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Steve Chronister For York County Commissioner |
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ADDENDUM II USC Community Outreach Partnership Center (COPC) (7) Project 1: Sustainable Industrial Development USC Lead:
USC Center for Economic Development Project Description: This project will assist business and property owners within the 20 block industrial area bounded by Olympic Boulevard on the north, Pico Boulevard on the south, Soto Street on the west and Grande Vista Street on the east. This community has asked for economic development assistance so: the business improvement district it is forming will address its needs; CRA-planned improvements will reflect community concerns; and a proposed new industrial park will improve area property values. This project will offer: * Education and information dissemination
to businesses and landowners within the project area regarding formation
of a Business Improvement District (BID); In 1992, a survey of businesses in the project area revealed that location is the primary reason for remaining in this Boyle Heights neighborhood. However, over 60% of the businesses believe the future outlook is declining. Issues and concerns of the local community at that time included: the age of the industrial base; lack of parking; substandard truck access or turn around space; poor street lighting; lack of landscaping; trash dumping; issues related to the area's homeless population; crime and graffiti; environmental issues including ground contamination; loss of local industries and jobs due to high property taxes; increasing workman compensation claims and expenses; city fees; relocation of the furniture industry to Mexicali; and lack of incentives to attract new industry. The Industrial Business Watch Group, a voluntary membership group, has been working on addressing the economic development issues in the target area for this project. It has invited USC's participation in educating and informing fellow business owners about the opportunities of forming a Business Improvement District. The following agencies recognize the economic development need for this project: * The City of Los Angeles Consolidated Plan
2000-2003, First Year Action Plan 2000 - 2001 is funding a Targeted
Neighborhoods Initiative in Boyle Heights; The TNI concentrates CDBG funds in twelve declining Los Angeles neighborhoods to increase private investment and revitalize neighborhoods. Stakeholders guide the TNI, for example, local TNI neighborhood groups determine project activities. During its third year of operation, the Boyle Heights TNI has been concentrating on the commercial districts in Boyle Heights.
For Information on How To Prepare Federal Grant Application, Please Click Here. For Information on How to Apply For SBA Loans, Please Click Here. Project Description: The South Los Angeles Economic Alliance is a confederation of community-based organizations serving the economic development needs of South-Central Los Angeles. Alliance members have requested basic training in preparing grant and loan applications, and assistance identifying sources of more in-depth training. For this project, the Center will design and develop Internet and CD-ROM-based resources enabling residents of the target area to access funding opportunities. Specific modules will train users to prepare grant and loan applications, and provide 2000 Census data economic indicators describing the EZ/EC Zone to use in grant applications. This project builds on work the Center has already completed building a web site linking the community to economic development resources. Project 3: Micro-enterprise
Training and Financing Initiative Project Description: The objective of this program is to provide low-income individuals with opportunities to stabilize and increase their earning capacity through small business training and financing. The Micro-enterprise Training and Financing Initiative will provide business training to low-income individuals interested in starting businesses. Micro-loans up to $10,000 in investment capital will be available based on the quality of business plans. This project will assist new, low-income entrepreneurs by providing outreach, training, technical assistance, and start-up capital (provided by California Federal Bank). There will be three classes training 75 entrepreneurs during the three project years. Following are the major project tasks: * Extensive outreach to grassroots-level
groups like the Brotherhood Crusade's African-American Unity Center, Watts
Labor Community Action Committee and other Community-Based Organizations
with which
Small Business Development Center
has working relationships. At the end of the class, and upon submission of completed feasibility studies, Small Business Development Center will refer the most realistic and viable plans to a judging panel for consideration. Participants whose plans make the first "cut" will then be invited to "pitch" their plans to this panel. Based upon the quality of the plan, the judging panel will make recommendations to California Federal Bank regarding which candidates should be funded. USC Small Business Development Center will provide borrowers with post-loan technical assistance in specific areas such as product sourcing and marketing, management and operations, cash management, etc. Project 4: Asset Building for
Empowerment Zone and Enterprise Community Residents Project Description: This project will determine the best approach for establishing a community-based program offering Individual Development Accounts (IDAs) to provide an opportunity for savings and asset-building in the EZ/EC Zone. Individual Development Accounts (IDAs) are matched, tax-advantaged savings accounts for low-income people. They provide individuals with incentives to save by matching their deposits 2:1. Public and private sector contributions usually funded the program matches. Participants may withdraw accumulated matches only for "approved" uses, such as home purchase, home repair, micro-enterprise, retirement, or post-secondary education. Savers may withdraw their own accumulated contributions for any purpose. IDAs are very similar to Roth IRAs, but they include matches for the poor. Roth IRAs are savings accounts in which after-tax dollars accumulate interest tax-free and are available to the account owner for use in retirement, home purchase, or post-secondary education. Poor people are in low or negative tax brackets, so the tax incentives for IRAs are not strong, hence the matches. Also, the matches help savings accumulate sufficiently and quickly enough so that savers are less likely to become discouraged or withdraw money for some short-term use. The major tasks of the proposed asset-building project are: * Conducting research to learn about the
