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February 16, 2012
5:00 - 7:00 pm

Location:
Frankie & May Fresh Grocer
1101 Peninsula Drive

Join us at Frankie & May, Erie’s new and unique fresh grocer. We are a one stop shop offering the finest, freshest ingredients in an environment that celebrates food and makes it fun, whilst offering the reliability and convenience of a supermarket.

You will have the opportunity to see the wonderful array of products in store, and watch local chefs prepare delicious bites in our state-of-the-art demonstration kitchen. Remember to bring your business cards for the chance to win a Frankie & May gift card, or one of our beautiful eco-friendly reusable jute bags

Through outreach conducted by the Erie Business Action Team (housed at the Erie Regional Chamber and Growth Partnership) over the last several years – and collaborative discussion of the 13-member Lead Economic Development Team of Erie County – it has been determined that there is an immediate need to undertake a comprehensive census of employers to formulate a more clear picture of where the job openings are and where they will be.

View complete information and register to take the Project Jobs survey.

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ERIE – The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Regional Administrator Jane C. W. Vincent announced the County of Erie as one of the recipients of the 2011 Sustainable Communities Grants, totaling over $97 million. Twenty seven communities and organizations will receive Community Challenge grants and the County is one of 29 regional areas that will receive a Regional Planning grant. The $1.8 million dollar grant will be used to develop the Destination Erie: Regional Plan for Sustainable Development. The goal of the Sustainable Communities grants is to help communities and regions improve their economic competitiveness by connecting housing with good jobs, quality schools and transportation.

“Our nation’s ability to compete in a global economy and create jobs is dependent upon how quickly and efficiently we can connect our workers and families to education and employment opportunities.” said HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan. “This year we are especially proud that we had a particular focus on funding proposals that included more chambers of commerce and economic development corporations as core partners.”

The Erie County plan will follow a three phase process moving from project initiation and regional assessment, to creating a vision for the future and finally to the creation of a regional sustainability action plan. The process will develop focus on strategies for creating a sustainable economy, and build on Erie’s past to set the course towards a sustainable future and engage the community and build partnerships for action. The Consortium will focus on regional capacity building throughout the process, with the goal of securing specific commitments to ensure the plan strategies and actions will be implemented.

“These grants will be leveraged with local funds more than doubling the investment and, helping to create new visions for how communities and regions plan for housing, transportation, workforce development and the quality of life of their residents for generations to come,” said Vincent. “When 52% of the average working family’s income is devoted to housing and transportation costs alone, we know that we have a responsibility to fix that and to provide housing and transportation options that can improve their quality of life and economic stability.”

HUD Western Pennsylvania field office director Jane Miller presented the check to Erie County Executive Barry Grossman and the County’s core partners.

“These awards come at an important moment as communities continue to recover from the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression,” said Miller. “Addressing this crisis couldn’t be only about helping communities today. We must help them plan for the challenges of tomorrow.”

“On behalf of Erie County and all of our economic and community development partners, we are extremely grateful to HUD for their recognition and generous financial commitment to the Erie region,” said Grossman. “With this funding, our region has the opportunity to create a vision and strategy to leverage its assets to meet the region’s economic, social and environmental challenges of the 21st century.”

HUD’s Community Challenge Grants aim to reform and reduce barriers to achieving affordable, economically vital and sustainable communities. The funds are awarded to communities, large and small, to address local challenges to integrating transportation and housing. Such efforts may include amending or updating local master plans, zoning codes, and building codes to support private sector investment in mixed-use development, affordable housing and the re-use of older buildings. Other local efforts may include retrofitting main streets to provide safer routes for children and seniors, or preserving affordable housing and local businesses near new transit stations.

The Regional Planning Grant program encourages grantees to support regional planning efforts that integrate housing, land-use, economic and workforce development, transportation, and infrastructure developments in a manner that empowers regions to consider how all of these factors work together to create more jobs and economic opportunities. The program will place a priority on partnerships, including the collaboration of arts and culture, philanthropy, and innovative ideas to the regional planning process. Recognizing that areas are in different stages of sustainability planning, HUD has established two categories for the Regional Planning Grant program. The first supports communities that are beginning the conversation about how best to align their housing, transportation, environment, and other infrastructure investments. The second recognizes that some communities have already achieved significant momentum and are prepared to move toward completion and implementation of regional plans for sustainable development.

As was the case last year, the demand for both programs far exceeded the available funding. This year HUD received over $500 million in funding requests from communities in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico for the $96 million in available funding. This year’s grants will impact 45.8 million Americans by helping their communities and regions become more efficient and competitive while improving quality of life. Combined with the 87 grants funded last year, this program is providing opportunities for the more than 133 million Americans who live in regions and communities working to shape local plans for how their communities will grow and develop over the next 50 years.

This year’s grantees continue to reflect a diverse group of states, regions and communities that believe in sustainability. Grants were awarded in the states of Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Washington and Wyoming.

Community Challenge Grants and Regional Planning Grants are also significantly complimented and leveraged by local, state and private resources. This year, HUD’s investment of $95.8 million is garnering $115 million in matching and in-kind contributions – which is over 120% of the Federal investment – from the 56 selected grantees. This brings to total public and private investment for this round of grants to over $211 million. These grants are part of the Partnership for Sustainable Communities, which represents an association between HUD, the U.S. Department of Transportation, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to ensure that the agencies’ policies, programs, and funding consider affordable housing, transportation, and environmental protection together. This interagency collaboration gets better results for communities and uses taxpayer money more efficiently.

Coordinating federal investments in infrastructure, facilities, and services meets multiple economic, environmental, and community objectives with each dollar spent. The Partnership is helping communities across the country to create more housing choices, make transportation more efficient and reliable, reinforce existing investments, and support vibrant and healthy neighborhoods that attract businesses.

“The demand for sustainability grants is very high; we would have needed $500 million to fund all proposals we received this year.” said HUD Office of Sustainable Housing Communities (OSHC) Director, Shelley Poticha. “We are confident that the mix of rural and urban proposals that we selected this year will have a great impact in their communities and will create nearly 2,000 jobs.”
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HUD’s mission is to create strong, sustainable, inclusive communities and quality affordable homes for all. HUD is working to strengthen the housing market to bolster the economy and protect consumers; meet the need for quality affordable rental homes: utilize housing as a platform for improving quality of life; build inclusive and sustainable communities free from discrimination; and transform the way HUD does business. More information about HUD and its programs is available on the Internet at www.hud.gov and http://espanol.hud.gov. You can also follow HUD on twitter @HUDnews, on facebook at www.facebook.com/HUD, or sign up for news alerts on HUD’s News Listserv.

See photos from the event.