topsoil to guarantee the safety of the town's 

land and drinking water. The clay acts as a 

water barrier, the frost protection layer keeps the 

clay from cracking while allowing plants to root, 

and the vegetation prevents future wind and 

water erosion. 

The Weber River Parkway will run alongside the 

new park. When the park is complete, children 

will have a new place to play and beauty will be 

restored. Residents will soon be able to say that 

this site is no longer an eyesore, but a sight for 

sore eyes. 

For more information, contact Karlene Linford, 

Weber County Waste Management Office, at 

801-399-8806. 

New Assessment Techniques 

speed up Brownfields 

Redevelopment 

seattle, Washington, EC 

Redevelopment has been slow in the Duwamish 

industrial corridor of the Seattle EC, since enders are reluctant to take a risk on areas where 

the extent of contamination is unknown. The 

Duwamish area covers 5,000 acres, running from 

Sea-Tac Airport to downtown Seattle. More than 

three-fourths of Seattle's industrial land base lies 

in the corridor, with 75 percent of the area 

underused and contaminated, inhibiting the 

redevelopment that could provide jobs for EC 

residents. 

To overcome these barriers on what could be 

prime commercial land, the City of Seattle has 

teamed up with a variety of public and private 

agencies to provide information that would 

enable the State Department of Ecology to adopt 

rules to govern cleanup actions. 

A total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) study 

prompted the State to amend interim environmental rules, making it easier to begin new 

development in the Duwamish. The TPH study, 

being carried out by a private contractor, is 

funded through $80,000 from the EC along with 

$1 million in Federal, State, and local funding . 

Volunteers from local environmental agencies are 

contributing time and expertise. Collaborators 

include the Duwamish Coalition, Port of Seattle, 

King County, City of Tukwila, Seattle Industrial 

Development Corporation, Washington Department of Ecology, the Federal Environmental 

Protection Agency (EPA), University of Washington, and Model Toxics Control Act Committee. 

Other States and the EPA are watching this 

unique approach to risk assessment for 

brownfields very closely as a possible model. 
A second study is investigating the feasibility of 

revising State environmental protection rules for 

water quality in industrial brownfields, where 

drinking water is not the primary use. Funding 

for the groundwater study and Geographic Information Systems mapping includes $145,000 

in EC funds, $20,000 from EPA, $45,000 from 

King County, and $15,000 in-kind services from 

consultants and lab staff time. 

A city-created, new, private nonprofit Environmental Extension Service (EES) is helping businesses clean up their sites. EES work made 

it possible for the Alaska Copper Company to 

remain in the corridor and expand. The company invested $3.5 million in cleanup and reuse 

of its expanded II-acre site, retaining at least 60 

jobs that otherwise would have left the city. EES 

helped coordinate permits and utility services, 

and expedited environmental review by State 

regulatory agencies. 

For more information, contact Tom Boydell, 

Principal, Seneca Consulting, at 206-328-9452. 

EC Youth Clean UP and Earn 

Tampa, Florida, EC 

Throughout Tampa, the Neighborhood Cleanup 

and Youth Development Program is helping to 

maintain a cleaner, more attractive city while 

providing work opportunities and training for 

low-income youth. 

Sponsored by the city's Parks and Recreation Department, the program employs EC youth in graffiti abatement squads and as groundskeepers and 

lot cleaners. Each action team enrolls five young 

people, with one serving as a team leader and 

mentor/trainer for the others. Team leaders can 

parlay their program experience into 

full-time, permanent employment with the Parks 

and Recreation Department. The program also 

creates avenues for self-employment: Program 

participants may rent the department's 

lawnmowers and other equipment and use them 

to contract for their own groundskeeping jobs. 

Working through the Neighborhood Environmental Action Team (NEAT), Environmental 

Services, Environmental Partnership, and Graffiti Abatement programs, the youth respond to 

calls to remove graffiti from public property and 

clear lots and dumping sites. They also cut grass 

and help maintain public landscaping. 

The program has trained 55 youth and hired 91 

others for full- or part-time jobs. 

For more information, contact Harry McGriff, 

City of Tampa Parks and Recreation Department, 

at 813-531-2624. 

Environment 


EC Funding Begins Flood 

Prevention project 

City of East prairie, Missouri, EC 

In the past, residents in the East Prairie EC had 

to be evacuated when the river rose, flooding the 

130,000-acre St. Johns Basin. Flood control measures, authorized in 1954, had continually been 

hampered by financial limitations. Now, thanks 

to funding from USDA and the Army Corps of 

Engineers, residents can rest easy. 

EC designation "has been the enabling factor to 

get the project to move forward," says Eddie Belk, 

project manager of the Memphis District Corps 

of Engineers. The program enabled USDA to provide all but 5 percent of the local community's 

cost share for the first phase of this $42.5 million 

project. This funding provided momentum for 

other sponsors. The Army Corps of Engineers, 

which signed an agreement with local officials 

in August 1997, will provide almost all of the 

necessary funding. USDA and the local sponsorSt. Johns Levee and Drainage District-will cover } 

the rest. 

"Never doubt what a group of thoughtful, committed citizens can accomplish," remarks Martha 

Ellen Black, the EC's Executive Director. She says 

that the project demonstrates partnership in 

, 

the truest sense, with people at the local level 

pulling together to initiate the project and the 

government providing support. "With that combination, we can do anything." 

With a groundbreaking ceremony in October 

1997, the district began phase one of the projectimproving 27.6 miles of channels in New Madrid 

and Mississippi Counties, constructing 1,500 feet 

of levee, installing a 1,000 cubic-feet-per-second 

pump for the st. John's Basin, and installing a 

pumping plant of the same capacity on the floodway side of the project. 

For more information, contact, Martha Ellen 

Black, Executive Director, City of East Prairie EC, 

at 573-649-3731. 

EC Turns Brownfield Into 

an Industrial Park With 

High-Paying Jobs 

Greater Portsmouth, Ohio, EC 

Greater Portsmouth and the Southern Ohio Port 

Authority have made substantial progress in 

transforming a 140-acre unusable brownfield 

into the New Boston Industrial Park-a place 

with new employment opportunities for EC residents. The Ohio Stove Company Industries purchased 17 acres and has contributed nearly $22 

million toward the construction of a new iron 

foundry. The foundry, which opened in May 

1997, with 60 out of its planned workforce of 100 

employees, has some of the highest paying jobs 

in the area. Near the industrial park, Portsmouth 

Plastic, Inc.-a new startup, small plastic manufacturing company-has begun operations with 

16 employees. Portsmouth Plastic received a 

guaranteed loan from USDA. 

USDA efforts helped obtain grants of $583,000 

from the Economic Development Administration 

and $300,000 from the Appalachian Regional 

Commission, with USDA providing additional 

funds to help finance the repair of a hazardous 

railroad spur. USDA also provided a Rural Business Enterprise Grant to cover the costs of a plan 

for marketing the brownfield sites. The brownfield 

project has received $525,000 from the $2.95 
z ise Communities 

million in EZ/EC SSBG funds that Greater Portsmouth received as an EC. Volunteers and organizations have contributed thousands of hours 

in environmental cleanups, infrastructure development, and market promotion. 

The EC is aggressively marketing the industrial 

park to developers and businesses. Pending 

projects include a local contractor's plan to construct a 55,ooO-square-foot industrial building, 

with construction scheduled to begin March 1998. 

The Southern Ohio Port Authority has applied 

for other Federal grants to renovate a 100,000­

square-foot building within the park and to 

undertake further environmental remediation. 

For more information, contact Bob Walton, 

Chairperson, Brownfield Task Force, Greater 

Portsmouth EC, at 614-354-7541. 
Health 


Underserved Area 

Gets New Clinic 

Flint, Michigan, EC 

Convenient, competent medical attention is now 

available to the residents of the Northpointe 

neighborhood of the Flint EC Speaking through 

their neighborhood representatives on several 

community coalitions and agencies, Northpointe 

residents had long identified the need for a local 

clinic. 

The Hurley Medical Center spent $1,393,595 

to build the Northpointe Clinic, a nonacute outpatient medical facility, to serve the area and 

to provide residents an alternative to using 

the Hurley emergency room for nonemergency 

purposes. Construction began on January 4, 

1996. The clinic opened on July 1,1996, and has 

been well received by the neighborhood. In just 

a year after its opening, the new clinic had served 

8,000 clients from the EC 

For more information, contact Chris Davenport, 

Flint EC Director, at 810-341-1499. 

Drew University Students 

Found Urban Medical Clinic 

Los Angeles/Huntington Park, 

California, EC 

Through a student organization, the University 

Muslim Medical Association (UMMA) medical 

students at the Charles R. Drew University for 

Medicine and Science have founded a healthcare 

center for uninsured and underinsured residents 

of South Central Los Angeles. The center, which 

opened in July 1996, has provided medical care to 

1,814 patients as of December 1997. Originating 

as a community volunteer effort, this public-private collaboration is still staffed and supported 

by volunteers, including Drew University medical students, interns, and doctors as well as community phYSicians. From July 1996 through 

October 1997, a total of 706 volunteers clocked 

in 6,562 hours. 

With assistance from the City of Los Angeles, the 

Charles R. Drew Medical Center, and private 

medical providers, UMMA leased and renovated 

a deteriorated vacant building in the center of 

the EC The city provided construction financing 

using CDBG funds. The EC provided $ 704,000 in 

EZ/EC SSBG funds to purchase basic equipment. 

Medical students from Drew and UCLA staff the 

facility. Doctors from the community donate their 

time to supervise and train the medical students. 

Seven major companies-including Abbott 
Ise CDmmunities 

Laboratories, Bausch and Lomb, Jones Medical 

Industries, Pfizer, Smith Kline Beecham, Glaxo 

Wellcome, and Ciba-Geigy-donate pharmaceutical and medical supplies. 

The EC is a medically underserved area. An 

estimated 39 percent of its 28,800 families live 

below the poverty line. Only one county medical facility that provides free services is within 

easy reach of residents. UMMA specializes in the 

treatment of children and teen mothers, offering 

well-baby exams and care, childhood immunizations, preventive medical care, followup consultation and care, and referral of mothers to 

other medical providers for prenatal visits. The 

clinic offers eye care and gynecology services once 

a month by appointment and volunteers see 

pediatriC patients each Saturday. The clinic also 

provides community seminars conducted 

by medical students on the health effects of smoking, high blood pressure, sexually transmitted 

diseases, and nutrition. 

For more information, contact Rushdie AbdulCader, Medical Director, or Aisha Dawoodje, 

Clinic Manager, University Muslim Medical 

Clinic, at 213-789-5610. 
Health 


EC Steps In To Save Services 

for Black Lung Victims 

McDowell county, West Virginia,EC 

More than 400 victims of black lung disease and 

their families in rural West Virginia are receiving assistance, thanks to the McDowell Community Action Network (McCAN). Since 1982, the 

McDowell County's Tug River Health Association 

had run a State-mandated, federally funded 

project that identified and assisted people suffering from the chronic, emphysema-like condition, 

which strikes many residents of this coal-mining 

area. When funding cutbacks threatened the 

project in 1997, Tug River turned to McCAN, the 

local EC corporation. A grant of $28,000 from 

McCAN "came in handy to stabilize the project," 

says Charles Johnson, Executive Director of Tug 

River Health Association. 

Project staff meet a wide range of needs related 

to black lung disease and its associated health 

problems. In addition to providing health screening and respiratory therapy, Tug River takes its 

services into the community, reaching out to 

people who might not know that help is available to them. Staff then educate them about how 

to improve their living habits, counsel them on 

benefits, and help them fill out forms and meet 

with screening agencies. 

For more information, contact Charles Johnson, 

Executive Director, Tug River Health Association, 

at 304-448-2101. 

EZ Funds Much-Needed 

Health Center 

Rio Grande Valley, Texas, EZ 

Many residents of the Rio Grande Valley EZ in 

southern Texas have little or no access to quality 

healthcare. To help address this problem, the EZ 

granted $800,000 to its local hospital, Starr 

County Memorial, to build and operate a 25,000­

square-foot health center. The hospital will 

leverage $1,693,500 of its own funds to develop 

the project. The multiservice health center will 

provide primary and preventive healthcare 

services as well as dental services, radiological 

services, mental health and mental retardation 

screening and services, and free immunizations. 

"We decided that access to healthcare itself 

should not be the goal here," comments Bonnie 

Gonzalez, Chief Executive Officer of the Rio 

Grande Valley EZ. "We felt that our citizens 

should have access to everything that will lead 

them to quality healthcare. That is why we 

decided to support a multiservice health facility." 

In partnership with local educational institutions, 

the center will serve as a training facility for EZ 

residents looking for work in the medical field, 

particularly as nurses and physical therapiSts. According to Gonzalez, the hospital plans to break 

ground for construction of the health center in 

June 1998 and to open its doors in early 1999. 

For more information, contact Bonnie Gonzalez, 

Chief Executive Officer, Rio Grande Valley EZ, 

at 956-514-4000. 

Education 


s 

Students Get Guidance on 

Manufacturing Careers 

Akron, Ohio, EC 

In the workplace of tomorrow, factory workers 

must possess highly developed computer skills, 

the capacity to adapt to rapid innovations in 

technology, and the ability to manage their 

own careers in an environment of constant 

change. In Akron, Ohio, the Middle School Technical Career Preparation initiative is working 

with the four middle schools that serve EC 

students to teach these skills. 

