Fourth Annual Economic Empowerment Summit
The North Flint Reinvestment Corporation (NFRC) will hold its Fourth Annual Economic Empowerment Summit on Saturday, September 27, 2014 from 8:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. at Foss Avenue Baptist Church, 1159 E. Foss Avenue. The theme for Summit 2014 is Empowering Families and Neighborhoods through Micro Business Enterprise and Resident Engagement. As with summits conducted by the NFRC in the past, this one, too, promises to be power-packed with opportunities to obtain important information, to connect with vital resources in our community, and to network with kinship organizations and individuals. Keynote speaker this year is Ian Beniston, Executive Director of Youngstown (Ohio) Neighborhood Development Corporation.
The city of Youngstown, Ohio has lost over 60% of its population since the decline of the steel mill industry in the 1960’s. Beniston heads that city’s visionary neighborhood development corporation which has begun implementing an urban redevelopment plan that has been heralded by experts as an “emerging model for urban planning.” “The loss of industry, protracted population loss and property abandonment, and other problems the city of Flint is facing mirror those Youngstown has gone through. We look forward to learning from that city’s successes,” Dr. Reginald G. Flynn, Executive Director of the North Flint Reinvestment Corporation stated.
According to spokespersons for the NFRC, a registration period and breakfast will take place between 8:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m., followed by break-out sessions between 9:45 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Workshop options include: Accessing Capital to Finance Your Micro Business Enterprise; Applying Strategies to Eliminate Debt and Build Personal Wealth; Learning the Principals and Practices of Effective Neighborhood Stabilization; Writing a Successful Mini Grant, and Evaluating Local Lending Practices in Minority Communities. The Summit will also feature vendor tables and informational booths staffed by various community organizations. Representatives of several lending institutions will also be on site.
“If we are ever going to become a sustainable community again, we must have the ability to create jobs,” stated Dr. Flynn. “Since 1993, small businesses have accounted for 64% of the new jobs created in this country. The development of small and micro businesses by stimulating an entrepreneurial spirit among our people is crucial to the redevelopment of our community,” he added.
“But at the same time, we realize it is difficult for people to garner the resources to engage in entrepreneurial activities when they are bogged down in debt. Indebtedness is one of the worst kinds of bondage. It prevents us from moving forward as a people,” said Dr. Flynn in explaining the workshop composition of the Summit.
The Summit registration fee of $25.00 includes breakfast, lunch, workshop participation, and workshop resource materials. Registration forms can be obtained at www.northflintreinvestmentcorp.com or by visiting Foss Avenue Baptist Church, 1159 E. Foss Avenue. For information call (810) 869-5389 or (810) 787-9019.
