Carolina Planning Vol. 23.1: Conservation-Oriented Development

Volume

23,

Number

1

Winter

1998

planning

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Sn7

1

^^

Jobs

and

Welfare

Reform

New

Urbanism

Comes

of

Age

How

Sustainable

Is

Florida's

Growth

Management?

Conservation-Oriented

Development

in

the

N.

Carolina

Mountains

he

planning

journal

_of

the

southeast

From

the Editors

The

Winter,

1998

issue

of Carolina Planning

continues the

tradition started inthepreviousissue

of

publishing

more

diverse

articles.

We

also

began

what

we

hope

will

be

an annualCarolina

Planning

event, theCarolinaPlanning

Forum,

which

isapublic discussionabouta timelyand importantplanningissue.

The

first

CarolinaPlanning

Forum,

entitled Transitions:

Linking People

to

Jobs

in

an

Age

of

Welfare

Reform,

was

heldattheUniversity

of

North

Carolina at

Chapel

Hill

on

November

10, 1997.

We

chosethistopicbecause ofthe largeimpact

of

welfarereformand

the

growing

importanceofjobtrainingand placementinthefields

of

planning

and

community

economic

development.

The

recent strong

economic growth

intheUnitedStateshasdisproportionately

benefited the"haves" atthe

expense

of

the "have-nots".

At

the

same

time, a strong

economy

provides arareopportunity tocreate

economic development

strategies thatcan spreadthebenefits

of

growth

toall

segments of American

society.

We

hope

this

forum

andthearticlethatfollowsitabouttargeted

economic

development

give

our

readers

new

ideas for confronting

problems

in their

communities.

With

thisissue,

we

are

changing

thedatingsystem

of Carolina

Planning

to

more

accuratelyreflectthetimingof oursemi-annual

issues.

What

used

to betheFall

and

Spring issuesare

now

the

Winter and

Summer

issues.

The

issue

volume

and

numbers

will

not change.

As

always,

we

welcome

readers'submissions to

Caro-linaPlanning.

We

also

welcome

any

comments

or suggestions

you

have

about

Carolina

Planning.

Jennifer Hurley

Rob

Inerfeld

Do

you

have

a

dilemma?

CarolinaPlanningisproposing a

new

column

todiscuss issues related to ethicsand planning. Ineach issue, situations willbe presentedwhichinvolveethicalissues,alongwith a discussion of theseissues andpossibleresponses. Thisisnotmeanttobe a

fonim

for dealing specificallywiththe problems, butrather to raise questions about

what

constitutes ethical behavior in

planning.

We

arelookingforsubmissions ofrelevant situations

or case studies,aswellasseveralpeople

who

would

bewilling to

comment

onthese submissions and identify thekey ethical

issues. If

you

areinterested, pleasecontactCarolina Planning

at

UNC-Chapel

Hill,

CB

#3140,

New

EastBuilding, Chapel

Hill,

NC

27599-3140;(919) 962-4783.

Editors

ChristopherCity

JenniferHurley RobertInerfeld

Jessica

LeVeen

CarolinaPlanningispublished twiceayearwiththe assistanceof fundsfromtheJohnA.Parker TrustFund,theDepartmentof Cityand RegionalPlanning, the

NorthCarolinaChapterof the

AmericanPlanningAssociation,

andtheDepartmentof Cityand RegionalPlanningAlumni

Association.

Subscriptionsare availableatan annualrate(twoissues)of$12.00

forindividuals,$20.00for

institutions,and$ 10.00for

studentsandmembersofthe

AmericanPlanningAssociation.

Backissuesare available for$8.00

perissue,including postage.

CarolinaPlanningwelcomes commentsandsuggestionsabout

thearticlespublished. Carolina

Planning,

UNC-Chapel

Hill,

CB

#

3140,

New

East Building,Chapel Hill,

NC

27599-3140; (919)9624783.

PrintedbyPrinting Servicesat

UNC-Chapel

Hillonrecycled

paper.

TheeditorswishtothankBertina

Baldwin,

Mary

BethPowell, Holly

McBane.Lila Berry,David

Godschalk,andtheCenterfor

Urbanand RegionalStudies.

Coverdesign:AaronBartels

Coverartwork:KarenBerchtold

©

1998DepartmentofCityand

Carolina Planning

A

Student-Run

Publication

The

University

ofNorth

CarolinaatChapelHill

Department

ofCity

and

RegionalPlanning

Winter,

1998

Vol. 23,

No.

1

Planning

News

Digest

Linking

Welfare

Clientsto the PrivateSector JenniferHurley Sustainability

Goes

Local

JohnNemeth

2

2

Forum

Transitions:

Linking People

to

Jobs

in

an

Age

of

Welfare

Reform

Articles

Targeted

Economic

Development:

Its

Role

in

Maine

Economic

Policy

Living

with

the

Land:

The

Case

for

Conservation-Oriented

Development

Co-optation

or Challenge:

How

Sustainableis

Florida's

Growth

Management?

New

Urbanism

Comes

of

Age:

Neotraditional

Zoning

Codes

Case

Study: Environmental Impacts

of

Tourism

in

Juneau,

Alaska

Carta Dickstein

Glenn

M. Simmons

with

Christopher City

JayD.Jurie

JenniferHurley

JuliellenSarver

13

22

27

36

47

Legal

Update

Planning

and

Local

Government

Law

Update

PatrickK. Hetrick

51

Reviews

New

Urban

News

Ecological Design

CharlesA.

Bohl

Susan

Hass

54

55

Masters

Listof

Masters

Projects

Submitted

tothe

Projects

Department

ofCity

and

Regional Planning

in

1997

56

The drawings on thefront

and

back covers were created by

UNC

Department ofCity

and

Regional PlanningMaster's student

Karen

Berchtoldfor

"Anatomy of

the City," a class in comparative urban

spatial analysis in the

Department

ofArchitecture at North Carolina State University.

The

"Built

Form"

analysis

of

Richmond, Virginia on thefront cover depicts Floor

Area

Ratio, or

totalfloor area dividedbysitearea. Tothenortheastisan historic_{neighborhood of}low-rise structures;

mid-rise

government

buildings enclose the state capitol area;

and

recent high rise, corporate development lines

Main

Street

and

the riverfront.

This

"Grain"

analysis

of

Richmond, Virginia on the back cover depicts the relationship between

building footprint

and

lot area. Grain ranges

from

coarse to fine,

and

may

be loosely- or

tightly-packed. The patterns created by the various structure sizes

and

the spatial relationships between

Planning

Digest

Linking

Welfare

Clients

to

the

Private

Sector

In

many

ways, the economic development

work

oftheGreater

Durham

Chamber

of

Commerce

isvery

similar to the

work

of

Chambers

of

Commerce

across

the country.

