Andy Brack

NEWS: Center to offer two grant-writing courses in Promise Zone

SC Promise Zone

One-day, intensive training sessions seek to catalyze requests for funding in region

The Center for a Better South will offer one-day grant-writing courses in February and March by recognized professionals to help organizations improve skills for seeking federal funding available through the S.C. Promise Zone.

“We’ve heard in focus groups this fall from Jasper County to Barnwell County that people want specialized training so that they can apply for various federal grants that are available to organizations and communities through the Promise Zone designation,” Better South President Andy Brack said.  “Our new grant-writing sessions are the first of several entrepreneurial training opportunities designed to help people learn more so we can accomplish Promise Zone goals.” Read more →

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Better South gets $50,000 training grant

SC Promise Zone
Center President Andy Brack addressed a Promise Zone group last year in Allendale.

Center President Andy Brack addressed a Promise Zone group last year in Allendale.

AUG. 17, 2016  |  A $50,000 grant for technical assistance from the U.S. Department of Agriculture will allow the Center for a Better South to develop and implement a new entrepreneurial training program in the S.C. Lowcountry Promise Zone.

“What great news this funding is for people who live in the Promise Zone,” said Center President Andy Brack.  “It will help us identify community needs in each of the Promise Zone counties for economic development training and then to target the kind of classes  on entrepreneurship that people want so they can start businesses and improve their communities.” Read more →

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National leaders provide critical input on Promise Zone

SC Promise Zone
Susan Glisson of Oxford, Miss., makes a point during a small group session as other participants listen. Also pictured, from left: Claire Anderson, Center for a Better South; Lavastian Glenn, Winston-Salem, N.C.; and Bill Milliken, Alexandria, Va.

Susan Glisson of Oxford, Miss., makes a point during a small group session as other participants listen. Also pictured, from left: Claire Anderson, Center for a Better South; Lavastian Glenn, Winston-Salem, N.C.; and Bill Milliken, Alexandria, Va.

FEB. 2, 2016 | A dozen leading thinkers and analysts from across the South met over the weekend to learn about the S.C. Lowcountry Promise Zone and make suggestions to broaden the impact of its collaborative efforts to reduce poverty.

“The ThinkBIG conference was an important step in our planning process in realizing our Promise Zone goals,” said Danny Black, president and CEO of SouthernCarolina Alliance, the lead organization of the Promise Zone.  “We were fortunate to have guidance from and discussion with experts from around the country in rural economic and community development, who joined us to share fresh ideas and innovative approaches to our challenges.” Read more →

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Press and Standard: Moving a community forward

SC Promise Zone
Local, state and national leaders talked about injecting arts into community development in Walterboro, Nov. 13, 2015.

Local, state and national leaders talked about injecting arts into community development in Walterboro, Nov. 13, 2015.

Excerpted from The (Walterboro) Press and Standard  |  Read the full story here

DEC. 4, 2015  |  All the ink goes to tax breaks and incentives when a community is successful in attracting a new employer, but the recruiting of an economic development prospect involves everything, including arts and culture.

Often potential economic development factors like the arts and culture are overlooked.

Susan DuPlessis of the South Carolina Arts Commission, said, “It is all so knitted together that sometimes it is difficult to tease out all these different pieces.”  Culture and the arts, she explained, is a vital part of a community’s quality of life “that helps make a place that people want to be.”

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