CUOMO ANNOUNCES $1.75 MILLION IN ASSISTANCE TO LYNN, MA

WASHINGTON - Housing and Urban Development Secretary Andrew Cuomo today announced a $1.75 million HUD loan guarantee to Lynn, MA, to help create and retain about 70 jobs that will benefit people with low and moderate incomes.

The assistance is part of the Clinton Administration's efforts to create jobs for communities and to assist individuals moving from welfare to work, Cuomo said.

"These loan guarantees will strengthen HUD's partnership with Lynn," Cuomo said. "This is an example of the type of wise investment by the Clinton Administration that is helping job creation efforts in communities around the nation."

Cuomo said the $1.75 million loan guarantee will fund the final phase of redevelopment of the Phillips Clock Tower complex in Lynn. The first three buildings were renovated in part using a $3 million HUD loan guarantee approved in 1995. The renovation work will enable the city attract light industrial development to the facility.

HUD's Economic Development Loan Guarantee Fund provides communities with a source of financing for job creation, housing rehabilitation, and construction of public facilities and large-scale development projects. The majority of jobs created by each project are available to people with low and moderate incomes.

The Clinton Administration has proposed a new $400 million Community Empowerment Fund to assist cities like Lynn with their job creation efforts. Cuomo said the Administration expects this proposal to leverage an estimated $2 billion in private sector loans to businesses and to create and retain an estimated 280,000 jobs for economically distressed communities.

U.S. Senator Edward M. Kennedy said: "I applaud HUD's commitment to providing the financing necessary to complete the Phillips complex. This renovation will provide a great opportunity for both the expansion and new development in Lynn that will create jobs, draw in new business, and improve the City's economy."

U.S. Senator John Kerry said: "We all worked very hard to get this loan guarantee, which will leverage at least an additional $3 million to help revitalize the city of Lynn. This means new jobs, more economic activity, and real opportunity for low and moderate income families."

U.S. Representative John F. Tierney said: "This is precisely the role that the federal government can and should be playing - providing the seed money in the form of a loan guarantee, that in turn will allow local business districts to prosper and grow."

Lynn Mayor Patrick J. McManus said: "This loan guarantee clearly illustrates HUD's commitment to expand economic development and job creation in the City of Lynn. This investment will create 70 jobs and provides new opportunities for businesses to grow as well as bring new companies into the city." Recent reports have indicated that many people are leaving the welfare rolls without finding permanent jobs. Cuomo said that Clinton Administration job creation programs as well as President Clinton's plan to create 50,000 new welfare-to-work housing vouchers are both key elements to the success of welfare reform.

The welfare-to-work housing voucher proposal would enable welfare recipients to move closer to areas where jobs are being created and would assist job creation and retention efforts by providing for the critical housing needs of welfare recipients in transition.

The Economic Development Loan Guarantees, also known as the Section 108 program, save communities money by reducing the interest rate they are charged on loans from commercial lenders. The guarantees also make loans more readily available and often attract other sources of funding from local and state governments, non-profits and the private sector to complete financing for major job creation activities.