"Early exposure to these concepts is critical to 

later and greater work success by students and 

for manufacturers, JJ explains Akron Mayor David 

F. Plusquellic. Approximately 150 eighth-grade 

students at each school participate in a course of 

study that provides hands-on experience with 

workplace technology and guides teens in career 

planning. This approach is especially useful for 

students not interested in college. 

The Akron Public Schools developed a unique 

shared-staffing arrangement so that a knowledgeable teacher teaches a particular segment 

at different times at each school. The city's 

EC program contributed $100,000 from EZ/EC 

SSBG funds and $175,000 from Ohio's program 

grant. These funds renovated classrooms and 

purchased computers, software, and special machine-tooling teaching devices (mills, cranes, and 

boring equipment), as well as videotapes and 

other materials on career opportunities. The 

school system supplied the teachers, the curriculum, and an ongoing commitment of about 

$140,000 per year to operate this program for 

many years to come. 

The impact of this strategic investment is already 

evident. High schools have strengthened their 

technology education classes to accommodate 

the advanced skills of the incoming freshmen 

who have participated in the middle school 

program. 

For more information, contact Jerry Egan, City 

of Akron, Department of Planning and Urban 

Development, at 330-375-2090. 

Afterschool Activities: 

Chicago EZ Develops a 

Model Plan 

Chicago, Illinois, EZ 

Need to learn the latest computer program? Want 

to enhance your teaching skills? Or check out 

employment opportunities at job fairs? Parents, 

teachers, and students in the Chicago EZ can do 

all of these things through the ED's 21st Century 

Community Learning Centers Program. Chicago 

has used these funds to extend community programs in the schools into the evenings, providing opportunities for students, parents, teachers, 

and other EZ residents. Twenty-five schools in the 

Chicago EZ partiCipate by providing tutoring, 

literacy training, nutrition classes, computer 

training, job fairs, parenting workshops, and 

staff development training for teachers and 

community leaders. 

The extended use of schools enables school 

districts in distressed inner-city communities and 

rural areas to plan and provide comprehensive 

health, education, recreation, cultural, and 

social services. 

In FY 1996 Chicago received $148,730, the largest 

of the six grants awarded in the first year of the 

21st Century Program, and $741,000 in EZ funds 

and $416,000 from the Chicago Public Schools. 
Communities 

The program has been so successful that in its 

third year ED expanded its original $750,000 of 

funding to $40 million. In announcing these 

expanded awards, ED noted that only a very few 

communities were using school space after hours 

and involving not only children but also parents 

and community members, as Chicago has been 

doing. President Clinton commended the 

Chicago after-school program in his 1998 State 

of the Union Address. Chicago has now become 

a national model for the $40 million Community Learning Centers Program. 

For more information, contact Dr. Elvie Rhone, 

Project Director, 21st Century Community Learning Centers Program, at 773-535-6960 or 3954. 

Watts At-Risk Youth 

Get New Jobs 

Los Angeles, California, EZ 

Unemployed, out-of-school youth in the Watts 

neighborhood of Los Angeles are getting new jobs 

through the Kulick Alternative High School and 

the Youth Opportunities Program. 

Forty-five residents of the Los Angeles EZ 

(formerly the Los Angeles Supplemental EZ) aged 

16 to 24, many of them teen mothers, are 

enrolled in the alternative high school for the 

1997-98 school year. Two organizations work to 

match Kulick students with jobs: the Institute of 

Retail Management, which sets students up in 

90-day or 6-month entry-level retail positions, 

and the UCLA Community-Based Learning Program, which arranges internships with public 

agencies and community groups. The alternative school, operated by the LA Unified School 

District in collaboration with the Donald J. Kulick 

Foundation, is operating in temporary quarters 

donated by Watts Health Systems, Inc. Kulick's 

$6 million new campus is under construction 

across the street and will open in October 1998 

with a 200-student capacity. The facility will house 

a multipurpose youth center and a childcare 

center. 

The Youth Opportunities Program-funded by 

a $3 million Federal JTPA grant and the Kulick 

Foundation and in collaboration with the citymentors, trains, and employs out-of-school 

youth. The youth effort provides assessment, case 

management, and job development servicesboth directly and by referral to a network of 

allied service providers. Community-based 

partners include the LA Conservation Corps; 

Community Build, Inc.; Mount St. Mary's 

College Student Ambassador Program; and the 

Entrepreneur Education Center, Inc. The Alliance 

of Motion Picture and Television Producers provides technical assistance and support to the 

Watts Cinema project, which trains students for 

film production jobs. The program has had 353 

applicants and 250 enrollments since July 1996. 

For more information, contact Paula Minor, 

Grant Administrator, Kulick Youth Opportunities 

Program, at 213-789-2730. 
Computer Mapping Program 

Helps EC Students 

Earn and Learn 

Memphis, Tennessee, EC 

The Memphis EC provides students an opportunity to both earn and learn about their community through the Summer Youth Enterprise 

Communities' Geographic Information Systems 

(GIS) Program. Initially created in partnership 

with the University of Memphis Center for 

Urban Partnership as a demonstration program, 

Maps to Success, the program teaches young 

people to map the assets of the EC neighborhood 

using GIS technology. The 6-week program highlights the resources of the community, teaches 

community observation and involvement, and 

provides young people with skills in computeraided drafting. As they learn, 14- and 15-yearold students, from all three districts of the EC, 

are paid $6 an hour for working from 9 a.m. to 

4 p.m. each day. The program has grown from 

7 students in the summer of 1996 to nearly 50 in 

1997. 

"They are learning as they go out into the 

neighborhood," says Dennis Campbell, who 

designed the program and serves as its director. 

lilt's cultivating the spirit of giving back to the 

communfty from which they came." The goal of 

the program is to provide students with a better 

understanding of the community, practical skills, 

and the desire to help their neighborhoods. The 

program is funded by the city's Division of Housing and Community Development and the 

Orange Mound Collaborative, a nonprofit organization located in the EC neighborhood of 

Orange Mound, one of oldest African-American 

communities in Memphis. 

GIS technology combines maps of census data 

with neighborhood characteristics and statistics 

to provide information on a neighborhood. The 

information is entered in a computer database 

and may be cross-referenced with other 

databases. 

While launched initially as a Summer Youth 

Employment initiative, Campbell says organizers would like to continue the project throughout the year, making the program available to 

all interested students. liThe program is extremely 

successful," says Campbell. lilt has shown that 

technology can be transferred to students. As they 

learn more about their community, they become 

more active in their community." 

For more information, contact Vernua Hanrahan, 

Memphis EC, at 901-526-6627. 

New Orleans EC Schools 

Become Safe Harbors 

New Orleans, Louisiana, EC 

Nutritional snacks are not the only food for 

thought being offered by the New Orleans EC's 

Safe Harbor Schools initiative. Only in its third 

year, this initiative has grown from one program 

at the Myrtle R. Banks Elementary School to 

10 Safe Harbor sites throughout the EC. 

liThe program is moving beyond basic survival 

skills to involve creative learning experiences in 

the language arts and math," says Kathleen 

McKinney-Franks, Outside Program Evaluator of 

Safe Harbor sites. Through the school's parenting 

center, 22 parents, grandparents, and caregivers 

participated in tutoring programs and enrichment activities that were offered by certified 

teachers. Offerings included computer skills and 

family learning events along with classes in 

conflict resolution and mediation. 
z rise Communities 

As one of four middle and high school Safe Harbor sites, L.B. Landry High School in the Algiers 

community is focusing on out-of-school populations, due to a high truancy and dropout rate. 

Landry is using paraprofessionals and community resources to offer GED preparation and career counseling to 50 EC youth and students. The 

Landry program is also attempting to increase 

the number of graduates by keeping students 

motivated through their use of the computer lab 

and job readiness training center and through 

contact with the school's numerous partners and 

stakeholders. A community liaison works with 

community leaders to bring additional resources 

into the program. 

"Safe Harbors has brought lots of opportunities 

to our community," states Michelle Torregano, 

Assistant Principal at Landry High School. 

"When participants finish their GED and job 

readiness training, they are on the road to 

self-sufficiency. " 

For more information, contact Craig Brown, 

Grant Developer, Federal and State Programs 

Office, at 504-565-6414. 

Success By Six Teaches 

ABC's of Early Child 

Development 

Pulaski County/Little Rock, Arkansas, EC 

With 10 key partners and a steering committee 

representing more than 50 individuals and 

organizations, Little Rock's newly established 

Success By Six program is creating an EC where 

all children have the necessary skills to enter 

school ready and able to learn. 

Patterned after a national model, the program 

features home visits by volunteer neighborhood 

residents who are trained as family resource 

advocates. 

For families with pregnant women or children 

under 6 years old, home visitors conduct assessments, determine household needs, and link 

family members to community resources such 

as healthcare, social services, and educational 

programs. Eight home visitors have been credentialed, and 10 to 15 more have submitted 

applications. 

Out of 81 initial referrals, the program is working with 18 families. "Our first referral was from 

the State Health Department," explains Bill 

Watson, Success By Six's Executive Director. "She 

was 20 years old and pregnant with her third 

child. She needed help in finding her own 

residence, medical care, and a way to continue 

her education. Fortunately, she bonded very well 

with her home visitor, and we are helping her 

get on her feet." 

Research has shown that by reaching out to families when children are young, more serious problems can be avoided and less funds are spent on 

remedial education, healthcare, or even prisons. 

That lesson is one that Watson is teaching his 
clients, as well as Little Rock's professional and 

social services communities. He is busy creating 

public awareness and recruiting new families and 

volunteers. 

"We think of our families as friends for life, II states 

Watson. "We'll stay with them as long as it takes 

to see the fruits of our labor. II 

For more information, contact Bill Watson, 

Executive Director, Success By Six, at 

501-614-9133. 

Historic Black college Links 

EC to Higher Education 

San Antonio, Texas, EC 

The City of San Antonio, Texas, and st. Philip's 

College have entered into a partnership to 

create a new community Learning and Leadership Development Center to serve residents of the 

San Antonio EC. Funded by combining a HUD 

Historic Black Colleges and Universities grant 

with private funding from the college, the new 

12,7 55-square-foot, $1.3 million facility provides 

EC residents with access to college counseling, 

skills and aptitude assessment, teacher training 

resources, and links to the college's computer 

equipment. The EC provided $150,000; the city, 

$635,000; and the HUD grant, $5,000. 

The center opened in May 1997 and provided 

training to 1,850 participants by the end of 

December. In 1998 participation should grow 

even faster because the center will provide 

childcare and marital counseling to participants 

starting in April. 

For more information, contact Curley Spears, 

EZ/EC Coordinator, San Antonio EC, at 

210-207-6600. 

Education 


Collaborative Efforts Help 

At-Risk Students Succeed 

City of Lock Haven, pennsylvania, EC 

At Lock Haven High School, students' grades 

have improved, truancy is down, and many students have agreed to "stand tall" against drugs, 

thanks to the Student Advocate Program. The 

program addresses the needs of at-risk students 

through tutoring, truancy prevention, drug and 

alcohol prevention, and parenting programs. It 

is a collaborative effort of high school faculty and 

staff, student volunteers from Lock Haven University, the Clinton County Sheriff's Office, the 

school board, parents, and the Lock Haven EC, 

which provided $316,572 in funding. 

The program operated two tutoring services during the 1996-97 school year for students in grades 

7 through 12. Twenty-six University of Pennsylvania students provided in-school tutoring services to more than 50 high school students. An 

afterschool tutoring program at Lock Haven Junior High School involves more than 20 faculty 

and staff volunteers who help students in a variety of subjects. As a result of these efforts, 142 

students were able to improve their grades. The 

tutoring program was so successful that it is 

being offered again in the 1997-98 school year. 

In addition, program staff have been working 

with Lock Haven University and local service 

agenCies to develop and implement a formal 

tutor-mentor organization. 

A police/attendance officer was hired and continues to be an effective presence at Lock Haven 

High School. Efforts to reduce truancy in the 

school have been so successful that the school 

board has funded the officer's position to provide services throughout the Keystone Central 

School District. 

During the 1996-97 school year, drug and alcohol prevention programs were offered to students 

from kindergarten through 12th grade. Elementary students were treated to a magic show about 

substance abuse while secondary students 

learned drug and alcohol refusal skills. More than 

300 students and 60 faculty members enrolled 

in Stand Tall, a drug and alcohol awareness program that emphasizes positive peer pressure. 

Stand Tall members agree to undergo random 

drug and alcohol testing throughout the year to 

demonstrate their willingness to refrain from the 

use of illegal substances. 

For more information, contact Susan Stover, 

Drug, Alcohol, and Violence Prevention Coordinator, Lock Haven High School, at 717-893-4942. 

Junior and Senior High 

School Students Prepare 

for High-Tech Jobs 

City of Lock Haven, pennsylv3llla, EC 

lt is never too early to start preparing students 

for high-technology jobs. That's the belief of Lock 

Haven's Technology Team 2000, whose mission 

is to identify and encourage students at Lock 
z ise Communities 

Haven Junior and Senior High Schools to prepare 

for postsecondary training programs that 

will qualify them for careers in science and 

technology. 

"I think that Tech Team 2000 is a great program 

because kids are learning that they need more 

than a basic high school education to get a good 

job today," says Technology Team Coordinator 

Lydia Frankenburger. liThe program exposes 

students to opportunities that they may not have 

been aware of." 

