MISSISSIPPI DELTA: BEYOND 2000 INVENTORY Based on issues discussed in the 1990 Report, The Delta Initiatives (This information is updated on an ongoing basis.) The following is a detailed supplement to the Report published in September 1999 entitled The Mississippi Delta: Beyond 2000 under the leadership of Secretary Rodney E. Slater, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation. The Report is available on the Department of Transportation's Delta Web-site. This document is a review of federal activities in the 219- county region in seven states as defined by the Lower Mississippi Delta Development Commission in 1990. Much of the Inventory is in the form of an update of the 1990 Report of that Commission, although new issues have been added in recognition of changes that have taken place during the 1990s. The information will be updated on an ongoing basis. Inquiries can either be e-mailed to this address, or mailed to: Harold Gist, Office of Inter-Governmental Affairs United States Department of Transportation 400 7th Street, SW Room 10405 Washington, DC 20590 The Inventory deals with the following issues: HUMAN CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT Community Development Housing Education Job Growth Health NATURAL, PHYSICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ASSETS Transportation Agriculture Infrastructure Natural Resources and Environment BUSINESS AND INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT Business and Industrial Development Tourism DIVERSITY 1 I. HUMAN CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT Community Development: Empowerment Zones and Enterprise Communities In 1990, the Lower Mississippi Delta Development Commission (the Commission) recommended that communities in the 219 Delta counties should develop strategic plans that are integrated with state, regional and federal entities. The Commission noted the problems of inadequate funds, training and technical assistance, and emphasized the importance of local leadership initiatives in addressing these problems. The 1990 Report of the Commission urged the President and Congress to structure Rural Development legislation to build upon local leadership initiatives rather than creating competing ones. “Families on welfare and in crisis situations,” the Commission stated, “need a multitude of services. Breaking the welfare cycle requires more than financial assistance and a medical card. It requires a concentrated and comprehensive effort.” The Commission stressed that a joint, cooperative approach must be developed that embraced a coalition of community-based organizations, private sector partners, nonprofit foundations, as well as state and federal partners. The Empowerment Zones/Enterprise Communities Program As President, Bill Clinton has pursued the basic objectives he earlier supported as Chair of the Commission through a Presidential initiative known as the Empowerment Zones and Enterprise Communities (EZ/EC) program. EZ/EC is a Clinton administration initiative designed to create solutions to community problems of endemic poverty, high unemployment and general distress. The program is based upon four key principles: economic opportunity, sustainable community development, community-based partnerships, and strategic vision for change. The urban Empowerment Zones and Enterprise Communities are assisted by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), while the rural Empowerment Zones, Enterprise Communities and Champion Communities are assisted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Office of Community Development. The 1990 Report contained a major section on “Community Development,” the basic principles of which are now being supported in EZ/EC communities in the Delta and in other regions throughout America. EZ/EC Round I: In 1994, USDA designated three Empowerment Zones and 30 Enterprise Communities in Round I of the program, which was created by Title XIII of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993. Each applicant community was required to engage in extensive community planning to develop a strategic plan for its EZ/EC application. Applications were rated on their degree of innovation, the extent to which the community— especially low-income residents—took part in the planning process and would be responsible for implementation, and their adherence to the basic principles of economic opportunity, sustainable community development, community-based partnerships, and strategic vision for change. The Round I communities included eight rural and five urban EZ’s and EC’s in the seven Mississippi Delta states studied by the Commission in 1990. HUD has given special assistance to the five HUD-designated Enterprise Communities in the lower Mississippi Delta. These are: Pulaski 2 County, Arkansas; Ouachita Parish, Louisiana; Memphis, Tennessee; Jackson, Mississippi and New Orleans, Louisiana. These five Enterprise Communities are quite different in their locales and their ultimate goals, but they all provide excellent examples of what can be accomplished through partnership. The eight USDA EZ’s and EC’s in Round I were: Mid-Delta Mississippi Empowerment Zone, Mississippi; North Delta Mississippi Enterprise Community, Mississippi; Macon Ridge Enterprise Community, Louisiana; Northeast Louisiana Delta Enterprise Community, Louisiana; Mississippi County Enterprise Community, Arkansas; East Central Arkansas Enterprise Community, Arkansas; Fayette/Howard Enterprise Community, Tennessee; East Prairie Enterprise Community, Missouri. In Round II, a new EZ was designated: the Southernmost Illinois Delta Empowerment Zone. Strategic plans: Each locally-developed strategic plan in the Delta was crafted with the support and participation of the community. Residents, community-based organizations, and private sector partners made decisions on the plan’s focus not in the traditional top-down manner, but by achieving consensus within the community, thus empowering it to create its own vision for the future. Each plan identified community priorities and goals and established goals for accomplishing them. Leveraging of funding: In Round I, the EZ/EC program provides flexible block grant funding to assist in implementing communities’ plans: two Health and Human Services Social Security block grants totaling $40 million for each EZ, and one grant for just under to $3 million for each EC. Communities succeeded in leveraging their federal funding with commitments from state, county, and local governments, private businesses, and nonprofit and foundation awards. The average leveraging ratio for communities from its beginning in 1994 to 1999 was approximately 10 dollars of additional funding for each one dollar of EZ/EC funding. Empowerment Zone employers gained tax credits equal to 20 percent of the first $15,000 in wages or training expenses for qualified employees. Tax-free facility bonds of up to $3 million were available for some EZ’s and EC’s. Further, qualified businesses could receive an additional $20,000 tax deduction for investments in Empowerment Zones. Communities also received priority consideration for many other federal programs. Champion Communities: In order to maintain ties with communities that crafted a strategic plan, 182 of the 227 rural applicants in Round I received “Champion Community” status. These communities were not designated as EZ’s or EC’s, but they still receive assistance as a response to specific requests for funding and technical assistance. Establishment of Southern EZ/EC Forum and the Mississippi Delta Regional Initiative: The Southern EZ/EC Forum began as an informal organization of rural and urban EZ’s and EC’s in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. This organization held quarterly meetings beginning in 1995 to share program ideas and discuss issues of mutual concern. The Chair is Thelma French, New Orleans EC (urban), and the Vice Chair is Moses J. Williams, Northeast Lousiana Delta EC (rural). The USDA Office of Community Development (OCD) discussed with Forum leaders in August, 1997 the possibility of forming a Delta regional initiative similar to the multi-state Southwest Border Regional Partnership that was organized in 3 June, 1997, with Vice President Gore attending the kick-off meeting in Texas. Because of the similar cultural and economic conditions throughout the Delta, the regional approach was supported as an effective way to strengthen the area’s ability to attract resources by speaking with one united, regional voice. In October 1997, OCD began implementing a Cooperative Agreement between USDA and the Lower Mississippi Delta Development Center (LMDDC), which was formerly known as the Lower Mississippi Delta Development Commission. OCD and Forum leaders concluded that EZ and EC communities should partner with LMDDC. By using the remaining years of priority funding in Round I and leveraging other resources, they could effectively aid in implementing the recommendations of the 1990 Report of the Lower Mississippi Delta Development Commission. The Forum and OCD then cooperated in forming a Delta regional initiative consisting of LMDDC, the Enterprise Corporation of the Delta, the Forum, and the Foundation for the Mid- South. The Forum expanded to include all of the 7 states studied by the Commission, and also voted to add Alabama. April, 1998 meeting in New Orleans to sign the Delta regional Partnership Agreement: A Partnership Agreement was drafted in the form of a social compact between the organizations to work cooperatively for sustainable economic and community development to improve the quality of life in the Delta. The parties signed this agreement on April 16, 1998, at a meeting