However,

the

Durham Chamber

has

developed a unique program incooperation withthe

Durham

County DepartmentofSocialServices(DSS)

to linkwelfareclientswithopportunitiesinthe private sector.

Tom

White, President

and

former Vice President of

Economic

Development,

has

been

instrumental in the

Chamber

"s

work

to spread the benefitsofeconomicgrowthtopeopleandplaces that

might

not benefit

from

general economic growth.

White

believes that regional growth is not

m

and of

itself sufficient to help everyone, because there are

barriers to accessing that growth. His approach to

"spreadingthebenefits"'isguided

by

hisunderstanding

of

how

tohelp distressedareas. AccordingtoWhite,

there are

two

strategies fordealingwith poverty and

disinvestment:

(1) individual mobility: helpmg residents get skills

toimprovetheirlives,whichincludes thepossibility

of

moving

outofthearea: and

(2)

community

reinvestment: helping companies

move

intothe area.

For

several years, the

Durham Chamber

has

pursuedthe individual mobility strategybycontracting

with the

DSS

to provide job

development and

placement assistance for

DSS

clients.

One

staff

person, paid

by

theChamber, worksina job placement

office with

two

DSS

and one

Employment

Security

Commission (ESC)

staff.

The

Chamber

staff contacts

employers, educates the busmess

community

about

the benefits ofworking with people on welfare and

the special needs ofthat population, and works with

DSS

clients on their resumes.

The

Chamber's Vice

President of

Economic Development

in particular

servesasa bridgebetween

CEOs

and

DSS.

Although

a

few

other

Chambers

inNorth Carolina

work

with

theDepartmentofSocial Services,noother

Chamber

has thistype ofcontractual arrangement.

This programhelps welfareclients find jobs, but it also furthers the Chamber's broader mission of general

economic

development.

The

strongest

constraintonDurham's growthisthe entry-levellabor

force. Companies are sometimes reluctant to locate

in

Durham

because there are not enough qualified

entry-level workers. Carol

Hunt

former Director of

Durham's

Work

First

program,

explained that

companies can always bring intheirtop people, but

theywanttorecruitlocallyforentry-level jobs.

Whiteand Hunt,as thedevelopersoftheprogram,

seenocontradictionbetweenplace-basedand

people-based development, or between providing social

servicesand encouragingprivate investment.

As

Carol

Huntsaid, "Youcan'trevitalizea

community

without

revitalizing the people."

According

to White, a

distressed areaneeds a combination of public social servicesandprivatefor-profitinvestment.Bringingin

social services,providingjobtraining, andaddressing

infrastructure needs, including dealingwith crimeand

abandonedbuildings, willhelpattractbusinesses.White

suggests that inner cities need different municipal

services (social services) to attract

business

investments than do suburbs (water, sewer,

and

transportation).

At

the

same

tune, social services alonewillnotprovidethejobsnecessaryforlong-term improvement.

For

more

information

on

the contractual

arrangement between the Greater

Durham Chamber

of

Commerce

andtheDepartment ofSocial Services, contact SherleneWilsonat(919)560-8022.

Jennifer

Hurley

is a candidate for

a

Master

s

degree in RegionalPlanning in the

Department

of

City

and

Regional Planning at

UNC-Chapel

Hill.

Sustainability

Goes

Local

In 1997, the promotion of local sustainable developmentwas strengthenedby the creationofthe

new

Joint Center for Sustainable

Communities

in

Washington,

DC. The

Joint Center, run

by

the

U.S

VOLUME

NUMBER

1

Associationof Counties(NaCo),will serveprimarily

as aresourceforlocal governmentofficials Itschief

goal is to

implement

the

recommendations

of

Sustainable America, the legacy publication ofthe President's Council for Sustainable Development.

Many

ofits amis mirror those long championed

by

planners such as

growth

management,

urban

revitalization, and resource conservation Viewing

strong communities as the foundation of a healthy

societytheJomtCenterhopesto

make

"sustainabihty"

both a household

word

and a reality for cities and

counties.

Mission

and

Structure

Multi-jurisdictionalpartnerships are themantra of

theJoint Centerandacornerstoneofitsmission.

The

hopeisthat,spurredbypositiveexamplesandsuccess

stories,localgovernmentswillrecognizetheirgrowing

interdependenceand begintothinkregionally.

The

Joint

Center also emphasizes the connection

between

environmental, economic, and social issues,

and

advocates a holistic, comprehensive approach to problem-solving.

To

encouragelocal action, it offers technical assistance, policy forums, an information

clearinghouse, and descriptions ofbest

management

practices.

The

Joint Center is funded

by

several federal

agencies including

EPA

and the

Departments

of

Energy,

Commerce,

and

Agn

culture. Interestingly, it

has twoco-directors withtwo separate offices. This

deliberatearrangement allowsthe JointCentertostay

connected with, and harness the resources of, its

parent organizations. While

USCM

and

NaCo

have workedtogetheronafewnationalissues,theydo not have a long history ofcollaboration. Consequently, harmonizing the agendas ofthese two associations

(and ofcities and counties in general) will be both

ground-breakingandchallenging.

Local

Successes

Though

still in its first year, the Joint Center is

attempting to be a catalyst for local collaborative

planning.

As

amodelforcity-countycooperation,it's

showcasmg

the impressive efforts ofDetroit and its

neighbor,

Wayne

County.

The

"motor city" is on an

economic rebound but its redevelopment plans are frustrated by an estimated 50,000 brownfield sites.

To

tackle the problem, Detroit and

Wayne

County

created an on-going sustainabihty roundtable. This

effort

stemmed

fromarealizationthatthefateofboth

jurisdictions

was

intertwinedandthat thebrownfields

problem should be viewed

m

connection with other regionalissues.

The

Centerisalsopromotingsustainable rebuilding

after natural disasters After the catastrophic spring

floods inthe Dakotas, local mayors were searching

for advice on

how

torebuildtheir communities.

The

Jomt Center funded avisit by former

mayor

Dennis Knoblach,

whose

Illinois

home-town was

hit by the

Midwestern

floods of 1993.

Knoblach

shared his

experienceandurgedelectedofficialsto rebuild

more

sustamably

by

re-thinking urban form, improving

energyefficiency and reducing impervious surfaces.

Spreading

the

Word

Inadditiontohelpinglocalgovernments directly,

the Joint Center has been actively advertising the

conceptofsustainabihty.

One

avenueisthrough

NaCo

and

USCM

annualmeetings, whichthisyear included

sessions on creating sustainable communities.

The

USCM

meetingfeaturedVicePresidentAl

Gore

who

linked sustainabihtytobrownfieldre-use.