During 1997 guest speakers from the local business community shared various aspects of their 

entrepreneurship experiences. In addition, 150 

seventh graders toured the International Paper 

Company Plant where they viewed old and new 

technology and learned about the papermaking 

process, the types of jobs available at the plant, 

and the qualifications needed to obtain them. 

Others toured the Avery Dennison Chemical 

Plant where they watched Avery employees at 

work, observed the production and testing of 

chemicals, and learned about the types of jobs 

available at the company. 

In addition to its programs for 7th graders, Technology Team 2000 takes students on tours of the 

Pennsylvania College ofTechnology. Students learn 

about the college's admissions process, its various 

programs, and its laboratories. 

Technology Team 2000 is a collaboration between 

Lock Haven Junior and Senior High Schools, local 

bUSinesses, and the Central Intermediate Unit's 

West Branch Technology Center (another Lock 

Haven EC program). The project is administered 

by the Central Intermediate Unit 10 Development 

Center for Adults. 

For more information, contact Lydia Frankenburger, 

Technology Team Coordinator, Lock Haven 

Schools, at 717-893-4038. 

New Classrooms Give 

Preschoolers a 

Place To Learn 

Fayette County/Haywood County, 

Tennessee, EC 

The citizens of Sommerville, Tennessee, have a 

new preschool facility. It is not large, with only 

16 enrollees, but it is definitely valued by local 

residents. The area has a growing population of 

young children and the State of Tennessee has 

recently mandated that preschools be available 

in all public schools. 

"We have need for another classroom now," says 

Frankie Johnson, Assistant Superintendent of 

Schools/Director of Special Education for Fayette 
County Public Schools. "We are looking down the 

road to see how we may expand some more," 

she adds. 

Located near the Jefferson School just north of 

Sommerville, the new preschool was a dream 4 

years ago. Then Fayette County and neighboring Haywood County joined efforts and sought 

designation as an EC. That designation required 

much more planning and local legwork than 

anyone imagined, but the area became an EC in 

the fall of 1997. 

A USDA Enterprise Community Grant purchased 

and constructed the prefabricated building and 

bought equipment. The school system is covering the salaries of two teachers and two classroom assistants, providing consumable supplies, 

and serving lunch and a snack to the children 

each day. Special education buses, which, unlike 

the regular school buses, are fitted out with 

seatbelts, are used to bring the young children 

to school. The value of the school system's share 

in 1997 is approximately $80,000, according to 

Johnson. 

Today, 16 preschoolers are learning in one of the 

two classroom areas at each end of the 60-foot 

building. A kitchen, dining area, bathrooms, and 

common activity spaces are located in the center section of the building to increase efficiency. 

For more information, contact Frankie Johnson, 

Assistant Superintendent of Schools/Director of 

Special Education, Fayette County Public Schools, 

at 901-465-5240. 

county Residents Learn as 

the Arts Flourish 

Imperial county, California, EC 

Vast Imperial County, sitting just north of the 

Mexican border, lacked cultural and artistic activities. There was only an underdeveloped arts 

center at the historic post office building in El 

Centro, the county seat. But with the birth of the 

EC in late 1995, the County Arts Council saw the 

opportunity for a new vision of local arts. The 

council helped develop the county's strategic 

plan, and then began a concerted effort to renovate the arts center and create all sorts of new 

programs. 

liThe most exciting thing is that the Imperial 

County Arts Council has used EC money to 

enable artists and arts organizations throughout 

the county to really grow and attract peoplenot only as spectators but also as studen ts of the 

arts," explains Maria Matthews, who administers the EC and also is on the council board. 

The council got a $50,000 EC grant and used 

about 20 percent to rehabilitate the arts center, 

which now is home to four local theater companies. The rest of the money has paid for a number 

of programs throughout the 4,400-square-mile 

county. A children's theater group has performed 

for 3,000. Concerts in the county's parks have 

reached 2,500 people. And the Smithsonian Institution has sent people to Imperial County to 

participate in innovative arts education 

programs. 

For more information, call Mitjl Kapet, Director 

of the Arts Council, at 760-337-1777. 
Communities 

Young Parents Learn About 

Child Development 

Southeast Okiallollla, EC 

The Parents as Teachers Program in Hugo, Oklahoma, teaches young mothers and fathers how 

to read to, talk to, and exercise with their children, from birth to age 3. "We're really excited 

about what we are doing," says Hugo Public 

Schools Superintendent Dr. Shelby Koonce. 

Parents as Teachers is the result of a partnership between the Southeast Oklahoma Ee, the 

Oklahoma Department of Education, the Oklahoma Department of Human Services, the Hugo 

Public Schools, the Hugo Community Services 

Council, and the Teenage Pregnancy Prevention 

group. This home-school partnership was started 

in 1992 by the Oklahoma Department ofEducation to give children of teenage mothers a helping hand. The addition of a second parent 

educator in 1996 allows the program to help 60 

families each year. 

Through monthly home visits, group meetings, 

developmental screenings, and the informal 

"Drop In and Play" every Friday, the program 

enhances children's physical, social, intellectual, 

and language development. Parent educators 

work with the parents, teaching them how to 

improve their children's motor and motivational 

skills. They also inform parents of available 

services. 

As a result of the Parents as Teachers Program, 

parent-child communication in participating 

families has improved, parents view the schools 

more positively and are more involved with the 

schools, developmental problems in children are 

identified early and appropriate services provided, and both language and intellectual 

development in the children are above the 

national average. 

For more information, contact Melissa Jones, 

Oklahoma Parents as Teachers Program, at 

405-326-8373. 
Human Services 


Boosting Childcare Lets EC 

Mothers Get To Work 

Burlington, Vernlont, EC 

The Burlington, Vermont, EC is working to 

create sustainable, community-based childcare 

for the downtown's Old North End neighborhood 

by expanding the hours and educational 

programs of childcare centers and strengthening 

family or home-based childcare networks. These 

initiatives benefit parents, children, and providers alike. 

To more flexibly accommodate parents' job 

search, training, and employment schedules, the 

EC extended the hours of childcare centers 

serving public housing and homeless families to 

include evenings and weekends. At the same 

time, these centers inaugurated a full-day 

kindergarten program. The full-day kindergarten led to a threefold increase in the children's 

number recognition versus a doubling of recognition skills for half-day kindergartners. Seeing 

these results, the Burlington School District 

decided to fund full-day kindergarten in the EC's 

two elementary schools and expects to expand 

the program citywide. 

The EC also sought to strengthen, upgrade, and 

expand home-based daycare, a key community 

resource. Through the Women's Small Business 

Program sponsored by Trinity College, 10 EC homebased childcare providers completed training in 

small business management and development. 

Six women created a mutual support network. 

Through the network, a "substitute"-similar to 

a substitute teacher-now circulates among the 

providers, allowing them time to attend professional development activities and work on new 

programs. The network has served as a statewide 

model for achieving quality childcare and improving business performance. About 65 home 

providers now operate similar groups in the 

county. 

On a redeveloped brownfields site in the EC, 

a new multigenerational facility, combining 

childcare and elderly services, will open in 1998. 

Uniting the missions of serving old and young is 

creating synergies. For example, the underutilized vans of the elderly program will be 

major assets for the childcare component, making it possible to use field trips in the educational 

program. The center will also have space for 

special programs for the young clients of homebased providers. 

For more information, contact Ruby Perry, 

Development Director, Child Care Resource, at 

802-863-3367. 
z Ise Communities 

Onetime Casino Becomes 

Safe Haven for Youth 

East st. Louis, Illinois, EC 

In a former illegal gambling casino in East St. 

Louis, young residents of the EC are learning 

about computers, developing their leadership 

skills, and simply enjoying themselves with 

friends after school. The former casino and four 

other buildings are now safe havens for youth. 

The U.S. Attorney's Office donated the former 

casino building and funds seized when it closed 

down an illegal gambling operation in the Ee. 

The transfer was carried out under the Weed and 

Seed program, which "weeds out" criminal activity and "seeds in" neighborhood revitalization. 

"In all fairness, these assets came from the community in the first place, and now they are 

being returned to the community/' states EC 

Coordinator Percy Harris, who initiated negotiations with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the seized 

property. 

In 1993 the City of East St. Louis did not receive 

an applied-for Federal Safe Haven grant. The EC, 

however, developed a program on its own using 

$100,000 in EC funds to leverage a $30,000 grant 

from United Way and a $10,000 grant from the 

Casino Queen Development Fund-a corporate 

foundation funded by legal riverboat gambling. 

The Danforth Foundation later supported a 

parental involvement component. 

For more information, contact Percy Harris, 

Coordinator, East St. Louis EC, at 618-482-6655. 

Historic Mansion Becomes 

Symbol of Renewal 

Harrisburg, pennsylvania, EC 

Vacant since 1979, the grand 132-year-old 

Sylvan Heights mansion on its 5-acre site on a 

bluff was the target of arsonists and vandals. The 

deteriorated structure, which stands in the heart 

of Harrisburg's EC, will house YWCA's new John 

e. Kunkel Center. 

Patricia Swartz, Executive Director of the YWCA, 

says the building atop Allison Hill will be lighted 

at night. "We are not in the business of hiding," 

says Swartz. "We're in the business of showing 

what women together can do. The community is 

going to notice this building more and more." 

The John e. Kunkel Center is a symbol of the 

exciting things happening in the Ee. 

Seeking to relocate from downtown Harrisburg 

to a site that meets its current needs, the YWCA 

purchased Sylvan Heights from the city for a 

nominal $1 and transformed it into the 75,000­

square-foot center. The renovation and a new 

wing, scheduled to open in February 1998, will 

provide emergency shelter, transitional housing, 

single-room-occupancy housing, employment 

and training services, and a child development 

center. 

The city provided $1,163,962 in CDBG funds in 

addition to the acquisition costs to pay for the transitional housing and single-resident occupancy. A 
diverse partnership made this $11.3 million 

project possible. The YWCA's capital campaign 

raised more than $2.5 million; the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency authorized its 

largest-ever tax credit syndication for a nonprofit 

worth $5 million. Investors include Dauphin 

Deposit Bank, Mellon Bank, PNC Bank, Penn 

National Bank, Sovereign Bancorp, AMP Incorporated, Fulton Bank, and Harris Savings Bank 

through which a Federal Home Loan Bank's 

affordable housing loan was made available. 

Additional HUD grants for supportive and transitional housing will underwrite $1,123,000. 

For more information, contact Terri Martini, 

Director, Harrisburg Department of Building and 

Housing, at 717-255-6480. 

Elegant McKeesport Bank 

Building Becomes the 

upeople's Building" 

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, EC 

The 50-year-old, elegant, marble-columned 

McKeesport Bank Building got a new lease on 

life with its transformation into the McKeesport 

Collaborative's Family Support Center. More than 

30 social service agenCies participate in the 

collaborative, which offers individual and family therapy, educational training, and housing 

services, including transitional housing units for 

people who lose their homes. 

"There is a strong history of people working 

together in this city," collaborative coordinator 

Niall Sexton says. "We are looking at providing 

a full range of services so that people can be 

linked to them quickly and effiCiently." 

After its merger with Pittsburgh National Bank, 

Integra Bank, the building's previous owner, sold 

it to the city. With the infusion of $750,000 in EC 

funds, the Family Support Center was born. 

Mayor Joseph Bendel predicts the cen ter will provide a boost to the city's revitalization efforts 

by encouraging people to use the downtown 

business area. 

Now known as the "People's Building," 

McKeesport's former bank teller cages are now 

occupied by city employees. Other tenants are 

the Urban League, a used bookstore run by the 

Carnegie Free Library, and several city offices. 

For more information, contact Beverly Gillot, 

Coordinator, Pittsburgh EC, at 412-487-6808. 

Human Services 


New Family Center 

Registers 6JD Residents 

City of watsonville/County of santa 

Cruz, California, EC 

"If you can't do it yourself, get a partner." This 

attitude brought about the opening of the 

Ramsay Park Family Center in Watsonville, California. In this new facility, the City ofWatsonville 

and a local nonprofit group, Defensa de Mujeres 

(Women's Defense), are providing a broad range 

of human services to the underserved residents 

of rural Santa Cruz County. 

Watsonville could afford to remodel the facility 

but was not able to support program operating 

expenses. Defensa de Mujeres did not have a 

facility but had been awarded a grant for program operating expenses. 

In partnership, the city and Defensa de Mujeres 

are serving the families ofWatsonville. As many 

as 650 persons have registered as of January 

1998. Every day, 60 or more residents come to 

the center to participate in a variety of programs, 

such as arts and crafts and computer classes, 

weight lifting and physical conditioning, and folk 

dancing and musical groups. 

Healthy Families Night, an educational program, 

attracted 25 people each evening for 8 weeknights. Classes covered such topics as communication within the family, how to prevent domestic 

violence, and management. Programs for parents 

and teens included titles such as "Knowing Your 

Legal Rights" and "Drugs, Alcohol, and Nicotine: 

How Can I Protect My Family?" Assessments at 

the end of the 8-week series showed remarkable 

improvement in attitudes on the family, stress, 

r 

well-being, and domestic violence prevention, 

according to Carmen Topete, coordinator of the 

Healthy Family Project. Topete highly praises the 

community's enthusiasm. "Without it, says 

Topete, "we could never succeed./I 

Approximately 20 local agencies now offer services through the Ramsay Park Family Center. 

The center accommodates local theater groups, 

bike and car shows, dances, concerts, and other 

community events. The Girl Scouts and a local 

alternative high school also use the center. 

