Faith-based Tech ED?

With President Bush announcing the creation of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, some analysts and practitioners are pondering the implications for economic local and state development efforts.

Do faith-based organizations have a role in ED?

One doesn’t have to look too far for evidence that some faith-based groups already are actively supporting the push for local tech-based ED. The National Congress for Community Economic Development’s 1998 national census of community development corporations (CDCs) shows 14 percent (about 500) of all CDCs across the country identified themselves as "faith-based organizations." The NCCED provides resources and support for faith-based economic development efforts. The website is http://www.ncced.org

In fact, the 2000 Guide to Religious Community Development Investment Funds  reports that religious organizations have invested $900 million in low-income communities. While the vast majority of faith-based activities are oriented to social and health services, there are some significant exceptions.

In Los Angeles, for example, the First African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church has been a catalyst for economic change in the neighborhood since 1992 when it started the FAME Renaissance – a revolving loan fund and entrepreneurial training program, among other activities.

F.A.M.E.’s biggest single community development effort came as the result of a  public-corporate partnership which helped fund the Business Resource Center,  including $3.7 million from the Walt Disney Company and the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration. The program has funded more than 100 loans to minority-owned businesses for fixed assets/acquisitions, working capital for inventory and seed money for new business startups. Loans range from $2,000 to $500,000 with modest interest rates for terms of one to seven years. The center is a collaborative effort between the University of Southern California’s Business Expansion Network, Vermont-Slawson Economic Development Corporation, and the African American Unity Center.

In New Orleans, the Christian Faith Community Church is a hub of economic activity, including businesses, job training, business education, and an incubator. The church’s co-pastors, Gregg and Dedra Thomas, recently sponsored a two-day conference at Xavier University open to other church leaders looking to follow in their footsteps.

One concern raised by critics of the President’s initiative, aside from the church-state separation issue, is the potential for faith-based groups to be enticed by the availability of federal funds away from their religious missions. Others question the ability of interfaith cooperation on local development projects. An example of such a scenario could be the Niagara Falls Faith-based Collaborative. Formed in 1999, with nearly a million dollars of funding from the city and the federal Department Housing and Urban Development, the Collaborative has yet to begin any of its proposed economic development and training initiatives because of conflicts among board members from different religious groups. According to the local media, the city has frozen $420,000 in federal funds for the Collaborative as the problems move to the courts.

As with local tech-based economic development policy and implementation, a partnership among relevant stakeholders is critical for success. With the new White House office created, faith-based organizations with an interest in economic development may become more viable players in the field. More information on the President's initiative can be found at http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/reports/faithbased.pdf