The

NaCo

meeting presented Randall Arendt

who

explainedto

countyofficials

how

hisconservation designcan aid sustainabihty. Recently, local officials have

become

directlyinvolved intheguidance ofthe Joint Center

through a newly created advisory committee. For

more

information

about

the Joint

Center

for Sustainable Communities, seetheir websitesat:

www.naco

.org/memserv/sustain.htm

www.usmayors

.org/sustainable

This page links to other interesting sites including:

President's Council on Sustainable Development,

Department

of Energy's Center for Excellence in

Sustainable Development, Smart

Growth

Network, U.S Conference ofMayors,andNational Association ofCounties.

John

Nemeth

is a candidatefor

a

dual

Master

s

in

Regional Planning

and Master

s in Public

Administration

from

UNC-Chapel

Hill.

He

worked

for the Joint Center for Sustainable Communities

Transitions:

Linking

People

to

Jobs

in

an

Age

of

Welfare

Reform

A

Carolina

Planning

Forum

Editors' Note:

As

a result ofthe recent federal welfare reform legislation, welfare recipients are being

forced tofindjobs. At the

same

time, the strong growth ofthe

economy

is leaving

many

Americans

behind. Planners

need

to consider

new

:vays to connect

unemployed

and

underemployed

people to

jobs. The editors

_of

Carolina Planning hosted a

forum

to discuss

how

people in North Carolina are dealing with these issues.

We

brought together a panel that includes variedperspectives,

from

private training

programs

to

community

development corporations to state agencies. The text

of

this article is

an editedversion

of

the discussion, which tookplace at the University of North Carolina-ChapelHill

on

November

10. 1997. Participants

Tim

Moore,

Executive

Director.

Center

for

Employment

Training, Research Triangle Office.

Pheon

Beal, Chief of

Economic

Independence,

DivisionofSocialServices,NorthCarolinaDepartment

of Health and

Human

Services.

Leslie Boney, Director, North Carolina Business

Involvement Council. North Carolina Departmentof

Commerce.

James

Grace,President,NorthCarolina Association of

CDCs

andExecutiveDirector,East

Winston

CDC.

Stuart Rosenfeld, Principal, Regional Technology

Strategies, Inc.

Facilitator

Sorien

Schmidt,

North

Carolina

Justice

and

Community

Development Center.

Forum

Sorien Schmidt:

Work

Firstisourprimarystate cash

public assistanceprogram.Itprovidescashassistance

for low incomeparents with children. Ninety-fiveto ninety-sevenpercentofthe familiesare asingle

mom

withkids,orinafewcases,asingledadwithkids.

A

few ofthe families are alsotwoparent families with

children.

As

you know, with welfare reform going on now,

these families are limited inthe length of time they

can receive cashassistance benefits, and in order to receivethem,

many

ofthe familieswillhaveto

work

atthe

same

timethattheyareonthe benefitprogram.

Ifwe're going to stop providing cash assistance to

low income families and we're going to

make

them

work,

how

are

we

goingtoget

them

intojobs,where

are thejobs going to be,

how

are they going to get

there,

what

kindoftrainingdotheyneed, andarethey

goingtobeable to

move

on towardsself-sufficiency?

Ithink since

we

havea

good mix

ofprivate and

publichere, I'llstartwiththis question:whatroledo

you think government should play in assisting low

mcome

peoplein

moving

into employment, and what

roledoesgovernmentneedtoplaytoassistemployers

inhiringlow incomepeoplethat

may

havelowskills?

Pheon

Beal:

Work

First replaced

two

government

programs.

One

is called

Aid

to Families with Dependent Children, which is

commonly known

as

AFDC,

and the Job Opportunities and Basic Skills

program, or

JOBS

program, which

was

designedto help welfarerecipients transition offwelfareandinto

the

workplace.

The

role that

government

has

traditionallyplayedsinceabout1935,

when

the

AFDC

program

beganas partofthe Social Security Act,is

to provide a safety netprimarilyto families that are

headed

by

asingleparent

—

in 1935,thatsingleparent

was

usually a widow, usually a

war

widow

—

or to

provide services for orphans,

who

were primarily

VOLUME

23

NUMBER

1

the single parents in the

Work

First caseload are parents

who

nevermarryor are single as theresultof divorce or separation.

So what

government has

traditionallydone,Iwouldsubmit,isnot totry toend poverty withthis fairlysmallcashpayment

—

it'sonly about272 dollars a

month

fora familyofthree

—

but

to provide

some

ofthebasic necessities

Overthe years, however,mostfamilieshavealso receivedfood stamps, Medicaid, child caresubsidies,

assistance withtransportation, housing subsidies, in

addition to

some

wages and the earned income tax

credit, inorder toprovidefor theirfamily's needs. If

you addtothatchildsupport,whichisthe

money owed

by

theabsentparent,thenyoupretty

much

havewhat

makes

upthetraditionalsafety netformostfamilies.

What we

haveshiftedfrom

smce

Work

Firstbegan

m

1995 isa de-emphasisontheprocesses

we

go through

to provide the safety net

—

determining eligibility,

cutting the checks, sending

them

out, figuring out

whetherornot

we made

an error, doingitinatimely

way

—

to focuson transitioningpeople back mtothe

workforce. Thishas beena majorculture change for

government.

Governmenthas

become

in this area reallymore ofa business, because

what

the Federal Welfare

Reform

Act did in 1996

was

to endthe entitlement part ofthe safety net, and that's the monthly cash

assistance payment.

What we now

have is a bottom

line, and

we

have a capped block grant.

We

aren't

goingto getany

more

federalfunds overthenextfive

years from that block grant.

We

can add additional

stateandlocal dollars,but

we

won'tgetanyadditional

federal funds.

So

we

are inthe process ofbecoming what

we

talkedaboutforso long, whichis a

results-oriented

management

organization.

At

the

same

time, particularlyintheDepartment

ofHealth and

Human

Services, I think

we

are still seen as theproviderofequity.

We

are the folks

who

leveltheplayingfields,bringthe

more

disenfranchised

families intothe system, andprovide forthoseneeds

that would not otherwisebe addressed.

Schmidt: For the low income families that are receiving these services, or

who

may

not even be receiving these services but are

low

mcom;

and

possibly low skill, whatis it thattheyneed to

move

intothejobmarket?

Boney: Ithink there are a coupleofthings that

people need ifthey're

gomg

to

make

the transition

from essentiallynotworking into working The first

is,

some

sortofsoftskillstraining. Ifyou'venotbeen

in the workplace, you don't necessarily

know

or understand that it's important if you can't

come

to

work inthe morning to call in and explain

why

you

can't

come

towork. There are

some

basic soft skills thatyouneedto figureout

m

yourfirstjob. Thereare

all lands of people

who

canprovidethese, including

government agencies, local

community

colleges, privatenon-profitssuchas theCenterfor

Employment

and Training, and church and other volunteer civic groups.Foralot of employers,softskills areenough.