For more information, contact Maria Hurtado, 

Assistant Director, Watsonville Parks and 

Recreation Department, at 408-728-6081. 

Now Kids Have an Alternative 

To TV After School 

Fayette County/Haywood county, 

Tennessee, EC 

Many children of Brownsville, in Haywood 

County, Tennessee, often had to be home alone 

while their parents worked. With the opening of 

the new YMCA, funded by the EC and other 
Communities 

local public and private donors, they'll now be 

able to learn and play with friends in a clean, 

well-appointed, new building. 

The City of Brownsville and the county wanted 

to provide an alternative to children going home 

to watch TV. They received $150,000 from the 

EC, raised $600,000 from the local governments 

and private sources, and set to work renovating 

an old school building. Now Brownsville's youngsters can play in the new gym and get tutoring 

and help with homework from volunteers from 

the high school. The YMCA serves the whole family through its gymnasium and physical fitness 

facilities. Senior citizens can come over in the 

morning from their center across the street and 

walk around the gymnasium for exercise. 

"One of the main benefits of the Enterprise Community is that it's allowed us to have a real YMCA 

for the first time," says Rodney Martin, Exective 

Director of the YMCA. Before the EC initiative, 

the only sports classes available were those offered at the local schools. Now children and their 

parents-more than 200 families have already 

joined the YMCA-have a place to go that is 

bursting with activity. For the 50 youngsters 

already active, the YMCA is a great place. For 

the town and county, the EC has helped create a 

real community center. 

For more information, contact Rodney Martin, 

Executive Director, YMCA, at 901-772-9748. 

Coalition Teams 

Up To Attack 

SOCial Problems 

Josephine county. oregon. EC 

People in Josephine County were tired of having 

to travel 20 miles or more to Grants Pass for help 

with the social services they needed. So the towns 

of Sunny Valley and Wolf Creek decided in the 

early 1990s to team up to provide better social 

services. One day a week the Sunny-Wolf Family 

Coalition began to offer coordinated assistance 

for residents who needed welfare, daycare, food 

stamps, job help, and many other social services. 

Then the county received EC designation. 

liThe EC bought a house, the coalition moved in, 

and our services exploded," explains Janet Bell, 

who coordinates activities at the new service center. "You have to be very creative in a small community to use the resources that are here." The 

coalition's partner, the Sunny-Wolf Community 

Response Team, uses the house's facilities and 

office services and staff support from the EC to 
offer a wide range of assistance from 22 public 

and private social services partners. 

"At the time we formed, 98 percent of the kids in 

the elementary school were eligible for free or 

reduced-price lunches," Bell notes. Although that 

number is now down to 86 percent, making ends 

meet can still be difficult for many families. The 

response team and its partners-including 

church, school, and healthcare workers and the 

EC for strategic planning-are being empowered 

to blaze new paths. One of its activities is literally a new path: Through a partnership with the 

Bureau of Land Management, Josephine County 

teenagers built a local nature trail accessible to 

persons with disabilities. Other "paths" have to 

do with new ways of doing things. For example, 

the coalition now has a grant from ED that will 

enable it to offer recognition for good 

models of rural parenting, first locally and then 

statewide. 

For more information, contact Janet Bell, Assistant to the Directors of the Sunny-Wolf Family 

Coalition and the Sunny-Wolf Community 

Response Team, at 541-866-2600. 

Comprehensive 

School·to-Work Program 

Realizes Hopes 

La Jicarita, New Mexico, EC 

The La Jicarita EC has high expectations for its 

new educational program. And, the EC is making a concentrated effort to realize those hopes. 

The 5-year program, made possible by a $1.1 

million loan from ED, includes bilingual education, business and entrepreneurship training, 

vocational apprenticeship partnerships, and 

career assistance. 

Intensive bilingual education has been implemented in two school districts in which a 16thcentury Castilian dialect of Spanish is the 

primary language used by residents. According 

to Eric Romero of La Jicarita EC, speaking two 

languages is seen as an asset. "There's knowledge that exists in these communities," he said. 

"The regional culture is seen as an asset and we're 

trying to tie it into instructional practice." 

Career development has been implemented in 

three school districts in which five full-time career speCialists assist students with career planning and connect them with partners in the 

business community that provide apprenticeships or vocational training while students are 

still in school. 

Initial results show that the concentrated effort 

is paying off. During fiscal year 1997 the EC 

entered into a formal partnership with the New 

Mexico State Divisions of Vocational Rehabilitation, Transition Into Apprenticeship, and 

Alliance for Supportive Employment, which 

shared the costs of teacher training and curriculum development for the program. The EC also 

instituted a summer business training project for 

high school and post-secondary students. Business development and planning classes were 

designed to help students establish a for-profit 

company that specializes in the use oftraditional 

remodeling methods. With the profits, the company will rehabilitate rural adobe structures 

using traditional tools and methods. 

The EC also formally submitted two Youth Build 

applications (a HUD program) that will serve the 

EC. By partnering with community groups and 

local 2-year colleges, La Jicarita EC intends to 

incorporate informal and community education 

practices into the development of a broad-based 

curriculum. "Education is a strong component 
, 

~ ise Communities 

within the community," says Romero. "We're one 

of the most impoverished areas in the Nation, 

but we recognize our assets. II 

For more information, contact Ron Martinez, 

La Jicarita EC Director, at 800-458-7323. 

Martin Cavazos Center 

Provides Training and 

Community Advancement 

Rio Grande Valley, Texas, EZ 

liThe Martin Cavazos Center for Learning and 

Community Advancement has become a hub of 

activity in the Rio Grande Valley El," reports 

Bonnie Gonzalez, Chief Executive Officer of the 

El. Based in the former Sebastian Elementary 

School, the center provides a variety of educational and training activities and also hosts community meetings, free immunization clinics, 

health education courses, parenting skills 

courses, and Girl Scout and Boy Scout meetings. 

Because many of the residents of the Rio Grande 

Valley El are native Spanish speakers-a barrier 

to many types of employment-the center offers 

courses on ESL. 

The community has embraced the center with 

great enthusiasm, recently forming a nonprofit 

organization that is dedicated to raising funds 

for the new institution. "Never before have we 

had a group of citizens become so involved and 

done such things as develop a corporation, conduct strategic planning, and realize a vision for 

the future of their community," says Gonzalez. 

The El used $313,226 of its own funds to renovate the former school, purchase supplies and 

equipment, and support operations for the first 

2 years of the project. The school district leveraged an additional $828,309. 

For more information, contact Bonnie Gonzalez, 

Chief Executive Officer, Rio Grande Valley El, at 

956-514-4000. 

Enterprise Camp Creates 

Young Entrepreneurs 

Williamsburg county/Lake City, 

South CarOlina, EC 

Not every summer camp sends campers home 

armed with information to start their own businesses. However, the camp sponsored by the 

Williamsburg EC's Small Business Development 

Center in Kingstree, South Carolina, is no 

ordinary camp. 

In July 1997, more than 120 middle and high 

school students learned fundamental business 

principles at the camp. Eight instructors gave the 

beginners their first lessons in how to prepare a 

business plan, how to speak in public, and how 

to dress appropriately for presentations. The 

students even designed their own business cards. 

liThe youth drew up their designs and our staff 

produced those designs on the computer so that 

they would have professional-looking cards to 

give to potential clients," says Nicole Singleton, 

Area Manager for Williamsburg's Small Business 

Development Center. The young people were so 

excited after the first day that many persuaded 

their friends to return with them, boosting 

registration. 

The young entrepreneurs presented business 

plans in a camp competition to local community leaders. The winners were presented with 

small grants to further their businesses. Two 

young winners are using their $280 grant to purchase teaching aids to teach and tutor residents 

wanting to improve their skills. 
A revolving loan fund is available to youth who 

present their business plans to a loan committee 

for approval. The youth receive payment coupons to pay their loans, and they must submit 

monthly financial reports and client lists to the 

center. 

The camp was a huge success with students, parents, and the community. The Williamsburg 

County School District was so impressed that it 

asked the Williamsburg EC Commission to help 

incorporate the entrepreneurship curriculum 

from the camp into its career development 

courses under the school-to-work initiative. As a 

result, Singleton has trained 15 school district 

teachers on entrepreneurial principles and concepts that these teachers will use to teach eighth 

graders. /I One enthused teacher told me that she 

taught several students who had attended the 

camp and was impressed at how well they 

understood the principles she was teaching," says 

Singleton. The center will hold a second camp 

session during the summer of 1998. 

For more information, contact Nicole Singleton, 

Area Manager, Small Business Development Center, at 803-354-9070. 

Technology and 


Communications 


Neighborhood Paper 

Succeeds With EC Beat 

Albany/Schenectady/Troy, New York, EC 

The Communicator, a free monthly neighborhood 

newspaper, was in trouble. Lack of advertising 

revenue was making it difficult to continue the 

newspaper's free distribution policy. At the same 

time, the Albany/Schenectady/Troy EC needed 

a way to communicate with the neighborhood 

residents about ongoing activities in the EC. 

The match was made-in exchange for seed 

money of $16,300, The Communicator hired 

interns to expand coverage and circulation to the 

entire EC. Although the paper planned to devote 

one or two pages each month to specific news of 

the EC, in fact, they are writing more than that. 

In exchange for this coverage, the EC program 

delivers The Communicator door-to-door to every 

EC resident and business. 

Now that businesses and community organizations are assured of the paper's wide distribution, 

advertising revenues are up, and The Communicatoris becoming an economically self-sufficient 

publication. Its detailed reports of EC activities 

has made it very popular and more widely read 

than ever before because it is reporting on events, 

information, and opportunities that residents 

really want to know about. 

For more information, contact Anthony Tozzi, 

Program Director, Albany/Schenectady/Troy EC, 

at 518-465-8975. 

Old North End Community/ 

Technology Center Links 

Residents to New Future 

Burlington, Vermont, EC 

The Old North End Community/Technology 

Center is taking residents of the Burlington, 

Vermont EC into a new future. At the center, 

EC residents and small business owners can conveniently make a photocopy or use a computer. 

They can also visit cyberspace, participate in 

a videoconference, or gain a state-of-the-art 

technological education. 

Created with an investment of $500,000 in EC 

funds, the new public telecommunications center and training facility gives EC residents access 

to the very latest in communications electronics: 

17 new computers with online capability, 

videoconferencing equipment, high-quality 

printers, photocopiers, and fax machines. Community residents pay an annual membership fee 

($20 for individuals and $40 for families) for use 

of a copier, scanner, the Internet, their own 

e-mail account, and other services. Those unable 

to pay may earn membership through volunteer 

work. 

The Old North End center improves the employability of EC residents by providing computer and 

communications training. The training may be 

as basic as learning to operate a fax machine or 

type a resume or as advanced as mastering the 

Internet or conducting a videoconference. EC 

residents may take classes at no charge. 

Operating since June 1995-its permanent home 

opened in September 1996-the high-visibility 

project has won praise from EC residents. The 

center and its satellite sites have already provided 

basic computer training to 1,600 people and 

advanced computer training to about 1,000, 
z Communities 

including many students at local schools. Most 

of those attending the classes are EC residents. 

At least 30 graduates have gone on to secure 

or retain jobs. 

Employing a dozen people full time, the center 

is operated by Chittendon Community Television. 

Local residents are among the 50 volunteers who 

are trained to assist staff in running the center. 

Two EC residents have trained as interns for staff 

positions. 

The Old North End Community/Technology 

Center is modeled on the South Bristol Learning 

Network, founded by John O'Hara in Bristol, 

England. Just after the Burlington Center opened, 

Mayor Peter Clave lie visited the facility to confer 

with O'Hara via the center's video hookup. The 

Bristol facility is also a business partner to the 

Old North End Center. The Burlington center has 

gained exclusive rights to sell O'Hara's comprehensive training program, "CyberSpace Workshop," in the United States and Canada. Center 

managers expect this software to become a 

valuable source of income in the future. 

For more information, contact Brian Pine, 

Assistant Director of Housing, Office of Community Development, at 802-865-7232. 

Charlotte's Web Spins 

ElectroniC Empowerment 

Charlotte, North CarOlina, EC 

The Charlotte's Web Community Network and 

its partner organizations are busy building an 

electronic neighborhood for the EC "We are bringing computers to people who are not part of the 

electronic culture," says Steve Snow, who manages 

Charlotte's Electronic Neighborhoods Program, or 

E-Nab. "People are going online to look for job 

openings, finding health information, and 

e-mailing the city to get services for their neighborhoods. We're real excited about all this." 

E-Nab is a collaboration of Central Piedmont 

Community College; Charlotte-Mecklenburg 

schools; the City of Charlotte; and Charlotte's 

Web, a 14-county regional online community 

network created in 1994. Eighteen neighborhoods 

currently participate. Volunteers act as information brokers, taking three, one-half-day trainings 

using E-Nab's donated computers. They then 

share their knowledge with others, who in turn 

share with others, initiating an ongoing chain 

of dissemination of computer skills and knowledge within the EC "We're going to take all this 

information back to our communities," says 

Thomas Sadler, a member of the first class of 

40 volunteers. lilt doesn't stop here." Future plans 

call for the training of neighborhood association 

board members and block captains. 

For more information, contact Steve Snow, 

Executive Director, Charlotte's Web, at 

704-332-9920. 