savings behavior of residents in the Empowerment Zone; The project will include a survey of at least 100 low-income residents to gain insight into their savings behavior. BEN staff will also conduct one-on-one interviews with the chief executives and staff of at least ten community-based organizations to obtain feedback on setting-up an IDA program within the Empowerment Zone. Finally, BEN will establish an alliance with one community-based organization interested in starting such a program, and provide technical assistance in program design and implementation. Education and Job Training Project 5: MUA Community Ambassadors Project USC Lead: The Multimedia University Academy
(MUA) Project Project Description: The mission of the MUA is to create a "career pathway" in multimedia production technology for young people aged 17 to 23 years. The MUA focuses its outreach on those young people "at risk" because of poverty, deficiencies in basic educational skills, and/or a lack of career goals. The MUA is open to all who might benefit from it, particularly women and under-represented minorities. The MUA program offers students an opportunity to acquire academic, learning, and social skills that will enable them to pursue advanced education, acquire advanced computer technology skills, and find gainful employment in the field of multimedia technology production. The MUA Community Ambassadors project will train MUA graduates to perform outreach in their own communities (e.g., high schools, community organizations) among other at-risk youth. The Ambassadors will counsel students on employment prospects in information technology, the MUA, and other post-high school programs. They will also serve as aides in computer labs and with non-profit organizations, and will teach classes in computer use and graphic arts at community organizations. Ultimately, the MUA Ambassadors will recruit at-risk youth into the MUA program - students who will themselves have an opportunity to become MUA Ambassadors upon completing the program. The MUA is currently a 20-week program during which students receive instruction in job training skills, workplace behaviors, building basic skills, learning strategies, career planning, employment placement, and evaluation and planning for advanced education all within the focus of a computer and multimedia curriculum. At the end of the training period, there should be a measurable improvement in student skills leading to student placement in entry-level multimedia employment and/or acceptance at advanced education institutions. In addition, the MUA Ambassadors will increase their awareness of community outreach programs, foster participation by the target population in outreach programs, and significantly increase confidence in the community and chances for success in employment and other training programs Housing Project 6: Homeownership Credit Counseling and Financial Management Workshops USC Lead:
USC-Central Los Angeles SBDC Technology Center Project Description: The objective of this project is to reduce the barriers to homeownership of poor or no credit by providing homeownership credit counseling and personal financial management training to 60 EZ/EC residents whose income would support a mortgage payment, but who are disqualified by their credit history. By confronting and fixing their credit problems in a supportive environment, and by learning how to develop budgets to better manage personal and household finances, participants will be economically empowered. This will help prepare them for homeownership. Components of this training effort will include: common credit challenges; how to work oneself out of credit problems; how to establish credit; and how to manage personal and household finances. Interested participants will receive assistance in developing plans to negotiate with creditors and reduce and/or restructure existing debt. One-on-one technical assistance will be available to participants who need additional help in creating household budgets and financial plans. Participants will then obtain referrals to local programs providing assistance in housing acquisition, such as the Neighborhood Housing Services Program, or the City of Los Angeles Small Sites and Home Works! Programs for first-time homebuyers. Neighborhood Revitalization Project 7: Narrowing the Digital Divide in Boyle Heights and Vernon-Central USC Lead:
USC-Center for Economic Development Project Description: The Los Angeles Neighborhood Initiative (LANI) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to jump-starting community-driven neighborhood revitalization. LANI accomplishes this by providing designated declining communities with: * Seed funding for improvement projects; References (1). Wastberg, Olle. The Peacemaker. Published 6/1/05. Accessible http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/01/opinion/01wastberg.html?ex=1275278400&en=aa4dff4a3b0f7923&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss (2). “Mayoralty.” Mayoralty. Wikipedia.org. Accessible http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudy_Giuliani (3). “CompStat.” CompStat. Wikipedia.org. Available http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolph_Giuliani (4). Wilson, James Q and Kelling, George L. “Broken Windows.” Broken Windows. Accessible http://www.brokenwindow.com/windows_theory.html (5). “New York.” Accessible http://www.reform.co.uk/website/crime/abetterway/newyork.asp (6). “A Vision for Education.” Community Outreach. Accessible http://www.nyc.gov/html/rug/html/96/educ.html (7). “USC Center for Economic Development Community Outreach Partnership Center (COPC). The University of Southern California. Accessible http://www.usc.edu/schools/sppd/research/COPC/ (8). Fred Siegel. “In Character.” Dialing 311 how computers, cops, creativity reduce crime. Accessible http://www.incharacter.org/article.php?article=34 |
