George Nemeth · Federal Empowerment Zone?

January 11th, 2009

From Anthony Houston, former director of Cleveland’s Empowerment Zone:

Missing from Jackson’s paper is the role and funding from the federal empowerment zone.

Whatever happened to the Empowerment Zone? More importantly, what happened to the federal money that created the EZ? Where did that all go? You’d think for $200M in investment, that area would have something to report.

Above 110th Street: Mayor Frank Jackson’s Urban Policy Agenda

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Category: Economic Development
13 Comments »

13 Responses to “Federal Empowerment Zone?”

  1. lmcshane Says:
    January 12th, 2009 at 10:24 am

    Hocus-pocus…Take tax dollars generated in NEO, send the money to the federal government, have the federal government send it back based on the “poverty quotient” after skimming some here and there, see local “leaders” make it disappear. And, the ultimate insult…they don’t live here.

  2. Hershel Daniels Junior Says:
    January 13th, 2009 at 12:08 am

    The Empowerment Zone [national] is in its last year of operation. It is a federal program that still has $130M in capital creation in Cleveland.

  3. Ed Morrison Says:
    January 13th, 2009 at 7:36 am

    Anthony’s question is still unanswered:

    Where did all the money go?

  4. John Ettorre Says:
    January 13th, 2009 at 10:53 am

    As I recall, much of it was ultimately directed into subsidizing some of the modern strip center retail developments that you’ll occasionally see plopped down into otherwise blighted Cleveland neighborhoods. Obviously, that’s not a bad thing, but equally obvious is that that probably wasns’t the best use for that money. Naturally, some of it also no doubt ended up in the pockets of many of Iron Mike White’s friends in the business community. And some of it was siphoned off by various consulting and nonprofit institutions, including CWRU’s Poverty Center.

  5. lmcshane Says:
    January 13th, 2009 at 12:00 pm

    $130M in capital creation in Cleveland . Let’s please watch this money…where will it go?

  6. George Nemeth Says:
    January 14th, 2009 at 10:25 am

    While I appreciate your effort and knowledge, John, I don’t think you’re the one we need to be looking towards for answers.

  7. John Ettorre Says:
    January 14th, 2009 at 11:51 am

    I hear you, George. Actually, since this was federal funding, the city would have had to file copious documentation on what they did with the money, which is of course all public record.

  8. oengus Says:
    January 25th, 2009 at 10:56 am

    Some of that money went into the Hough Homes, some went into Church Square and adjacent Beacon Place. Some went to redevelop Notre Dame Catholic High school and Rockefeller Park. There are also quite few housing developments through out Glenville and a few as John stated strip centers, one at five points in Collinwood.

  9. oengus Says:
    January 25th, 2009 at 11:14 am

    That is just real property development, there are HUD 108 and EZ BOP loans packages that are still available, to business.

    The funds also used provide a wide range of technical assistance services including: project feasibility analysis; zoning research and compliance; site selection and land bank requests; business plan review and assistance; business financial analysis; construction loan packaging; construction bidding assistance; architectural design review; construction monitoring; and governmental compliance (both construction and financial).

    Midtown had some development as part of the empowerment zone, I could get into all the things they did some sustained and some met a demise.

    Hough changed, Fairfax changed Glenville and Midtown changed, not remarkably but they had some success in spite of it all.

  10. oengus Says:
    January 25th, 2009 at 11:25 am

    “Missing from Jackson Paper” is not a question it is an observation, Anthony as a former director of the empowerment zone would not ask “where did the money go“? That’s added by the author the question, “where did the money go”?

    I make an educated guess Anthony Houston would like to see the empowerment zone refunded the extension of the funding, perhaps a comprehensive review, what went right and what went wrong.

    I would like to see a request for funding the opportunity corridor and in alignment with completion of Fairfaix master plan. http://www.fairfaxrenaissance.org/images/quincyinit3.gif

  11. Ira Says:
    February 3rd, 2009 at 2:08 pm

    Since the program is set to expire very soon… what are the current proposals on the table in regards to Empowerment Zone legislature?

    Thanks

  12. Anthony D. Houston Says:
    February 3rd, 2009 at 8:58 pm

    Oengus:

    You are correct in your description of the many successes despite an overwhelming lack of historical support for the program.

    Two, the absence of utilizing the full array of EZ funding tools as an intergral part of the overall economic development strategy for the city and region is unfortunate. This never happened. And three, I was the 8th director in ten years of the program. This is related to points one and two. Thanks

    I would deconstruct aspects of the EZ but retain and expand the small business financing and focus on placing the EZ in a larger, more focused strategy and combine with a more comprehensive approach like Geoff Canada is doing in NYC. Thanks

  13. Anthony D. Houston Says:
    February 3rd, 2009 at 9:02 pm

    The program is set to expire but there is a well-organized EZ/EC/RC Coalition that has lobbied Congress to extend the designation. The City of Cleveland, as far as I know, did not join nor lobby our congressional delegation to support the introduction of legislation on the Friday before the inauguration of President Obama.