Thousands of Des Moines' inner city residents thought it would be a cold day in...well, some other place before their neighborhood would get a grocery store - because that's the way things had gone for more than a decade. But on one cold and joyous Iowa winter day late last year, a crowd of supporters and neighborhood leaders joined Des Moines local elected officials and project investors to break ground for a $7 million Top Value Food Store to serve the inner city.

While the idea was sound, the venture never attracted the necessary funding and was nothing more than a dream for over ten years. But the project came to the attention of HUD's Iowa staff, who know how the Department can support well thought-out economic development projects. With help from HUD and other public and private groups, investors and an interested grocery store operator were found and the pieces of this economic development puzzle finally came together.

HUD encouraged the City of Des Moines to apply for a HUD Section 108 loan and grant to help bootstrap the grocery store. When the Department gave the city a $2 million loan and a $1 million grant, a new $7 million grocery store was on the way to groundbreaking. HUD staff also enabled negotiations between the city's Enterprise Community staff, Des Moines Economic Development staff and Iowa Dept. of Human Services staff. Ultimately a substantial portion of a Social Service block grant that had been received by the Enterprise Community was targeted to the project.

Bringing a new full service grocery store to the community was particularly meaningful for Dorothy Campbell, a member of the Enterprise Community Steering Committee. A neighborhood leader, Dorothy has been working on the store project since the late 1980's. "The groundbreaking was a dream come true," she said. "I feel happy, I feel proud of the people and I feel blessed."

The store will serve as a gateway feature to the neighborhoods directly across from Mercy Medical Center. The plans call for a 35,000 square foot facility, carrying full-service lines of meat, produce, frozen foods, a bakery and deli, and a full service customer service counter - complete with an automatic teller machine that many other neighborhoods take for granted.

Des Moines Mayor Preston Daniels and Councilman Tom Vlassis, Ward I were instrumental in gaining support from the inner-city community. The mayor also brought together four substantial investors for the project, who took part in the groundbreaking: (from left) Greg Steward, Operations Manager for the Top Value Food Store, Kansas City; Franklin Green, co-owner of Quality Ford; Councilman Vlassis; Marvin Alexander, Managing Member of SNAG, L.L.C.; Nick Nichols, owner of Noble Ford, and Mayor Daniels.

At the groundbreaking, Mayor Daniels added: "This is about more than the store; it is about a very strong group of businessmen who are making their mark in this community. I'm proud that they are African American," he added.