They say, send

me

somebody

who

understands it's importantto

show up

to

work

everyday,andcallinif

they can't, and

we

will provide the specific trailing

that the}' need.

In other cases, employers

want

a little bit

more

than that.

They

want

someone

who

has a specific

skill set. Again, there are a group ofpeople in the

statethatare willingandinterested

m

providingthat.

Theyrangethe

same

gamut, fromprivate non-profits tochurch groupstogovernmentagencies

on

thestate

level.SoIthink

some

combinationofthose

two

things,

hardskills andsoftskills, are the

two

basic elements.

Schmidt: StuartRosenfeld,inyour work, haveyou

foundthatobtainingsoftskills isenoughfor

someone

togetintoemploymentwithoutgettingothertypesof

skills?

Stuart Rosenfeld: It's

enough

to get

them

into

employment.Butit'snotnecessarily

gomg

to find that

interesting and worthwhile

work most want

to do.

Employers talkaboutall sorts of generic skills, such

as communications and problemsolving, but

when

it

comes right

down

to it, every employer I talk with

wants experience and very specific skills.

They

will

only take thosewiththelowskillsforsemiskilledwork, andthosejobsarenotgoingtolead anywhere.

To

me,partoftheproblemisthat

we

stillseethis

welfare-to-work issue strictlyas a social policy, not

as economic development. It's supply driven. All of

usonthispanel represent thesupplysideoftheissue.

There is nobody here representing the

demand

side

ofthis,and

we

haven'tgot

them

very

mvolved

in this

process yet.

We

don't really have a

knowledge

of whatthebusinesses reallywant,

what

they need, yet the systemjustwants people out ofthe system onto

thejobs as quickly asthey can.

Thetrainingisminimal.In

most

placesthegoalis

getting people upto speed forthatjob as quicklyas possible and not worrying about whether they have enough skills to actually progress inthe job and go

CAROLINA PLANNING

Tim

Moore:

We

at

CET

have industrial advisory boards of employers.

They

are our customers.

Our

other customers are the students.

Our

job is to get

them together.

What

we're hearing is a little bit of

whatbothgentlemenjusttalked about.Employerswant

soft skills, butthey alsowantfolksthathave a

GED

andtheskillsthatgoalong withahighschooldiploma.

Just because you have a degree, a piece ofpaper, that doesn't

mean

thatyou have the three R"s.

They

also

want

readinessskills.

They

want computerskills,

perhaps.

Some

companies have positions that are introductoryenoughthatyoudon'tneed askillssetto

gointothem.Butif

you

wanttobeself-sufficient,and

that

means

earning$7.50on upwithbenefits,youneed

to have

some

land ofa skills

setthata place like

CET

and

other programs can cover in

about eight months.

Then

if

they have the skills and they

lose that job or there's a

downturn,

they

can

get anotherjobwith thoseskills.

Schmidt:

Can

youtalkabout

some

of the techniques that

you

have

used to

tram

and

place people, and

what

you think is

necessary

to

accomplishthat?

With

global

competition

and

technology,

folks

are

going

to

be

left

behind

with

minimum-wage

jobs

at

McDonald's.

Moore:

Well, it's a very

holisticapproachthattookthree decadesto develop.

We

doalotof

work

onselfesteemfor instance.That's

part ofthebattle. We'rea fulltime program, 8:30to

4:00,and

we

runitlikeit'sajob.It'sbasically

on-the-jobtraining.Thereare timeclockstopunch,forklifts

to drive, computers to use, circuitboards to solder,

etc.

Our

instructors are

from

the private sector.

They've beenthereandthey

know

whatittakes.

We

have a

GED

program.

We

integrate basic skills into

class. It's verycontextual, so that students can

make

a connection between

how

to leam,

how

to do

math

and

how

tomeasure and weighaboxinorder to ship

it.

We

liketo say, there's one piece of paperthat's

more

important than a diploma, and that's the

paycheck.

You

have to work.

You

have to

make

money.

You

havetobeable to

show

up on time every

day, and

you

alsohavetohavesome skillsemployers

are interested in.

With

global competition

and

technology, folks are going to be left behind with

minimum-wage

jobsatMcDonald's. Iftheycouldget

alittlehigherposition,theycould

make

ten dollarsan

hourwithbenefits.

Schmidt:

Do

youthinkit'simportintinyourtraining

to connect to the business community, and

how

do

you dothat?

James

Grace: I'd like to put

my

blush on this by

givingan example.

Back

in 1996there

was

anarticle

thatappearedinaWinston

Salem

paperreporting that

thisguy hadhired50AfricanAmericansinhisawning company.

Of

coursethatgotalotofpress, anditalso got alot ofpress six

months

later

when

nobody was

there. Fifty people had disappeared off the job.

We

pulled together a small conference

and

brought the

employer

and

some

employees

in.

They

had

a

chancetotalkaboutwhatthey

saw

as the problems.

The

gentleman

that

owned

the

company

was

really

flabbergasted

by some

ofthe

challengesthatpeople facedin

getting to thejob.

They

hadto

bethereat6:00,butthebusses

didn'tstartrunninguntil7:00.

One

guy

hired

somebody

monthlytopick

him

up.

They

charged

him

$100 anddropped

him

offata bridgethat

was

a mileaway.

To

make

my

point, Ithinkthatyou'vegot to have

some communication and

some

balance if

we're goingtosolve

some

oftheseproblems, and

we

havenot yetlearned

how

to talk tooneanotheracross these boundaries about

what

the problems are. That

goes for race, we're going to haveto find a

way

in this countryto talk ina race language or something

that getsusthere,becauseobviously,we're notgetting there now.

Schmidt: It seems to

me

the transportation for

low-income people to get

from

their

community

to

wherethejobs arecouldbeareal issue.

Do

youhave

anyideas about

how

toaddress that?

Grace: Well,it'saproblem because mostofthese

low-end jobs startatoddhours. Peoplehavetobe at

workat4:30inthemorning, soyoucan'texpectpublic

transportation to take

up

that need. It's still an

economicopportunityforsomebody. If

you

gotavan

VOLUME

23

NUMBER

1

pay

maybe

fortybucksa

month

to getthere, that'san

economic development opportunity for somebody.

Why

isthatnothappening?

We

had a demonstration

vanprogram,andit

was

phenomenallysuccessful,but

you can't depend ongrants and handoutsto dothat.

Somebody

hastohavethewherewithaltosay,

"Maybe

I can

make

itdoing this.'" Butthere's no sensitivity foranybody

who

would want

tofinance or fundthat

kindofactivity.

