THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Vice President

                 VICE PRESIDENT GORE NAMES ALVIN BROWN 
         EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE COMMUNITY EMPOWERMENT BOARD

                 Current Interim Director Julian Potter 
                        Named CEB Chief of Staff

Washington, DC -- Vice President Gore announced today that he has named Alvin Brown as Executive Director of the Community Empowerment Board.

"I am pleased that Alvin Brown -- who has already been hard at work on our team to revitalize America's cities and distressed rural communities -- will be the new Executive Director of the Community Empowerment Board," the Vice President said. Brown currently serves as the Director of the Special Actions Office within the Office of the Secretary at the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

"I also want to thank the Congress for its continued bipartisan support of our Administration's Empowerment Zones and Enterprise Communities (EZ/EC) Initiative -- an effort to tap the untapped potential of America's urban and rural areas by connecting the areas that need it most to new opportunity," he added.

In his current position, Mr. Brown leads efforts to get the public and private sector to work as a team to support economic development and bring capital to distressed communities. He has built strong relationships with members of Congress in both parties, state and local elected officials, and a variety of organizations to garner their support for economic development programs. He has also served as HUD's representative on the President's Community Empowerment Board.

Gore also named Julian Potter, current Interim Executive Director of the Community Empowerment Board, the Board's new Chief of Staff.

"As the Interim Executive Director of the Community Empowerment Board, Julian worked hard to insure that the Clinton/Gore Administration's vision for revitalizing America's distressed urban and rural areas became a reality -- by promoting new private investments in these communities and by building partnerships among all levels of government, private businesses, community groups, and community members," Vice President Gore said. "As the Board's new Chief of Staff, I know she will continue to provide strong leadership to ensure the Second Round of Empowerment Zones are as successful as the first."

Earlier this year, in January, the Administration announced a Second Round of 20 Empowerment Zones who are eligible to share in $3.8 billion in proposed federal grants and tax-exempt bonding authority to finance sweeping revitalization and job creation programs over the next 10 years. A bipartisan Congressional majority authorized first year funding for the new Zones in October. This Second Round of Empowerment Zones builds on the experience of the program's First Round, that included eleven Zones awarded in December 1994. The First Round has resulted in more than $8 billion in private-sector investment to the designated communities and unprecedented public-private partnerships.

The President's Community Empowerment Board was created in September 1993, to assist distressed urban and rural communities in their revitalization efforts. It is chaired by the Vice President and includes the heads of twenty-six Federal agencies. The Board oversees the development of the Administration's overall community empowerment efforts, focusing particular attention on the Empowerment Zone and Enterprise Community Initiative.

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