EC IS a Big Hit on 

Local Cable 

Columbus, Ollio, EC 

AdvertiSing is the key to getting the word out 

about products and programs. That's exactly 

what the Columbus Compact Corporation, the 

official board for the Columbus EC, had in mind 

when it developed "Building Blocks," a cable 

television program. The program, created in 1996 

through efforts of the corporation and Community 21 television, promotes activities, programs, 

personalities, and concerns of the Columbus EC 

Damon Mintor, an EC resident, hosts the monthly 

interview and call-in show, which has discussed 

microlending, gardening, community values, 
and work-related issues. One show featured a 

roundtable discussion with local employers, the 

local Private Industry Council, and the county 

social services agency on promoting job creation 

in the EC. Future shows will focus on community 

organization, entrepreneurship, and neighborhood development. Volunteer efforts by corporation staff help offset the costs of producing the 

show. 

Designed to increase community awareness of 

the EC concept throughout the Columbus area, 

"Building Blocks" has been so successful in 

promoting the EC that it was awarded the 1997 

Pyramid Award for Best News and Public Affairs 

Show by Community 21 television. 

For more information, contact Ierolynn Barbee, 

Columbus Compact Corporation, at 614-251-0926. 

KCEP Radio: '0,000 watts 

of Power, Unlimited 

Empowerment 

Las Vegas, Nevada, EC 

Every Friday morning from 9:30 to 10:00, 

residents of the Clark County EC can tune in to 

KCEP-FM 88.1 to hear a broadcast called 

"Economic Empowerment Into the 21st Century." 

What they learn in those 30 minutes empowers 

them in the way they need it most-economically. 

Yvonne Atkinson Gates, Clark County's Commissioner, hosts the weekly show on community 

topics. Her guests include local business people 

and other community leaders who discuss topics 

as diverse as loan guarantee programs, redevelopment in North Las Vegas, childcare resources, 

and how to manage a microbusiness. 

KCEP proposed the empowerment radio spot to 

Clark County government as a pilot program in 

1996. "It was all about joining forces to create a 

new approach to the economic revitalization of 

the community," according to KCEP's General 

Manager, Sherman Rutledge, Ir. 

KCEP began in the early 1980s with a grant from 

the U.S. Department of Labor and only 10 watts 

of power. Today it transmits with 10,000 watts 

of power and thousands of possibilities for 

empowerment. 

For more information, contact Sherman 

Rutledge , Ir., General Manager, KCEP, at 

702-648-0104. 

Redevelopment Wires EC 

Homes for Computers 

Pittsburgh, pennsylvania, EC 

When low-income homebuyers move into the 

new HOPE VI public housing units in the 

Manchester area of Pittsburgh, they will find that 

a different type of appliance comes with the 

deal-a computer. As part of the transformation 

of outmoded and deteriorated public housing 

under HOPE VI, all new or rehabilitated housing 

units will be wired to accommodate data as 

well as telephone lines. The Public Housing 
z Communities 

Authority will loan computers to families that 

cannot afford them. For the market-rate homes 

in this new mixed-income community, a computer is included in the purchase price. There are 

plans to use the computers to test an innovative 

pilot program-a building management system 

that monitors the performance of heating, air 

conditioning, and other systems through the 

Internet. 

The high-technology world of the Internet has 

arrived in the Pittsburgh EC in other ways as well. 

Residents can visit any of 16 community 

computer-access centers. The Hill House Community Access Network (HHCAN) is the designated 

project hub. At the centers, EC residents 

can use a range of computer components and 

accessories for their particular needs. HHCAN 

consults with those contemplating purchase of a 

personal computer on the type of equipment to 

select and how to install it. The network maintains a help line and conducts frequent public 

training sessions and workshops. More than 

800 people have attended monthly orientation 

sessions. 

"Pittsburgh has invested approximately $300,000 

in combined funds from various government 

sources, II says Dave Farley, grants and development officer in Pittsburgh Mayor Tom Murphy's 

office. "New Beginnings Learning Center (a 

network computer site) is linked technologically 

and programmatically with the Three Rivers 

Employment Service on Pittsburgh's North Side 

for videoconferencing." Three Rivers is a major 

service provider for the city's Pittsburgh Partnership, a publicly funded employment and training division. 

Partners in these technological initiatives include 

the Pittsburgh school system, the Pittsburgh 

Supercomputing Center, Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Pittsburgh, and various city 

departments. Funding to expand the network 

came from $177,000 in EC funds, $300,000 from 

the U.S. Department of Justice's Weed and Seed 

program, and from HUD's HOPE VI funds. 

For more information, contact Beverly Gillot, 

Coordinator, Pittsburgh EC, at 412-487-6808. 
Technology and 


Communications 


e 5 

Rural Residents Receive 

High-Tech Hardware 

and New Skills 

Greater Portsmouth, Ohio, EC 

Through the President's Education Technology 

Program with the help of U.S. Customs and various other Federal agencies and military institutions, USDA has made 72 computers, with an 

estimated value of $10,000 available to Greater 

Portsmouth EC schools. The EZ is dedicating an 

additional $192,000 ofits $2.95 million EZ/EC SSBG 

funds for in-service computer training for teachers. More support for this program is expectedGreater Portsmouth has learned that it is eligible 

for funding under a State program that helps lowincome communities obtain computers. 

The initiative is designed to provide EC residents 

with the computer technology skills needed for the 

new millennium. It will make possible training in 

word processing and other computer programs 

geared to help students in the job market. Other 

recipients of the donated computers include 

homeless shelters and a community development 

corporation. 

For more information, contact Allen Turnbull, 

USDA EC Consultant, Greater Portsmouth EC, at 

614-469-5400. 

Index by Community 


Allron, Ohio, Enterprise Community 

Abandoned School Site Yields New 

Homeownership Chances .. ... ...................... .. 57 

Students Get Guidance on Manufacturing 

Careers ........................................................... 91 

Albany, Georgia, Enterprise Community 

Job Developer Helps Welfare Recipients 

Find Work ...................................................... 11 

Volunteers Train Residents for EC Leadership ... 3 

Albany/Schenectady/Troy, New Yorll, 

Enterprise Community 

Neighborhood Paper Succeeds With 

EC Beat .. ................. ...... .. .... ......................... 111 

Atlanta, Georgia, Empowerment Zone 

Homeless Families Become Homeowners ....... 58 


Baltimore, Maryland, 

Empowerment Zone 

Knocking on Wood, EZ Residents Learn 

Cabinetmakers' Trade ................... .......... .. .... 11 

Van Pool Links Inner-City Residents to Jobs 

in the Suburbs ............................................... 75 

Birmillgham, Alabama, 

Enterprise Community 

Block Watch Pays Off in Public Safety .......... .. 67 


Former Bank Building Transformed Into 

Job Bank ............ .................................... ........ 12 

Buffalo, New Yorll, 

Enterprise Community 

Field of Dreams: 8 Million Pounds of Tomatoes 

Grow on Former Steelworks Parking Lot .. .... ... 81 

Burlington, Vermont, 

Enterprise Community 

Boosting Childcare Lets EC Mothers 

Get To Work ........................................ .... ..... 101 

Computers Get Recycled in Burlington EC. ..... 12 

Old North End Community/Technology 

Center Links Residents to New Future ........ 111 

Road Runner Helps EC Residents 

Get Around ........................... ......................... 75 

Charleston, South CarOlina, 

Enterprise Community 

Job Resource Center Links EC Residents 

and Employers .................. .. .......... ................. 13 

Charlotte, North CarOlina, 

Enterprise Community 

Charlotte's Web Spins Electronic 

Empowerment ...... .. ..................................... 112 

Cllicago, Illinois, Empowernlent Zone 

Afterschool Activities: Chicago EZ Develops 

a Model Plan ....... .. .................... .... .. .. ..... .. ..... 91 

Cleveland, Ohio, Empowerment Zone 

EZ BOP Helps Small Businesses .................... 47 


Columbus, Ohio, Enterprise Community 

EC Is a Big Hit on Local Cable ........ .. ..... ..... 112 


More Than 1,100 EC Residents Placed 

in Jobs ............ ..... ... ... ... .. ...... ...... ....... ........... 114 

DenVer, Colorado, Ellterprise Community 

Homeless People Become Homebuilders .. ...... 58 

YouthBiz Trains Youth Entrepreneurs ... .. .. .. .. 15 

Des Moines, Iowa, Enterprise Community 

New NationsBank Branch Generates 

Business and Optimism in EC. .. ... ................. 47 

Detroit, Michigan, Empowerment Zone 

Detroit's Shorebank Launches Community 

Lending ...................... .. ...... ....................... .. .. . 48 

Minority Entrepreneurs Revive Dormant 

Cadillac Plant ............................................. ... 31 
ise COll1munltles 