Beal:

The

money

tofund transportation is in the county block grants, and

it

remains

to

be

seen

whether people are going

to puttheir

money

where

their

mouth

is.

college is located. Quite frankly in North Carolina

thereare a lotofplaceswhere ifyoudon'tdrive,you

don't work.

I think that the microenterprise development

strategy is one that is going to get looked at, and

hopefully funded.

We

needtostartoutwith

some

small

successes.

When

people get burned, sometimes they

back

away

from things, but I think that we've had

enoughexperience in this statewithmicroenterprise

developmentthatthisis averyviable strategy.

It's

not

just

where

the

transportation

is

located,

it's

also

where

the

child

care

is

located

and

where

the

grocery

store

is

located

and where

the

community

college

is

located.

Quite

frankly,

in

North

Carolina

there are

a

lot

of

places

where

if

you

don't

drive,

you

don't

work.

Schmidt: Let

me

explain

what those block grants

are. Inthe past, the state

and the federal govern-ment controlled what our

local counties could do

with the cash assistance

program money.

Now

we

have

moved

to a block

grantprogramforservices for every county.

Every

countyisgoingtobe given a chunk of

money

to use

for job training or for transportation or other kinds ofservices to help

people

move

off therolls andinto employment.

Beal: Ican'temphasizeenoughthatthishasabottom

line. Overthenext fiveyears, there's a $302 million

federal block grant. That

money

will lose its value overthenextyears, justbyinflationalone.

We

arenot goingtogetany

new

money, so

we

needto investthe

money

in strategies that work. In Forsyth county

they're leasing vehicles towelfarerecipientsforsmall

amountsa

month

sothatattheend ofthetimethey're

on welfare, they will

own

those vehicles. Counties

relyveryheavilyonvolunteertransportation, andone of the things

we've

asked the

Commissioner

of

Insurancetolookatisa Samaritanlawthatwill

make

volunteers notliablefortransportingrecipientstowork. It's not just where the transportation is located,

it's alsowherethe childcare islocatedand wherethe

grocery store is located and where the

community

Rosenfeld: Justto give

a very quick example, Regional

Technology

Strategies

(my

firm) has a

board

member

who

started a

company

in

ChicagocalledTransport America, that's actually transporting low-income

peopleto theirjobsandto trainingprograms,andat

the

same

time providing training

and

teaching

them

how

to start the businesses themselves.

It's

been

extremely

successful.

Leslie

Boney:

Let

me

justmention afewthings that employers

seem

to

be interested in.

My

job

on adailybasis isto talk

with employers and

make

the case for

them

to hire

Work

First participants.

They

have sort ofdifferent

notionsofwhattheycanand should do, butthis isa unique timeinNorthCarolinahistoryforallthistobe happening. Right

now

inNorthCarolina

we

havethe

lowestunemployment we've had for any

number

of

years. Inthe Triangle,

we

have 1.9% unemployment. That is great

news

for the economy, and itis great

newsfor

Work

Firstparticipants Itisfrightening

news

for employers, becausetheir question is: where does our workforce

come

from?

Where

do

we

findpeople

that

we

can keep? Ifemployers continue to

pay

incrediblylowwages,noonecomesto

work

forthem.

There are very

few

people in the Triangle that are

paying

minimum

wage

anymore.

Iguessthat's sortof a long

way

of sayingthisisa tune

when

employers are forced, whether they want

CAROLINA

PLANNING

work

force, agroup ofpeoplethat

maybe

hasnothad

a great

employment

history. They're sort of forced

into thenotion oflooking at

Work

Firstparticipants.

Some

of

them

are goingtodo itbecauseit'sthe right thing to do; a lot of

them

are goingto doitbecause

they'relookingforpeople

who

theycanhire

who

may

stickaroundforalittlewhile, thattheycangive

some

opportunities tointhelongterm.

So

therearemotivated

employersright now, inlargeparts ofthe state.

They're

also willing to do things to

make

transportation work. For example, an employer I'm workingwithintheTriadhasshiftsevery 15minutes.

Ifyou'retrying to transport

numbers

of people into

theirworkforce, then you havearealtrans-portation

problem

with

this schedule.

Some

people arrive

when

they can

access trans-portation

and

maybe

they don't

start

work

for

two

hours.

What

the

employer'sbeenwilling to do, in part because they're desperate, is

clumping

some

shifts.

Thatbreaks

up

the

way

they like to

do

their

system, but they're

motivated

to

do

it

because

they

want

employees

who

they

canretainandpromote.

There are also

some

employers

who

are motivated

by

a transportation tax credit.

They

will

pay

transportation costs to getemployees there.

Some

of

them

aredoingitbecausethere'sataxcreditof$65 a

month

ofthatcost. Others are doingitbecausethat's

theonly

way

theycangetemployeestowork. Others

are encouraging employees to start microenterprises

wherethey

would

handle transportationthemselves.

Justoneotherthingthat'sgoingon:alotofcounties are realizing that

we

have technology

now

that can locate within every

county

exactly

where

every workforce participant lives, where every child care

opportunityinthe countyis,

what

thebus routes are,

and

what

the

employment

opportunitiesare.

Then

you

can lookatagridand

come

to

some

realtransportation decisionabout

how

you createa publictransportation

systemthat

may

get

somebody

from wherethey live,

towhere theydrop offtheir childrenfordaycare,to

where they work.

Schmidt:

Even

thoughinNorthCarolina

we

dohave

This

is

a

time

when

employers

are

forced,

whether

they

want

to

do

the

right

thing

or

not,

to

look

at

this

nontraditional

work

force,

a

group of

people

that

maybe

has

not

had

a

great

employment

history.

verylow unemploymentin

many

ofourareas,

we

still,

even

now

in this great economy, have counties with

double-digit employment.

We're

likely to see a

recession at

some

point. If you're relying

on

employers toprovide transportation, where are they going to go

when

you hit a recession?

And

evenin

these counties today that still

have

double-digit

unemployment,

how

are

we

goingto overcomethese issuesandhelp thesepeoplestayemployedorbeable tochangejobs evenin downturnsintheeconomy?

Rosenfeld: I think the government certainly has a

role insupporting public transportationandbuilding

infrastructure.Relatedto that, we've been talking

aboutmicroenterprises. I still think that is a long

termopportunity.I

know

that entrepreneurship

was

a popular

way

to

address

unemployment

ten years ago

when

we

didn't have these skill

shortages, and it didn't

work

allthatwell. Butit

can

work

now, I think,

withtechnology,with

ter-minals in the

home,

if

people are willing to

work

collaboratively, if

we

can

develop the

necessary social ~

infrastructure.

