CUOMO ANNOUNCES EXPANSION OF CLEVELAND EMPOWERMENT ZONE

U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Andrew Cuomo today announced the expansion of Cleveland's Empowerment Zone to attract more businesses and create new jobs in an impoverished area of the city.

The expansion will add more than 30 new census tracts that form a "buffer zone" around current portions of the Cleveland Empowerment Zone. The expansion authorizes the Cleveland Empowerment Zone to utilize its HUD Section 108 and Economic Development Initiative (EDI) funds for loans to buffer zone businesses to create jobs for residents. Businesses and residents in the buffer zone are not eligible for Empowerment Zone tax incentives.

"Expanding the Cleveland Empowerment Zone will expand opportunities for residents and businesses in the area to build better futures," Cuomo said. "This is an important step in our efforts to revitalize Cleveland."

HUD Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development Cardell Cooper traveled to Cleveland today to bring the news to the people of the city and to attend Mayor Michael White's State of the City address.

Approximately $21 million - or 25 percent - of the money Cleveland has received in HUD loan guarantees will be made available to businesses in the buffer zone. Those businesses will be required to use the funds for projects that create more employment opportunities for Zone residents.

Empowerment Zones are designed to create a successful partnership between all levels of government, private businesses, community groups and local residents to improve opportunities in communities that are suffering from difficult economic times.

The Clinton Administration designated 72 urban Empowerment Zones and Enterprise Communities in 1994. They are to receive more than $1.5 billion in performance grants and more than $2.5 billion in tax incentives over 10 years. Empowerment Zones, including the one in Cleveland, receive a higher level of benefits than Enterprise Communities. In 1999, the Clinton Administration selected an additional 15 urban Empowerment Zones.