East St. LOllis, illinois, 

Enterprise Community 

Onetime Casino Becomes Safe Haven 


for Youth ............ ..... .... ........................ .. .. ..... 102 


Flint, Michigan, Enterprise Community 

Broome Center Provides Opportunities 


for Youth ............ ............................................ 15 


COPS AHEAD Cuts EC Crime Dramatically .. . 67 


Underserved Area Gets New Clinic ... .. ... .... ... 87 


Harrisburg, pennsylvania, 

Enterprise Community 

Historic Mansion Becomes Symbol 


of Renewal ....... .. ........................ .... .............. 102 


Performing Arts, Housing Transform the 


McFarland Building ...................................... 60 


With Job Shadowing, EC Youth Envision 


New Possibilities .. .......................................... 16 


Huntington, west Virginia, 

Enterprise Community 

Determination Gives Factory Closing Story 


a Happy Ending ....... ..................................... 31 


Indianapolis, Indiana, 

Enterprise Community 

Community Gives Its Input Into PoHdng ....... 68 


Program Trains 40 Youth ..................... ......... 16 


Jackson, Mississippi, 

Enterprise Community 

Operation Restore Pride Bolsters Community 


Confidence ... ....... ........................ .. ... ......... .. ... 60 


Kansas City, Missouri/Kansas, 

Enhanced Enterprise Community 

EC Residents "Grow in the Zone" .......... ..... .. 17 


EC Youth Overcome Obstacles .......... ... .... ..... 17 


Las vegas, Nevada, 

Enterprise Community 

KCEP Radio: 10,000 Watts of Power, 


Unlimited Empowerment ..................... ....... 113 


Los Angeles/Huntington Park, 

California, Enterprise Community 

Drew University Students Found Urban 


Medical Clinic .. ....................................... ...... 87 


EC Adopts Community Policing for 


Business Area ................................................ 68 


Mixed-Use Redevelopment Offers 


Townhomes ............................. ....................... 61 


Los Angeles, California, 

Empowerment Zone 

Community Development Bank Shifts Into 


High Gear ............................................. ......... 49 


Watts At-Risk Youth Get New Jobs .. .............. 92 


Louisville, Kentucky, 

Enterprise Community 

Redeveloped Public Housing Area Becomes 


Residential "Magnet" .................. ... .......... ..... 62 


The Bank That Dreams With People .. .......... 49 


Lowell, Massachusetts, 

Enterprise Commu nity 

19 Welfare Mothers Find "Links to 


Employment" ................................................ 18 


Grassroots EC Board Develops 


Local Leadership ....... .............................. ........ 3 


Small Business Gets Boost ............. ................ 32 


Manchester, New Hampshire, 

Enterprise Community 

Community Beat Cops Lower Crime, 


Raise Morale .................................................. 69 


Full-Service Resource Center Meets 


Residents' Priority ............................... ........... 19 

Memphis, Tennessee, 

Enterprise Community 

Computer Mapping Program Helps 


EC Students Earn and Learn ......................... 93 


Minneapolis, Minnesota, 

Enterprise Community 

Unemployed Residents' Fortunes RISE! ......... 20 


Whittier Emerging Business Center Assists 


15 Local Businesses ....................................... 33 


Muskegon, Michigan, 

Enterprise Community 

EC Sees Its Small Businesses Grow .... ............ 50 


Tax Abatement Spurs Reinvestment 


in Zone ........................................................... 33 


Newburgh/Kingston, New York, 

Enterprise Community 

An Invitation to a Job ................................... 21 


EC Family Exemplifies American Dream ....... 33 


New Orleans, Louisiana, 

Enterprise Community 

New Orleans EC Schools Become 


Safe Harbors .................................................. 93 


New York, New York, Empowerment Zone 

Former Teachers Bring "Credit Where 


Credit Is Due" ................................................ 50 


Saturday Night Live Producer Builds Business 


in Harlem ................. .. .. .............. ................... 34 


Norfolk, Virginia, Enterprise Community 

Training Program Promises To Deliver Jobs 


to EC Residents .............................................. 21 


ogden, utah, Enterprise Community 

From Landfill to Playland .. ........................... 81 


Ouachita parish, Louisiana, Enterprise 

Community 

Entrepreneurs Find Motivation at Church ...... 34 


Philadelphia, Pennsylvania/camden, 

New Jersey, Empowerment Zone 

Ex-Football Player Scores With Community 


Credit Union ................................................ .. 51 


Pittsburgh, pennsylvania, 

Enterprise Community 

Elegant McKeesport Bank Building 


Becomes the "People's Building" ................ 103 


HOPE VI Will Transform Public Housing 


in Pittsburgh EC. .... .... .................. .................. 62 


Redevelopment Wires EC Homes 


for Computers .............................................. 113 


providence, Rhode Island, 

Enterprise Community 

A River Will Run Through It ............ .............. 76 


pulaski County/Little Rock, Arkansas, 

Enterprise Community 

Success By Six Teaches ABC's of Early 


Child Development ....................................... 94 


Rochester, New York, 

Enterprise Community 

B-KWIK Market Anchors Redevelopment 


of Shopping Center ... ...... ....... ....................... 35 


HUD Agreement Transforms Foreclosures 


Into Futures ..................................... .. ............ 63 


San Antonio, Texas, 

Enterprise Community 

EC Project Boosts Veterans' Jobs .................... 22 


Historic Black College Links EC to 


Higher Education ..................... ..................... 95 


Hundreds of Affordable Homes Built in EC .... 64 


san Diego, California, 

Enterprise Community 

Technical Assistance Launches 16 Small 


Businesses in the EC ...................................... 36 

Communities 

Training Childcare Providers Helps 

Welfare-to-Work Efforts ................................. 23 

Unemployed EC Residents Find Work and 

Self-Esteem as Home Health Aides ............... 23 

San Francisco, California, 

Enterprise Community 

Residents Build a New Community 

Through Demolition ..................................... 24 

Youths Establish a Credit Union of 

Their Own .... .. ..................................... ........... 36 

seattle, washington, 

Enterprise Community 

New Assessment Techniques Speed Up 

Brownfields Redevelopment .......................... 82 

"Powerful Schools" Fosters 

Powerful Families ............................................ 4 

Springfield, IilillOis, 

Ellterprlse Comnlunity 

Springfield Police Officers Bring 

Work Home .................................................... 70 

st. paul, Minnesota, 

Enterprise Community 

Frogtown Center Gives Small Businesses 

a Jump-Start .................................................. 37 

NeighborLINK Will Place 1,400 EC Residents 

Into Jobs ......................................................... 25 

Tacoma, washington, 

Enterprise Community 

Tacoma Goes Global in Plans for 

International Business Zone ......................... 37 

Tampa, Florida, Enterprise Community 

EC Youth Clean Up and Earn ........................ 83 


Microloans Jump-Start Small 

EC Businesses ................................................. 52 

Wilmington, Delaware, 

Enterprise Community 

Juvenile Drug Courts Turn Youth Around ...... 70 
e 5 


Accomack/Northampton, Virginia, 

Enterprise Community 

Environmentally Friendly Technology Park 


Attracts Growing Firms ................................. 39 


Hope for Homeowners .................................. 65 


Residents Agree: Rural Transit Has 


STAR Quality ................................................. 77 


Arizona Border Region, 

Enterprise COl1lmunlty 

Library Expands To Fit 


Community's Needs ...................................... 77 


Central Appalachia, west Virginia, 

Enterprise Community 

Artisan Co-Op Preserves Tradition and 


Creates Economic Opportunity ..................... 39 


Rural Residents Get Improved 911 Service ...... 73 


City of East prairie, Mississippi County, 

Missouri, Enterprise community 

EC Funding Begins Flood 


Prevention Project ......................................... 85 


City of Lock Haven, pennsylvania, 

Enterprise community 

Collaborative Efforts Help At-Risk 


Students Succeed ........................................... 97 


Helping Families To Help Themselves ............ 7 


Homeownership Becomes a Reality for Lock 


Haven Families .............................................. 65 


Junior and Senior High School Students 

Prepare for High-Tech Jobs ...................... ...... 97 


Revolving Fund Launches Entrepreneurial 


Ventures ........................................................... 7 


The Small Business Development Center 


Creates Businesses and Jobs .......................... 40 


Waterfront Restoration Enhances 


Community Life ......................... ................... 78 


West Branch Technology Center Retrains 


Workers, Attracts Business ............................ 27 


City of watsonville/County of santa 

Cruz, California, Enterprise Community 

Career Works Is Working ....................... ....... 27 


New Family Center Registers 


630 Residents ............................................... 105 


Fayette county/Haywood County, 

Tennessee, Enterprise Community 

Job Training Helps Rural Residents .............. 28 


New Classrooms Give Preschoolers 


a Place To Learn ............................................ 98 


New Railroad Tracks Spur Industry .............. 78 


Now Kids Have an Alternative to TV 


After School ............... .................................. 105 


Greater Portsmouth, Ohio, 

Enterprise Community 

EC Turns Brownfield Into an Industrial 


Park With High-Paying Jobs ......................... 85 


Rural Residents Receive High-Tech 


Hardware and New Skills ............................ 115 


Imperial County, California, 

Enterprise Community 

County Residents Learn as the 


Arts Flourish ................................. ................. 99 


Josephine county, Oregon, 

Enterprise Community 

Coalition Teams Up To Attack 


Social Problems ........................................... 106 


Kentucky Highlands, Kentucky, 

Empowerment Zone 

Business Flourishing Due to 


Training Center ............................................. 40 


EZ Attracts 13 New Businesses ............ .......... 53 


Job Training Agency Expands With EZ Help; 


Unemployment Drops Significantly ............. 28 


121 

z Communities 

New Fire Trucks and Ambulances Upgrade 

EZ Area's Safety ............................................. 73 

New Construction Creates Jobs 

and Training .. ................................................ 79 

Tobacco Farmers Find an Alternative Crop .... 41 

Town Receives New Energy Facilities ............ 79 


Venture Capital Fund Helps Large and 

Small Businesses ............................................ 53 

La Jicarlta, New Mexico, 

Enterprise Community 

Comprehensive School-to-Work Program 

Realizes Hopes ............................................ 107 

McDowell County, West Virginia, 

Enterprise Community 

EC Steps In To Save Services for Black 

Lung Victims ....... .. .. .. ..................................... 89 

Hard-Hit Mining Area Finds New Skills 

and Hope ........................................ .. .......... ... 29 

Mid Delta, Mississippi, 

Empowerment Zone 

Dollar General Distribution Center 

Locates in EZ .................................................. 41 

Rio Grande Valley, Texas, 

Empowerment Zone 

EZ Businesses Investigate Equipment Resale 

in Central America ........................................ 42 

EZ Funds Much-Needed Health Center ........... 89 


Martin Cavazos Center Provides Training 

and Community Advancement .................. 108 

Providing High-Skills Training for a 

Brighter Future .............................................. 29 

Revolving Loan Fund Helps Turn Dreams 

Into Jobs ......................................................... 43 

Scott/McCreary Area, Tennessee/ 

Kentucky, Enterprise Community 

Citizens Assist Neighbors With Disabilities .... 8 

Community Teams Up To Build Shelter 

for Women and Children .............................. 73 

EC Brings Closed Battery Plant Back 

To Life ............................................................ 43 

Southeast Oklahoma, 

Enterprise Community 

Young Parents Learn About 

Child Development ...... ............................. .. 100 

WIlliamsburg County/Lake City, 


South Carolina, Enterprise Commllnlty 


Better Water and Sewer Services ................... 80 


Center Helps People Build Their Own 

Businesses ...................................................... 44 

EC Upgrades Homes for Elderly Residents .... 66 

Enterprise Camp Creates 

Young Entrepreneurs .................................... 108 

Williamsburg County Plans Industrial Park 

To Attract Businesses ..................................... 45 
ReSDurces 


YOU .. COMMUNITY PARTNER: 

u.s. Department of Housing and 

Urban Development 

Andrew Cuomo, Secretary 

Office of conimuility Planning and 

Development, EZ/EC Initiative 

451 Seventh Street Sw. 

Room 7130 

Washington, DC 20410 

Phone: 202-708-6339 

Fax: 202-401- 7615 

Web site: http://www.hud.gov 

Community Connections 

(HUD's Resource Center) 

For information on programs to help 

build communities: 

P.O. Box 7189 

Gaithersburg, MD 20898- 7189 

Phone: 800-998-9999 

E-Mail: comcon@aspensys.com 

USDA 

u.s. Department of Agriculture 

Dan Glickman, Secretary 

Office of Community Development 

300 Seventh Street Sw. 

Reporters Building 

Suite 701 

Washington, DC 20024 

Phone: 800-645-4712 

Fax: 202-401-7420 

E-Mail: ocd@rurdev.usda.gov 

Web site: http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/ocd 

Rural Economic Development Resources 

Web site: http://www.nal.usda .gov.ric/ 

Empowerment Zones and 

Enterprise Communities 

Web site: http://www.ezec.gov 

Available Publications 


Available Publications for Urban Communities 

Notice ofFunding Availability (NOFA): Published in the Federal Register and available upon 

request. 

Empowerment Zones-Rule for Round II Designation: Published in the Federal Register and 

available upon request. 

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Guidelines for the Uses of U;EC SSBG 

Funds 

Urban Application Guide: This Guide offers specific instructions as to how urban communities 

should prepare their application for Empowerment Zone designation. 

Urban Application Forms: Nomination for designation as an Urban Empowerment Zone (Parts 

I-IV): The Application Forms identify the eligibility information a community must submit to 

HUD or USDA to be eligible for Round II designation. Each set of forms contains certifications 

that the information provided is accurate and that the applicant will implement its Strategic 

Plan. 

Federal Programs Guide: Provides a list of Federal Government programs available 

to distressed communities. Applicants can use this Guide to identify current or prospective Federal 

Government programs that can be used to help revitalize their neighborhoods. 

Strategic Planning Guide: Provides a comprehensive overview of how to prepare a Strategic 

Plan, including a discussion of the planning process and the ways in which residents, communitybased organizations, businesses, nonprofits, government entities, and others come together to 

create a shared vision for the future. 

Performance Measurement System Guide: Provides communities with a "how-to" approach to 

establishing and implementing a performance measurement system. Performance measurement 

systems provide an organized process for gathering information to track how well programs and 

projects are meeting their goals, and then using that information to improve performance and 

report to interested stakeholders. 

Internal Revenue Service Publication 954, "Tax Incentives for Empowerment Zones and 

Other Distressed Communities" 

What Works! in the Empowerment Zones and Enterprise Communities, Volume II: A compilation of successful projects from current Empowerment Zones and Enterprise Communities 

(includes contact names and telephone numbers). 

::To request publications for urban communities, please call 1-8~998-9999. 
z Com ,munlties 

Available Publications for Rural Communities 

Notice ofInvitation to Apply: Published in the Federal Register and available upon request. 

Rule-Rural Empowerment Zones Round II: Published in the Federal Register and 

available upon request. 

Rural Application Guide: This Guide offers specific instructions as to how rural communities 

should prepare their application for Empowerment Zone designation. 

Rural Application Forms: Nomination for designation as a Rural Empowerment Zone (Parts 

I-IV): The Application Forms identify and contain the eligibility information a community must 

submit to USDA for Round II designation. 

A Guide to Strategic Planning for Rural Communities: Leads communities through the 

process of establishing a vision, evaluating problems and opportunities, assessing their strengths 

and weaknesses, and setting goals and strategies. 

A Guide to Implementation and Benchmarking: Helps rural communities tum their Strategic Plans into specific work programs and create performance measures to evaluate their own 

progress. 

Federal Programs Guide: Provides a list of Federal Government programs available to distressed communities. Applicants can use this Guide to identify current or prospective Federal 

Government programs that can be used to help revitalize their neighborhoods. 

Internal Revenue Service Publication 954, "Tax Incentives for Empowerment Zones and 

Other Distressed Communities" 

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Guidelines for the Uses of EZ/EC SSBG 

Funds 

What Works! in the Empowerment Zones and Enterprise Communities, Volume II: A compilation of successful projects from current Empowerment Zones and Enterprise Communities 

(includes contact names and telephone numbers). 

To request pubUc::atioDS for rural c::ommunities, please c::aII1-800-851-3403. 
EZ/EC Main Contact List 


t 

EMPOWERMENT ZONES 

GA, Atlanta 

Elbert Jenkins 

Acting Executive Director 

Atlanta EZ Corporation 

675 Ponce De Leon Avenue 

Second Floor, Suite 2100 

Atlanta, GA 30308 

Phone: 404-853- 7610 

Fax: 404-853-7315 

IL, Chicago 

Avery Goodrich 

City of Chicago 

20 North Clark Street, 28th Floor 

Chicago, IL 60602 

Phone: 312-744-9623 

Fax: 312-744-9696 

MD, Baltimore 

Diane Bell 

Empower Baltimore Management Corporation 

111 South Calvert Street, Suite 1550 

Baltimore, MD 21202 

Phone: 410-783-4400 

Fax: 410-783-0526 

MI, Detroit 

Denise Gray 

Executive Director 

Detroit Empowerment Zone Corporation 

1 Ford Place, Suite 20 

Detroit, MI 48202 

Phone: 313-872-8050 

Fax: 313-872-8002 

Joseph Vassallo 

City of Detroit Planning and Development 

2300 Cadillac Tower Building 

Detroit, MI 48226 

Phone: 313-224-6389 

Fax: 313-224-1629 

NJ, Camden 

Richard Cummings 

Chairperson 

Camden Empowerment Zone Corporation 

412 North Second Street 

Camden, NJ 08104 

Phone: 609-541-2836 

Fax: 609-541-8457 

Brian Finnie 

City of Camden Empowerment Zone Corporation 

800 Hudson Square 

Suite 300 

Camden, NJ 08102 

Phone: 609-968-4866 

Fax: 609-968-4855 

NY, New York (Main Contact) 

Kimberly D. Hardy, Esq. 