There's lots ofexamples aroundthe country of smallgroups ofmicroenterprisesworkingcollectively

to

produce

some

fairly substantial results, like

'Appalachian

by

Design"inWestVirginia,where

40-50part-time

home

knittersproduceenoughtosupply

large companies like Esprit. So Ithink there

may

be

some

opportunityif

we

are willing to givepeoplethe entrepreneurialskills atthe

same

time we'retraining

them

foremployment.

Grace: I'mthinking,

why

aren't

we

doinganybetter

than

we

are doing?

Somehow,

we

just don't getboth

sides ofthis equation. Ithink it'skeythat

we

involve these folks that

we

are talking about, these clients,

theselowincome, people

we

putallthelabels on. All thepeoplethat

work

in

my

office

now

arepeoplethat

have beenon Social Services or received

some

kind

ofbenefit.I'mheretotellyouthatthereisnosupport

for

them

moving

forward, for accepting them, for

VOLUME

23

NUMBER

1

I sortof

am

vers-frustrated about the "systems"that

we

keeptalkingaboutbecauseit's stillbeingimposed, whether

we

likeitornot. In

my

community

itaffects

me

directly because welfare reform is gone, so I'll

havetolock

my

doorandput another lockonbecause peoplearenot going to starveiftheycan steal.

Schmidt: There's people missing notjustfromaround

thistablebutfrom aroundalotoftableswherethisis beingdiscussed,whereprojectsarebeingworkedout,

and allkinds ofthings arebeing decided. I

wonder

if

you have ideas about

how

we

get the low income communitynot onlytothetable,butactuallyataskill

levelthattheycanfeel comfortableparticipating, and

how we

getthebusiness

community

aroundthe table

and bought

mto

theirneedto

work

onthis?

Moore:

In think in

most

cases

you need

an

intermediary,likea

community

basedorganization or

anonprofit.

We

couldcallonthepublicsector as well

tomediate.

We

provide part ofthatservice.

We

have

a monthlyindustrialadvisory boardmeeting with about 75 employersfromacrosstheTriangle

who

represent

areal"who's

who"

ofemployersfromlargeandsmall,

all different sectors

who

come

out andmeet. I have

my

students attend as well.

My

students are single

women

withchildren, andthere are also

some

men

m

my

program.

We

have a studentcouncil, andso they

talk.

And

for the first time I think a lot ofbarriers

come

down.

Some

of

my

employers are mentors, or they

come

outand doseminarsor

mock

interviews or host toursoftheirfacilities.

You

have to tellemployers

what

you

want

them

to do and

how

you can help

them

to get what they

need.

And

the

same

thing withthe other customers,

andthen getthemtogether. So Ithinkithelpstohave an intermediary or bridge between the

two

that can

sortoftalkbothlanguagesandcutthroughalotofthe

stuff. It's good business for businessto get involved

inthis.

They

helpus designour curriculum, provide us

withequipment andfind instructors. Ifyougivethem

thatlandofrole,thenthebottomlineistheywillhire

yourgraduates.

We

haverepeat hireswith

some

major

companies. That's a

good

sign, andthey are keeping

the folks, because

ABC

company

doesn't

want

them

togo

down

to

XYZ

company. Sothey'rekeeping our

trainees,ourgraduates,andgiving

them

payincreases.

They

may

be goingina$7, $7.50anhour, but nottoo long andit's $8, $8.50,

$9

an hour.

And now

they're

really startingto be where they canget a car.

They

can

move

out of public housing into an apartment.

Insteadofgiving

somebody

afish,we'vetaughtthem

Work

First

Family

Assistance Facts

82,693familiesinNorthCarolinawerereceiving

WorkFirstAssistanceasofSeptember1. 1997. 68 percentofcases are families headed byone

parent.

95 percent ofall

Work

Firsthouseholds are led

by females.

95 percent of

Work

First adults are younger

than 45 years ofage.

Approximately 145,000 childrenreceive

Work

First FamilyAssistance.

More

than50percentofcases includeonechild; lessthan2percentcontainfiveor

more

children.

50percentoffamilieshavereceived

Work

First

FamilyAssistance for 6 months or less.

The

average

Work

First

Family

Assistance

checkis $218.

Many

Work

First families are working; as of

September 1997, 16percentofthecaseload

was

employed, excludingchild-only cases.

Withthe introductionof

Work

First,themonthly

caseload has decreased by 27 percent.

(Source:

NC

Division ofSocial Services )

how

to fish sotheycango onfora lifetime.

Boney: Let

me

mentionsort

of

a larger issuethat's

relatedtothis.

To

alargeextent,thepoliciesofwelfare

reformwereshaped

by

lawmakers

who

weredivorced

fromthefrontlmeproblems.Butthe

more

peopleyou

bringtothetable,the

more

possible solutionsyou're goingto

come

up with, and boy, that'sa frightening

thing.

They

might actually

come

up with something

that doesn't involve you.

They

might

come

upwith a solution that says, youdon'treallyhave aplace here

anymore.

They

mightcreatea

new

structurethatmight lead to

wholesale

downsizing

in the

whole

infrastructure thattreats the

Work

First population.

Work

Firstparticipantsmightactuallygotowork,then

we'dallbe outofjobs. Ithink there are

some

sortof

CAROLINA PLANNING

and interms of our larger notionofself-preservation that

work

against actually involving the real people

that we'retalking about. If

we

can find a

way

to get

beyond that and actually get everybody around the

same

table atthe

same

time, we'll doalotbetter and

we'll

come

up with alot better solutions.

Beal:

Back

in fall oflast year I think

we

had

nme

forums aroundthestate.

The

governor spokeatalittle over halfofthem, and

we

had your

mayors

and your county commissioners and yourbusiness people and your

CEOs,

but

we

alsohad at least one

Work

First

participant on the panel, and

we

always have

Work

Firstparticipants intheaudience.

If

you

ask

anybody what

part of

the forum they got the

most

out

of. it

was

hearing the

Work

First

participants speak.

Iagree withLeslie-1think

we

needto get the politicians andthe social workers out ofthe middle ofit. and I think that

we

needto

create a safe

zone

for these

familiesto

become

involved.

How

much

are you really goingto say

about your local department of

socialservices

when

the}'sendout

your check and Medicaid card?

Ithinkthatthis

may

be something

that the role ofgovernment

may

needtostepbackabit. and where

the private sector can get

much

more

involved. I think there is a

fear outthere that

we

might

work

ourselves out of a

job. Ithinktoacertain extent,thesystemthatcreated welfare has

become

one ofits victims.

Rosenfeld: Ithinkoneofthedifficultieswith bringing the private sector together is that they act too independentlyas individual businesses.

Our

businesses

inthis countryaren'tverywellorganized, so

we

have companies that are representative oftheir industry but they don't represent any larger industry group.

