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Bamberg residents share Promise Zone “wish list”

SC Promise Zone
Bamberg County residents talk during a Promise Zone town hall. SCPromiseZone photo.

Bamberg County residents talk during a Promise Zone town hall. SCPromiseZone photo.

Excerpted from the Orangeburg Times and Democrat, July 12, 2015:

DENMARK — Residents at a Wednesday morning town hall meeting cited a new state-of-the art hospital, industrial growth and enhancement of workforce-training programs as priorities as the community pursues federal dollars.

“This is not a pot of money out there waiting for us to go pick up,” Andy Brack, president of the non-partisan Center for a Better South told 50 to 75 individuals gathered at the Massachusetts Hall on the Voorhees College campus to hear about the region’s newly acquired federal Promise Zone designation and how to reap the benefits from the designation. “It is a potential pot of money waiting for us to go and pick up but we got to work to get it.”

Promise Zones are high-poverty communities where the federal government partners with local leaders to increase economic activity, improve educational opportunities, leverage private investment, reduce violent crime, enhance public health and address other priorities identified by the community. Read more →

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Promise Zone is shot in the arm

SC Promise Zone

Commentary from Statehouse Report:

MAY 1, 2015  |  Talk about a shot in the arm for the southern rural counties of South Carolina. Witness the just-announced federal Promise Zone designation for a six-county area centering on Allendale County that should pump in millions of dollars of aid over the next 10 years.

But let’s be clear: It’s a hand-up, not a handout for people in the zone area of Allendale, Bamberg, Barnwell, Colleton, Hampton and Jasper counties. There’s a lot of hard work ahead for these counties, nonprofits, government agencies and businesses that are part of the effort to generate more jobs, improve education, reduce crime and get more affordable housing in a region where 28.1 percent of 90,000 residents live in poverty.

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Kentucky’s Promise Zone generated $174 million

SC Promise Zone

Excerpted from the Walterboro Press and Standard:

APRIL 30, 2015  | [CEO Jerry] Rickett said since receiving the designation Kentucky Highland Promise Zone, approximately $174 million has been committed to be invested by Kentucky, the federal government and private sector. “We have written 91 letters of support for projects applying for federal funds.”

Since the designation, Rickett said, the United States Department of Agriculture provided a loan to the Knox County Hospital that saved 200 jobs. “Those types of investments have been so critical to helping us maintain the employment we have,” Rickett said. USDA has committed $43 million to projects within the Kentucky Promise Zone.

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New Promise Zone includes Colleton

SC Promise Zone

Excerpted from the Walterboro Press and Standard:

APRIL 30, 2015  |  The six counties in the SouthernCarolina Regional Development Alliance became the second rural area in the United States to be designated a Promise Zone by the federal government.

Promise Zones are high poverty communities where the federal government partners with local leaders to increase economic activity, improve educational opportunities, leverage private investment, reduce violent crime, enhance public health and address other priorities identified by the community.

 

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