Special Counsel and Corporate Secretary 

New York Empowerment Zone Corporation 

633 Third Avenue 

New York, NY 10017 

Phone: 212-803-3240 

Fax: 212-803-3294 

NY, New York (Bronx) 

Jose Ithier 

Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation 

198 East 161st Street 

Second Floor 

Bronx, NY 10451 

Phone: 718-590-3549 

Fax: 718-590-5814 

NY, New York (Upper Manhattan) 

Deborah Wright 

Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone 

Development Corporation 

Powell Office Building 

163 West 125th Street 

Suite 1204 

New York, NY 10027 

Phone: 212-932-1902 

Fax: 212-932-1907 

PA, Philadelphia 

Carlos Acosta 

City of Philadelphia 

1600 Arch Street, Gallery Level 

Philadelphia, PA 19103 

Phone: 215-686-0484 

Fax: 215-686-0412 

NEW EMPOWERMENT ZONES 

CA, Los Angeles 

Parker C. Anderson 

City of Los Angeles 

Community Development Department 

215 West Sixth Street, Third Floor 

Los Angeles, CA 90014 

Phone : 213-485-1617 

Fax: 213-237-0551 
z Communities 

David Eder 

City of Los Angeles 

Community Development Department 

215 West Sixth Street, Third Floor 

Los Angeles, CA 90014 

Phone: 213-485-2956 

Fax: 213-.237-0890 

OH, Cleveland 

Yvette Moseby 

Cleveland Empowerment Zone 

601 Lakeside Avenue 

City Hall, Room 335 

Cleveland, OH 44114 

Phone: 216-664-3083 

Fax: 216-420-8522 

ENHANCED ENTERPRISE 

COMMUNITIES 

CA, Oakland 

Lonnie Carter 

City of Oakland 

Community and Economic Development Agency 

1333 Broadway, Second Floor 

Oakland, CA 94612 

Phone: 510-238-3716 

Fax: 510-238-6956 

William Claggett 

City of Oakland 

Community and Economic Development Agency 

1330 Broadway, Room 310 

Oakland, CA 94612 

Phone: 510-238-2910 

Fax: 510-238-6538 

KS, Kansas City/MO, Kansas City 

Cal Bender 

MARC 

600 Broadway 

300 Rivergate Center 

Kansas City, MO 64105-1554 

Phone: 816-474-4240 

Fax: 816-421-7758 

MA, Boston 

Reginald Nunnally 

Boston Empowerment Center 

20 Hampden Street 

Boston, MA 02119 

Phone: 617-445-3413 

Fax: 617-445-5675 

TX, HOllston 

Judith Butler 

900 Bagby Street 

City Hall Annex 

Mayor's Office, Second Floor 

Houston, TX 77002 

Phone: 713-247-2666 

Fax: 713-247-3985 

ENTERPRISE COMMUNITIES 

AL, Birmingham 

John H. Gemmill 

City of Birmingham 

710 North 20th Street 

City Hall, Room 224 

Birmingham, AL 35203 

Phone: 205-254-2870 

Fax: 205-254-2541 

AR, Pulaski County 

Henry McHenry 

Enterprise Community Committee Board 

300 South Spring, Suite 800 

Little Rock, AR 72201-2424 

Phone: 501-340-5675 

Fax: 501-340-5680 

AZ, Phoenix 

Ed Zuercher 

City of Phoenix 

200 West Washington Street, 12th Floor 

Phoenix, AZ 85003-1611 

Phone: 602-261-8532 

Fax: 602-261-8327 

CA, Los AngeleS/Huntington Park 

Parker Anderson 

City of Los Angeles 

215 West 6th Street 

Los Angeles, CA 90014 

Phone: 213-485-1617 

Fax: 213-237-0551 

CA, San Diego 

Bonnie Contreras 

City of San Diego 

202 C Street, MS 3A 

San Diego, CA 92101 

Phone: 760-236-6846 

Fax: 760-236-6512 
CA, San Francisco 

Larry Saxxon 

City of San Francisco 

San Francisco Enterprise Community Program 

25 Van Ness Avenue, Suite 700 

San Francisco, CA 94102 

Phone: 415-252-3137 

Fax: 415-252-3110 

CO, Denver 

Ernest Hughes 

City of Denver 

200 West 14th Avenue, Room 203 

Denver, CO 80204 

Phone: 303-640-5734 

Fax: 303-640-4636 

CT, Bridgeport 

Janice Willis 

City of Bridgeport Office of Grant Administration 

City Hall 

Bridgeport, CT 06604 

Phone: 203-332-5662 

Fax: 203-332-5657 

CT, New Haven 

Serena Neal-Williams 

City of New Haven 

200 Orange Street, Fifth Floor 

New Haven, CT 06510 

Phone: 203-946-7727 

Fax: 203-946-8049 

DC, Washington 

Fran Goldstein 

Director of Development 

Office of Grants and Management 

717 14th Street, NW 

12th Floor 

Washington, DC 20005 

Phone: 202-727-6537 

Fax: 202-727-1617 

DC, washington 

James Kerr 

Administrator for Preservation and 

Economic Development 

51 N Street, NE 

Washington, DC 20002 

Phone: 202-535-1939 

Fax: 202-535-1955 

DE, Wilmington 

James Walker 

Wilmington Enterprise Community 

Louis L. Redding CitylCounty Building 

800 French Street, Ninth Floor 

Wilmington, DE 19801 

Phone: 302-571-4189 

Fax: 302-571-4102 

FL, Miami/Dade County/Homestead 

Tony E. Crapp, Sr. 

Office of Economic Development 

140 West Flagler, Suite 1000 

Miami, FL 33130-1561 

Phone: 305-375-3431 

Fax: 305-375-3428 

FL, Tampa 

Benjamin Stevenson 

City of Tampa 

2105 North Nebraska Avenue 

Tampa, FL 33605 

Phone: 813-248-4339 

Fax: 813-274-7927 

GA, Albany 

John Hawthorne 

Department of Community and 

Economic Development 

230 South Jackson Street, Suite 315 

Albany, GA 31701 

Phone: 912-430-7867 

Fax: 912-430-3989 

lA, Des Moines 

Kathy Kafela 

City of Des Moines 

602 East First Street 

Des Moines, IA 50309 

Phone: 515-283-4151 

Fax: 515-237-1713 

IL, East st. Louis 

Percy Harris 

City of East St. Louis 

301 River Park Drive 

East St. Louis, IL 62201 

Phone: 618-482-6655 

Fax: 618-482-6648 
z ise Communities 

IL, Springfield 

Jacqueline Richie 

Office of Economic Development 

231 South Sixth Street 

Springfield, IL 62701 

Phone: 217-789-2377 

Fax: 217-789-2380 

IN, Indianapolis 

Jennifer Fults 

Grants Manager 

Division of Community Development and 

Financial Services 

1860 City County Building 

Indianapolis, IN 46204 

Phone: 317- 327-5899 

Fax: 317-327-5908 

Amy Arnold 

Grants Analyst 

Division of Community Development and 

Financial Services 

1860 City County Building 

Indianapolis, IN 46204 

Phone: 317- 327-7876 

Fax: 317- 327-5908 

KY, Louisville 

Carolyn Gatz 

Empowerment Zone Community 

601 West Jefferson Street 

Louisville, KY 40202 

Phone: 502-574-4210 

Fax: 502-574-4201 

LA, New Orleans 

Thelma H. French 

Office of Federal and State Programs 

1300 Perdido Street, Room 2E1O 

New Orleans, LA 70112 

Phone: 504-565-6414 

Fax: 504-565-6423 

LA, Ouachita Parish 

Erie Loewe 


Ouachita Community Enhancement Zone, Inc. 


P.O. Box 4268 

Monroe, LA 71211 

Phone: 318-329-4031 

Fax: 318-329-4034 

MA, lowell 

Sue Beaton 

Department of Planning and Development 

City Hall-JFK Civic Center 

50 Arcand Drive 

Lowell, MA 01852 

Phone: 978-970-4165 

Fax: 978-970-4262 

MA, Springfield 

Miguel Rivas 

Community Development Department 

36 Court Street 

Springfield, MA 01103 

Phone: 413- 787-7666 

Fax: 413-787-6027 

MI, Flint 

Larry Foster 

Township of Mount Morris 

G-5447 Bicentennial Parkway 

Mount Morris Township, MI 48458 

Phone: 810-785-9138 

Fax: 810-785-7730 

Chris Davenport 

City of Flint 

1101 South Saginaw Street 

Flint, MI 48502 

Phone: 810-341- 1499 

Fax: 810-766-7351 

MI, Muskegon 

Cathy Brubaker-Clarke 

City of Muskegon 

Community and Economic Development Department 

933 Terrace Street 

Muskegon, MI 49443 

Phone: 616-724-6977 

Fax: 616-724-6790 

Fleta Mitchell 

Department of Planning and 

Community Development 

2724 Peck Street 

Muskegon Heights, MI 49444 

Phone: 616-733-1355 

Fax: 616-733-7382 
o 

MN, Minneapolis 

Ken Brunsvold 

Office of Grants and Special Project 

350 South Fifth Street 

City Hall, Room 200 

Minneapolis, MN 55415 

Phone: 612-673-2348 

Fax: 612-673-2728 

MN, st. Paul 

Jim Zdon 

City of St. Paul 

Planning and Economic Development 

25 West Fourth Street 

St. Paul, Minnesota 55102 

Phone: 612-266-6559 

Fax: 612-228-3314 

MO, st. Louis 

Chad Cooper 

St. Louis Development Corporation 

105 Locust Street, Suite 1200 

St. Louis, MO 6310 1 

Phone: 314-622-3400 

Fax: 314-231-2341 

MS, Jackson 

Willie Cole 

Office of City Planning/Minority Business 

218 South President Street 

Jackson, MS 39205 

Phone: 601-960-1055 

Fax: 601-960-2403 

NC, Charlotte 

Charlene Abbott 

Neighborhood Development Department 

600 East Trade Street 

Charlotte, NC 28202 

Phone: 704-336-5577 

Fax: 704-336-2527 

NE, Omaha 

Scott Knudsen 

City of Omaha 

1819 Farnum Street, Suite 1100 

Omaha, NE 68183 

Phone: 402-444-5381 

Fax: 402-444-6140 

NH, Manchester 

Amanda Parenteau 

City of Manchester 

889 Elm Street, Fifth Floor 

Manchester, NH 03101 

Phone: 603-624-2111 

Fax: 603-624-6308 

NJ, Newark 

Angela Corbo 

Department of Administration 

City Hall, Room B-16 

920 Broad Street 

Newark, NJ 07102 

Phone: 973-733-4331 

Fax: 973-733-5351 

NM, Albuquerque 

Sylvia Fettes 

Family and Community Services Department 

400 Marquette, NW, Suite 504 

Albuquerque, NM 87103 

Phone: 505-768-2860 

Fax: 505-768-3204 

NV, Las vegas 

Yvonne Ga tes 

Clark County Commissioners Office 

500 South Grand Central Parkway 

P.O. Box 551601 

Las Vegas, NY 89155-1601 

Phone: 702-455-3239 

Fax: 702-383-6041 

Jennifer Padre 

Southern Nevada Enterprise Community 

500 South Grand Central Parkway 

P.O. Box 551212 

Las Vegas, NV 89155-1212 

Phone: 702-455-5025 

Fax: 702-455-5038 

NY, Albany/Schenectady/troy 

Kevin O'Connor 

Center for Economic Growth 

One Key Corp Plaza, Suite 600 

Albany, NY 12207 

Phone: 518-465-8975 

Fax: 518-465-6681 

, r 
z iSe Communities 

NY, Buffalo 

Paula Alcala Rosner 

Buffalo Enterprise Development Corporation 

620 Main Street 

Buffalo, NY 14202 

Phone: 716-842-6923,ext. 133 

Fax: 716-842-6942 

NY, Newburgh/Kingston 

Allison Lee 

City of Newburgh, Community Development 

62 Grand Street 

Newburgh, NY 12550 

Phone: 914-569-1680 

Fax: 914-569-1630 

NY, Rochester 

Valerie Wheatley 

Staff Assistant to the Deputy Mayor 

City of Rochester 

Room 205A, City Hall 

30 Church Street 

Rochester, NY 14614 

Phone: 716-428-7207 

Fax: 716-428-7069 

OH, Akron 

Jerry Egan 

Department of Planning and 

Urban Development 

166 South High Street 

Akron, OH 44308-1628 

Phone: 330-375-2090 

Fax: 330-375-2387 

OH, Columbus 

John Beard 

Columbus Compact Corporation 

815 East Mound Street, Suite 108 

Columbus, OH 43205 

Phone: 614-251-0926 

Fax: 614-251-2243 

Patrick Grady 

Economic Development Administrator 

99 North Front Street 

Columbus, OH 43215 

Phone: 614-645-7574 

Fax: 614-645-7855 

OK, Oklahoma City 

Carl Friend 

Oklahoma City Planning Department 

420 West Main Street, Suite 920 

Oklahoma City, OK 73102 

Phone: 405-297-2574 

Fax: 405-297-3796 

OR, Portland 

Regena s. Warren 

Multnomah County 

421 Southwest Sixth Avenue, Suite 700 

Portland, OR 97204 

Phone: 503-248-3691, ext. 28134 

Fax: 503-248-3379 

PA, Harrisburg 

JoAnn Partridge 

City of Harrisburg 

Department of Building and 

Housing Development 

MLK City Government Center 

10 North Second Street, Suite 206 

Harrisburg, PA 17101-1681 

Phone: 717-255-6424, ext. 6443 

Fax: 717-255-6421 

PA, Pittsburgh 

Beverly Gillot 

City of Pittsburgh 

4433 Laurel Oak Drive 

Allison Park, PA 15101 

Phone: 412-487-6808 

Fax: 412-487-8062 

RI, Providence 

Patrick McGuigan 

Providence Plan 

56 Pine Street, Suite 3B 

Providence, RI 02903 

Phone: 401-455-8880 

Fax: 401-331-6840 

SC, Charleston 

PatriCia W. Crawford 

Housing/Community Development 

75 Calhoun Street, Division 616 

Charleston, SC 29401-3506 

Phone: 803-724-3766 

Fax: 803-724-7354 
TN, Memphis 

Vernua Hanrahan 

Center for Neighborhoods 

619 North Seventh Street 

Memphis, TN 38107 

Phone: 901-526-6627 

Fax: 901-523-9388 

TN, Nashville 

Phil Ryan 

Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency 

701 South Sixth Street 

Nashville, TN 37206 

Phone: 615-252-8505 

Fax: 615-252-8559 

TX, Dallas 

Mark Obeso 

Empowerment Zone Manager 

1500 Marilla, 2B South 

Dallas, TX 75201 

Phone: 214-670-4897 

Fax: 214-670- 5798 

TX, EI Paso 

Deborah G. Hamlyn 

City of EI Paso 

2 Civic Center Plaza, Ninth Floor 

EI Paso, TX 79901-1196 

Phone: 915-541-4643 

Fax: 915-541-4370 

TX, San Antonio 

Curley Spears 

City of San Antonio 

419 South Main, Suite 200 

San Antonio, TX 78204 

Phone: 210-207-6600 

Fax: 210-886-0006 

TX, Waco 

Charles Daniels 

City of Waco 

P.O. Box 2570 

Waco, TX 76702-2570 

Phone: 254-750-5640 

Fax: 254-750-5880 

UT, Ogden 

Karen Thurber 

Ogden City Neighborhood Development 

2484 Washington Boulevard, Suite 211 

Ogden, UT 84401 

Phone: 801-629-8943 

Fax: 801-629-8902 

VA, Norfolk 

Eleanor R. Bradshaw 

Norfolk Works, Inc. 