What's

really important is to

somehow

begin to

organize these people

mto

some

kmd

ofa collective entity that can begin to address problems and think

aboutlocaleconomies intermsofsocial

good

forthe

communitiesandcivic responsibilityIbelieve

we

need

tothink about

how we

can beginto create the social capital

m

communitiesthat

would

allow ustoaddress

some

ofthese problems collectively

Schmidt: We're working on coming upwithsolutions.

I

think

there

is

a

fear

out

there that

we

might

work

ourselves

out

of

a

job.

I

think

to

a

certain

extent,

the

system

that

created

welfare has

become

one

of

its

victims.

yet at the

same

time, there are

low

income

moms

with kids that have used

up

one year ofa two-year

time limitandare goingto be kicked offthe

program

starting

August

1 ofnext\ear.

What

are

we

goingto

do for these people

on August

1 and thereafter as

peopleare

moving

off theprogram?

Beal:

From

a verypractical standpoint, the

way

the

pohc>- is writtennow. only those individuals

who

are receiving the most intensive support services are on

the

two

yeartime clock.

The

way

it's writtenis that there will be a three year period ofineligibility, but

that ifa local review board says so. that family can

come

back onto cash assistance.

Firstofall. ifI hadalocalreview

board. I

would

loadit

up

with

my

employers,andI

would

reallywant

them

to stand there

and

tell a

motherwith fourchildren

why

she

can't

come

back

on

welfare but they

cant

give her ajob.

From

another standpoint, I think probably one ofthe

more

profound

things that

was

said

tomght

was

that

we

need to start

seeing

welfare

reform

as

economicdevelopment.I'venever seen an areathat

was

so fraught

with contention,

and

it's like a

lightning rod.

What

I reallyhope

we'll be able to

move

to as the

two-yeartime limit creeps

up

on

us is less of a discussion about

how

thisperson

was

justtoo lazy and didn't

want

to get

up

and go towork, and

more

ofa discussion of

how

localeconomic developmentincommunities would

help.

Moore:

We

found

that

without

economic

development

and

job creation,

which

is actually

creatingjobs

by

bringing businesses in and offering

them

different incentives

and

packages,

you

can't develop jobsthroughyourgraduates.

You

can'tplace

folksinjobsthatdon'texist.Tryingto

undo

fortyyears

of somethingthat

we

got ourselves into

m

a couple of years orfive years is going tobe painful. We're not just talking about single

moms

here or

men who

are

raismg

some

familiesontheirown,we'retalkingabout

kidsandgenerationsandtheimpact.Ifyoucutwelfare

rolls,theproblem's

gomg

to

pop up somewhere

else.

Maybe

inprisons,

more

money

spenton correctional

facilities or on this or that. Let's

pay

for it

now

the

VOLUME

23

NUMBER

1

11

If

I

had

a

local

review

board,

I

would

load

it

up

with

my

employers,

and

I

would

really

want them

to

stand

there

and

tell

a

mother

with

four

children

why

she

can't

come

back

on

welfare but they

can't

give

her

a

job.

right

way

starting with

Smart

Start programs, communitycolleges,programslikeCET, K-1_2,putmore

investments there, sothat companies will start toget

onthe

bandwagon

too.

They

willrealizeit'snot just a

socialresponsibilityoracivilresponsibility,itjustmakes

goodbusinesssensefor their

own

preservation.You've

gottohaveworkers,and you'vegottohavefolks that

make

money

to

buy

yourproducts.

And

you'vegotto live someplace.

Your

CEOs

haveto live someplace.

Sotheywanttheircommunitiestobestrongandsafe.

Grace: I agree with what everybody else has said wholeheartedly.

As

we

gothroughthistwo-yearphase,

corporations are stillin the

mode

ofdownsizing and

laying off people. That kind ofbehavior, what does

that get us? We're fighting a real drift here.

We've

gottolookatourmoralityandtheethics,andeventhe

spirituality,andtalkmoreaboutthose kindsofthings

m

this countrythat

we

have, because I don't care

what

we

do, it's

gomg

to boil

down

to what

we

feel

about each other

Questions

from

the

Audience

Question:

Does

anyone here realistically thinkthat

we

can

move

82,000 peopleoffourwelfarerollswithin

a five year period9

Beal:

Of

the 82,000 families, ifyou looked atthe

information

we

have outside, about 25,000 ofthose are families that

we

call child only.

What

thatmeans

is that there's a grandmother or aunt or

somebody

else taking care ofthechild, so

we

arereallytalking

about60,000individuals.

What

we'vebeen doing with

Work

First is

moving

the easiest to

move

first,

hopefullylayingin

some

strategiesthatwillkeepthem

retained in the workforce

We

show

about an

82%

retention rate forthose

who

haveleftforemployment

so far.

Then

we

takethe

money

that

we

didn't spend payingtheirmonthlybenefits and spenditonthe rest

ofthe caseload

The

difficultyis goingto bethe rest

ofthe caseload:

20%

areestimatedtohave substance

abuse problems, although that

number

could be anywhere from

30-80%

depending on

who

you talk

to,domesticviolenceissues,nohigh school diplomas,

borderline mental and physical disabilities.

So

even

thoughthey

may

be fewer,theyareharder However,

m

terms ofwhat

we

predicted the case load would

be,

we

are alreadvwhere

we

thought

we

would bein

1999.

Boney:

We

now

have an incentive to concentrate on oneparticularpartofthe population, butifwe're not really addressing the long term issues of the

working poor, then we're

gomg

to fail, because the

same

people are going to get a job that pays

them

barely enoughtostay off welfare, thentheir child is

going to get sick or they're going to lose their transportation solution,thenthey'regoingto getright

back on.

Question: Should

we

be concerned about building

socialcapital?

Rosenfeld: It'sa hottopic rightnow,thisconceptof

building social capitalanditsimportancetoeconomic

development. I thinkit allgets

down

tothe idea that unless you organize at a local level, you don't have

the

kmd

of

economy

where

people can easily get

informationaboutthingslikelabormarkets.Thatis,to

create social capital so that there are levels oftrust

among

people and

among

businesses,

you

have to create an environment where ideas and information

flow. Labor markets

work

veryeasilyinareas where

they've got social capital,

where

businesses are mterdependent. In this environment, you don't need

very sophisticated labor market systems because everybody

knows

what'savailable,anditjustspreads throughfamily, friends, andsocial activities.

A

lotof

states are

now

developing policies to try to create

thesenetworksincertain regionsby organizingtheir

primaryindustries intocouncils that include different

organizations, lead business, non-profits,

and

12

CAROLINA

PLANNING

between a strong and a

weak

regionaleconomy. Boney:

To

layer on to that, John

McKnight

is a professoroutof Northwestern

who

talks aboutasset

mappinginourcommunitiesasa

way

ofbuildingsocial

capital.

He

makesa very convincing case thatalotof

what we've

done through the

way

that

we

have

structured our social programs is to throw social

programsatcommunities.

By

doingthat,

we

esiscerate thenatural strengths ofthat community.

We

need to figure out a

way

to look at our communities in terms of

whattheyhave,whattheir

strengths are. what their

leaders are,

how

to

develop those leaders so

thatthey thenriseup.

We

can do

that better

by

lookmg

atpositivesrather

thannegatives, looking at

assets ratherthandeficits.

Beal:

Can

I say that a different

way

9

The

new

capital is not money, it's

information.

What

alotof

welfare recipients have lacked is access to

information.

I'm

very

fearful that the

more

technologytakesovereven,'partof ourlives,the

more

thispopulation is

gomg

tobeleft behind. There'snot

been

much

in our welfare system, I would submit, that

encourages

people to take

advantage

of

information.

We

made

peoplefor sixyearsprove

how-poorthey were. That'swhatourbusinessisallabout.

We've

neverencouraged peopleto look atwhatthey

haverather than whatthey did not have.

I think we're beginning to gradually turn that battleship around. For example, one ofthe things I

insistedto community colleges

when

they developed

their

Pathways

to

Employment programs

is that

minimally, every

Work

First participants needs

two

tilings: customerserviceskillsandcomputerskills. So

to

me

theinvestmentin

human

capitalisan investment

in making people smarter about understanding

why

theyneed informationandwhattodowithit. Inother

words,helpingpeoplefigureout

how

tobe

more

self-sufficient.

Question:

What

istherole ofregional economicsin

moving

people from welfaretowork?

Beal: I don't think we've done a real goodjob of

We

made

people

for

six

years

prove

how

poor

they

were. That's

what

our

business

is

all

about.

We've

never encouraged

people

to

look

at

what

they

have

rather

than

what

they

did

not

have.

following market trends in terms oftraining.

When

NAFTA

came

inandthe mills starteddryingup, there

was

agiantsuckingsoundout ofthe

economy

of North

Carolina in terms oftextile industries, and

we

saw

shortlyafterthatanincreaseinthe

number

offamilies

on public assistance.

One

ofthe things that I think

CET

doesparticularlywellisthey follow labortrends

very carefully. Ifthey're using a

new

widget, then

they tram with that

new

widget. That's

what

we've

got to getsmartaboutinagrowing economy.

Our

experiencewiththetextileindustrydryingup

to acertainextent andthe

tobacco

industry has

taught us that

we

haveto

teach people transferable

skills.

And

quitefrankly a

lotof ourfamilies aregoing

to

wind

up

moving

in the

event

of

economic

downturn. Right

now

we

have

large

numbers

of

people

who come

into

North

Carolina to

work

from

Virginia,

South

Carolina,

West

Virginia,

Tennessee.

South

Caro-lina'swelfareinitiativehas

a relocation

program

as

part of its initiative, and

they relocate to

North

Carolina,thankyouverymuch. Ithinkwe're goingto

seea

much

more

mobile populationintermsof

moving

where thejobs are, and Ithinkyou'regoingto see a

trainingsystemhopefullythat'sable toadapttoquick

market changes.

Schmidt: Ifpeoplearemoving,

you

havethisproblem ofdisconnecting

them

withtheirsocialstructures.

One

way

of dealing with the healthcare

problem

or

transportationorchildcareisthroughasocialnetwork.

When

you

move

them

out ofthat socialnetwork,you

may

have gotten

them

to a iob, but

now

they have

Targeted

Economic

Development:

Its

Role

in

Maine

Economic

Policy

Carla

Dickstein

Editors' Note: Although this article is about targeted economic development in Maine,

we

feel that its

findings are pertinent to conditions here in North Carolina, especially considering the present reality

of

welfare reform. In the previous article,

we

considered various approaches to helping people

move

from

public assistance,

unemployment,

and

underemployment

to decent jobs. Targeted

economic

development isanother strategy thatplanners

and

community

and

economicdevelopersinNorth Carolina

and

other Southeastern states

may

want to

add

to their toolbox ofjob development strategies to help

people

make

these transitions.

D

"espitet the magnitude and growth ofeconomic

disparitiesinMaine,equityconcernshave been apoor

stepchildin

most

economic developmentpoliciesthat

focusongeneralbusinessdevelopmentand improving

the economic infrastructure and busmess climate.1

Slowly,the economic developmentpolicy debate

is shifting

toward

equity concerns.

Some

of the

benchmarks

recently established

by

the

Maine

Economic

Growth

Council reflect the equity goals

ofreducing regional and income disparities.2 There

also

have been

recent legislative efforts to tie

economic development dollars to social paybacks.3

Finally, welfare reformandthe current emphasis on

welfare-to-work are forcing discussion about where

welfare recipients will find work.

Perhaps the biggest opportunity for influencing

public policyistherecent attentionofthemainstream press to the

changing

economic

order

and

its

widespread

impacts. Increasing polarization of income, the rise in contingent labor, corporate

downsizing,

huge

disparities in

compensation

between chief executive officers and workers, and even the sweatshops that produce celebrity-label clothinghave been

known

foryears. But

now

these

Carla Dickstein is senior development officerfor

research

and

policy

development

at

Coastal

Enterprises,Inc. inWiscasset,Maine. Priortocoming

to CEI, she

was

on

the faculty at the Regional ResearchInstitute at West Virginia University. This

article appears by courtesy ofthe

Margaret Chase

Smith Center forPublic Policywhichfirstprintedit

in the

Maine

Policy Review,

December

1996.

economic and socialjustice issues are surfacing as part ofthe public's worldview and canbe raised in

public discourse Again it is legitimate to ask these

questions:

Who

winsandloses inthepresent

economy?

What

istheroleofeconomic development inaltering

that equation? And,

how

can economic development

dollarshave the greatestsocialimpact?

This article

examines

the role

of

targeted economic development strategies in accomplishing

explicit equity goals. It argues that traditional

economic development programs

that

support

business development and

economic growth

are

insufficient for creating quality jobs, especially for

people on public assistance. Targeted strategies are

needed to link these people directly to

employment

opportunities. The article draws on lessons learned

from current practicesatCoastal Enterprises,Inc., a

community

development corporation with a nearly twenty-year history ofworking with businesses and

communities

m

Maine.

Limitations of Traditional

Economic

Development

Programs

To

date,thedominant focus ofeconomic development

policyandpracticehasbeenoncreating a conducive environmentforbusinesses to

grow

andprosper(Blair 1995). The assumption has beenthat the benefits of

this growth would trickle

down

to all segments of

society through

more

jobs, lower

unemployment,

higherwages, and anincreasedtaxbase.

Government

intervention

would

come

primarily

through