201 Granby Street, Suite 100A 

Norfolk, VA 23510 

Phone: 757-624-8650 

Fax: 757-622-4623 

VT, Burlington 

Brian Pine 

Office of Community Development 

City Hall, Room 32 

Burlington, VT 05401 

Phone: 802-865-7232 

Fax: 802-865-7024 

WA, Seattle 

Charles Depew 

City of Seattle 

Seattle Municipal Building 

Second Floor 

Seattle, WA 98104-1826 

Phone: 206-684-0208 

Fax: 206-684-0379 

WA, Tacoma 

Dr. Shirl E. Gilbert II 

Tacoma Empowerment Consortium 

1101 Pacific Avenue 

Tacoma, WA 98402 

Phone: 253-274-1288 

Fax: 253-274-1289 

WI, Milwaukee 

Glen Mattison 

City of Milwaukee 

Community Block Grant Administration 

City Hall, Room 606 

200 East Wells Street 

Milwaukee, WI 53202 

Phone: 414-286-3760 

Fax: 414-286-5003 

WV, Huntington 

Cathy Bums 

Community Development and Planning 

800 Fifth Avenue, Suite 14 

P.O. Box 1659 

Huntington, WV 25717 

Phone: 304-696-4486 

Fax: 304-696-4465 

1st 

EMPOWERMENT ZONES 

KY, Kentucky Highlands 

Jerry Rickett 

P.O. Box 1738 

London, KY 40744 

Phone: 606-864-5175 

Fax: 606-864-5194 

E-mail: khicnet@skn.net 

MS, Mid Delta 

Harold Lathon 

14000 Highway 82 West 

Mississippi Valley State University 

L.S. Rogers Building 

Itta Bena, MS 38941 

Phone: 601-254-9957 

Fax: 601-254-9941 

E-mail: middelta@www.ezec.gov 

TX, Rio Grande valley 

Bonnie Gonzalez 

301 South Texas 

Mercedes, TX 78570 

Phone: 956-514-4000 

Fax: 956-514-4007 

E-mail: riogrande@www.ezec.gov 

ENTERPRISE COMMUNITIES 

AL, Chambers county 

David Shaw 

1130 Quintard Avenue, Suite 300 

Anniston, AL 36201 

Phone: 205-237-6741 

Fax: 205-237-6763 

E-mail: eastal@www.ezec.gov 

AL, Greene/Sumter Counties 

John Zippert 

Coun ty Road 2 

P.O. Box 95 

Epes, AL 35460 

Phone: 205-652-9676 

Fax: 205-652-9678 

E-mail: greensum@www.ezec.gov 

AR, East Central Arkansas 

Marilyn Lynch 

1000 Airport Road 

Forrest City, AR 72335 

Phone: 870-630-2005 

Fax: 870-630-2035 

E-mail: ecentar@www.ezec.gov 

AR, MissiSSippi County 

Sam Scruggs 

205 South Second Street 

Former Eaker Airforce Base 

Blytheville, AR 72316 

Phone: 870-532-2348 

Fax: 870-532-2625 

E-mail: areco@www.ezec.gov 

AZ, Arizona Border Region 

Joel Viers 

118 Arizona Street 

Bisbee, AZ 85603 

Phone: 520-432-5301 

Fax: 520-432-5858 

E-mail: azec@www.ezec.gov 

AZ, Arizona Department of Commerce 

Pat Schroeder 

3800 North Central, Suite 1500 

Phoenix, AZ 85012 

Phone: 602-280-1350 

Fax: 602-280-1305 

AZ, City of San Luis 

Gail Gallagher 

P.O. Box S 

San Luis, AZ 85349 

Phone: 520-627-2027 

Fax: 520-627-3879 

CA, Imperial county 

Maria Matthews 

836 Main Street 

EI Centro, CA 92243 

Phone: 760-337-7814 

Fax: 760-337-8907 

E-mail: imperia!co@www.ezec.gov 

CA, City of Watsonville/ 

County of Santa Cruz 

Lisa Lampmann 

215 Union Street, Second Floor 

Watsonville, CA 95076 

Phone: 408-763-4033 

Fax: 408-761-0736 

E-mail: watson@www.ezec.gov 
ise Communities 

FL. Jackson County 

Leon Foster 

P.O. Box 920 

Marianna, FL 32447 

Phone: 904-526-4005 

Fax: 904-526-4008 

E-mail: jacksonco@www.ezec.gov 

GA, Crisp/DOoly 

Elton Shauf 

115 13th Avenue West 

P.O. Box 587 

Cordele, GA 31010 

Phone: 912- 273-9111 

Fax: 912-276-0450 

E-mail: crispdooly@www.ezec.gov 

GA, Central Savannah River Area 

Grady Sampson 

CSRA Regional Development Center 

4729 Quaker Road, Suite C 

P.O. Box 40 

Keysville, GA 30816 

Phone: 706-554-0342 

Fax: 706-554-6626 

E-mail: csra@www.ezec.gov 

LA, Macon Ridge 

Chip Rogers 

903 Louisiana Avenue 

P.O. Drawer 746 

Ferriday, LA 71334 

Phone: 318-757-3033 

Fax: 318-757-4212 

E-mail: maconridge@www.ezec.gov 

LA, Northeast Louisiana Delta 

Moses Junior Williams 

400 East Craig Street, Suite B 

Tallulah, LA 71282 

Phone: 318-574-0995 

Fax: 318-574-3132 

E-mail: tallulah@www.ezec.gov 

MI, Lake County 

Mary L. Trucks 

302 North Main Street 

P.O. Box 37 

Scottville, Ml 49454 

Phone: 616-757-3785 

Fax: 616- 757-9669 

E-mail: lakeco@www.ezec.gov 

MO, City of East Prairie 

Martha Ellen Black 

Susanna Wesley Family Learning Center 

207 North Washington Street 

P.O. Box 249 

East Prairie, MO 63845 

Phone: 573- 649-3731 

Fax: 573- 649-5028 

E-mail: epeC@ldd.net 

MS, North Delta 

Stuart Guernsey 

P.O. Drawer 330 

Sardis, MS 38666 

Phone: 601-487-1968 

Fax: 601-487-3595 

E-mail: ndelta@WWW.ezec.gov 

NC, Halifax/Edgecombe/Wilson 

Empowerment Alliance 

Reuben Blackwell 

P.O. Drawer 1180 

Rocky Mount, NC 27802 

Phone: 919-972-1609 

Fax: 919-972-1232 

E-mail: blackwell@Ci.rocky-mountain.nc.us 

NC, Robeson County 

Cynthia Johnson 

Lumber River Council of Government 

4721 Fayetteville Road 

Lumberton, NC 28358 

Phone: 910-618-0722 

Fax: 910-618-5576 

E-mail: robeson@WWW.ezec.gov 

NM, La Jicarita 

Ron Martinez 

P.O. Box 546 

Penasco, NM 87553 

Phone: 800-458-7323 

Fax: 505-587-1687 

E-mail: lajicarita@www.ezec.gov 

OH, Greater portsmouth 

Bob Walton 

433 Third Street 

P.O. Box 1523 

Portsmouth, OH 45662 

Phone: 614-354-7541 

Fax: 614-354-3933 

E-mail: bwaiton@zoomnet.net 
I 

I 

I 

\ 
 OK, Southeast Oklahoma 


Bob Yandell 

502 West Duke Street 

Hugo, OK 74743 

Phone: 405-326-6441 

Fax: 405-326-6655 

E-mail: Itldixie@WWW.ezec.gov 

OR, Josephine county 

Katie Wetzel 

IllinOis Valley Community Response Team 

P.O. Box 1824 

Cave Junction, OR 97523 

Phone: 541-592-2838 

Fax: 541-592-4106 

OR, Sunny-wolf Community Response Team 

Gary O'Neal 

P.O. Box 127 

Wolf Creek, OR 97497 \ 	 Phone: 541-866-2600 


Fax: 541-866-2449 


E-mail: josephine@www.ezec.gov 


I PA, City of Lock Haven 

Maria Boileau 

I 

20 East Church Street 

Lock Haven, PA 17745 

Phone: 717-893-5907 

Fax: 717-893-5905 

E-mail: entprise@oak.kcsd.kI2.pa.us 

SC, Williamsburg County/Lake City 

Faith Rivers 

P.O. Box 428 

128 West Main Street 

Kingstree, SC 29556 

Phone : 803-354-9070 

Fax: 803-354-3252 

E-mail: wmsburg@www.ezec.gov 

SO, Beadle/Spink Dakota 

Lori Hintz 


BASEA 


P.O. Box 68 

Yale, SD 57386 

Phone: 605-599-2991 

Fax: 605-599-2992 

E-mail: basecec@basec.net 

TN, Fayette 	County/Haywood County 

John Sicola 

157 Poplar, Room B150 

Memphis, TN 38103 

Phone: 901-576-4610 

Fax: 901-576-3519 

E-mail: fayhayco@www.ezec.gov 

TN, Scott/McCreary Area 

Leslie Winningham 

P.O. Box 186 

Huntsville, TN 37756 

Phone: 423-663-2910 

Fax: 423-663-4773 

E-mail: scottco@www.ezec.gov 

VA, ACCOmack-Northhampton 

Arthur Carter 

The Economic Empowerment and 

Housing Corporation 

P.O. Box 814 

Nassawadox, VA 23413 

Phone: 757-442-4509 

Fax: 757-442-7530 

E-mail: accomack@www.ezec.gov 

WA, Lower Yakima County 

Dan Guzman 

P.O. Box 329 

Sunnyside, WA 98944 

Phone: 509-839-6847 

Fax: 509-839-7462 

E-mail: yakima@www.ezec.gov 

WV, Central 	Appalachia 

Terrell Ellis 

P.O. Box 176 

Clay, WV 25043 

Phone: 304-587-2034 

Fax: 304-587-2027 

E-mail: caez@access.mountain.net 

WV, McDowell County 

Dr. Cliff Moore 

P.O. Box 158 

Wilcoe, WV 24895 

Phone: 304-448-2118 

Fax: 304-448-3287 

E-mail: mcdowell@www.ezec.gov 

TERMS AND DEFINITIONS 


AFDC Aid to Families with Dependent Children 

CDBC Community Development Block Grant 

COPC Community Outreach Partnership Centers 

000 U.S. Department of Defense 

ED U.S. Department of Education 

EC Enterprise Community 

EDI Economic Development Initiative 

EEC Enhanced Enterprise Community 

ESL English as a Second Language 

EZ Empowerment Zone 

CEO General Equivalency Diploma 

HHS US. Department of Health and Human Services 

HOME HUD HOME funding program 

HUD U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 

JTPA Job Training Partnership Act 

NASA No tionaI Aeronautics and Space Administration 

SBA Small Business Administration 

SEZ Supplemental Empowerment Zone 

SSBC Social Services Block Grant 

USDA U.S. Department of Agriculture 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, 

national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, and marital and family status. (Not all 

prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program 

information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA's TARGET Center at 202-720-2600 (Voice and TOO). 

To file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, Room 326-W, Whitten Building, 14th Street and 

Independence Av€nue, Sw., Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call 202-720-5964 (Voice or TOO). USDA is an equal opportunity 

provider and employer. 
. USDA 
 YOUR COMMUNITY PARTNER 

U.S. Department of 1_lIIlland Urban Development U.S. Department of Agriculture Andrew Cuomo, SOti'rOMI"U Dan Glickman, Secretary 

OHlce of Commun .....lig and Development Rural Development Saul N. Ramirez, Jr.. ",,~II"lZJ l Secretary Jill Long Thompson, Under Secretary