THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

          A COMPLETE LIST OF PRESIDENT CLINTON'S AND VICE PRESIDENT
                  GORE'S ANNOUNCEMENTS OF NEW INVESTMENTS 
              TO HELP BRING ECONOMIC PROSPERITY TO THE DELTA REGION 
                              
                              May 10, 2000 

At today's conference, Delta Vision, Delta Voices: Mississippi Delta Beyond 2000, President Clinton and Vice President Gore will focus national attention on the social and economic issues of the Mississippi Delta Region, and explore new ways to revitalize the region and bring it into full partnership in our nation's prosperity. The President and Vice President will unveil the following initiatives to promote social and economic development in the region:

INVESTMENTS IN BASIC INFRASTRUCTURE TO PROMOTE GROWTH AND INCREASE ACCESS TO JOBS. The following infrastructure improvements announced today by the President will help improve the economic viability of the Delta region, encourage new job creation by making it more attractive to businesses, and increase mobility and job access for its residents:

• The Department of Agriculture will award $30.7 million in critically needed loans and grants to 19 communities for basic potable water systems, community facilities, and business assistance. These funds will benefit some of the Delta's hardest-pressed small towns and be used for necessary projects such as providing safe and adequate drinking water, purchasing firefighting and emergency rescue equipment, and repairing fire hydrants. The communities in which projects are receiving loans and grants are: White County, AR; Fulton County, AR; Fayette County, IL; Alexander and Pulaski Counties; IL; Franklin County, IL; White County, IL; Hopkins County, KY; Avoyelles Parish, LA (2); Evangeline Parish, LA; St. Landry Parish, LA; West Carroll Parish, LA: Washington County, MO; Mississippi County, MO; Butler County, MO (2); Ozark County, MO; Ripley County, MO (2); Prentiss County, MO; Holmes County, MS (2); Leake County, MS; Panola County, MS (2); City of Tchula, MS; Lauderdale County, TN; and Somerville County, TN.
• The Department of Commerce (Economic Development Administration) will award $2.75 million in grants, matched with $2 million from non-federal sources, for residential and industrial road, water and sewer projects. These funds will benefit the communities of Monticello, AR; Gassville, AR; Mountain Home, AR; and West Monroe, LA by putting in place the infrastructure necessary for long-term economic growth.
• The Department of Veterans' Affairs will award a $5.5 million grant to North Little Rock, Arkansas for the creation of a veterans' cemetery. The state veterans' cemeteries complement the national cemeteries and are critical to ensure that the burial needs of veterans are met. The VA grant, which will be awarded before the end of this fiscal year, will serve the over 100,000 veterans living within a 75-mile radius of the cemetery's 82-acre site.

INVESTMENTS IN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT FOR THE DELTA'S FUTURE. In a town hall meeting, Vice President Gore announced the following commitments aimed at enabling the Delta region to increase its economic strength over the long-term:

• The Departments of Transportation, Commerce, and the Interior will launch a Mississippi Delta Tourism Initiative to build on the $13 billion Delta tourism industry. This public-private initiative is aimed at bolstering the economic potential of tourism through the development of a regional tourism strategy. The initiative will include a national summit to be held in Arkansas this fall, underwritten by $150,000 from ASU and the Ford Foundation; an agreement among the parties to implement the marketing plan; the possible designation of a National Delta Heritage Area to honor the region's cultural and historical significance; and a study of the region's role in the civil rights movement.
• The Department of Agriculture will award $14.6 million in loans, loan guarantees, and grants to assist the Delta region's business community. These loans and grants will be used to provide assistance to businesses in the Delta region, including purchasing land and equipment, construction and remodeling costs, restructuring existing debt, and providing working capital. For one business in Louisiana, this funding assistance will save 40 existing jobs. The awardees include: Arkansas Rural Water Association; Sylvanina Nursery; The Pits, Inc.; Advance Coatings Company; Lewis & Son Rice Processing Corporation; Earle Industries, Inc.; Bethel Grain Co.; Under the Magnolia Day Care; Hopkinsville Elevator; Natchez Eola, LLC. Business Assistance projects are located in: Pulaski County, IL; Saline County, IL; Salem, MO; Clairborne County, MS: Holmes County, MS; Haywood County, TN (2); and Alcorn State University.
• The Department of Labor will award $3.7 million in grants for employment training and job placement centers. The grants will be awarded to organizations in Knoxville, TN; Grambling, LA; Rolla, MO; and Bay St. Louis, MS for programs offering job training and placement to high-risk youth and adults.
• The Department of Education will award $1.2 million in grants for Community-Based Technology Centers. The grants -- awarded to Concordia, Franklin and Tensas Parishes, LA; Chicot County, AK; and Vicksburg, MS
• will support CTCs that provide computer access and training to adults and children from disadvantaged backgrounds, allowing them to fully participate in the Information Age.
• The Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund will target 3 program information workshops to organizations serving the Delta region, and will partner with training providers to strengthen the capacity of development finance institutions serving the Delta region. CDFIs provide critically needed financing to economically distressed areas, including loans and investments in small businesses, housing, and microbusinesses.
• The Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration will award $210,000 in grants, matched with $317,167 from non-federal sources, to provide direct assistance to small businesses and to fund the design of a comprehensive economic development strategy for the 41 counties in the Arkansas Delta region. Under these grants, Mississippi Valley State University and the University of New Orleans will provide technical assistance to established small businesses, small towns, and community organizations. Arkansas State University will lead the effort to structure a region-wide economic development strategy.
• The East Arkansas Enterprise Community and the Enterprise Corporation of the Delta (ECD) will jointly create a new $4 million local loan fund that will leverage an additional $2 million from private financing sources. By launching this fund with ECD -- one of the nation's leading community development financial institutions -- the East Arkansas Enterprise Community will satisfy one of its key planning objectives. The fund will target financing to underserved local small businesses in the East Arkansas region.
• Entergy Corporation will expand the new Delta BusinessLINC program by recruiting another organization to serve as a BusinessLINC mentor to smaller protege companies in the Delta region. Entergy Corporation is the lead corporate partner for Delta BusinessLINC and has worked extensively with the Enterprise Corporation of the Delta to recruit mentor organizations.
• The U.S. Department of Transportation will contribute $150,000 to expand the MentorNet program in the Delta region. DOT will recruit 50 agency professionals by September 2000, and 100 by September 2001 to mentor female students at community colleges and historically black colleges and universities throughout the Delta region, and will encourage other federal agencies to participate. MentorNet links female engineering and science students with female mentors to provide career guidance and networking opportunities.
• The Office of Personnel Management will place in colleges and universities 6 computer kiosks displaying over 15,000 federal job opportunities daily, and will donate 15 surplus computers to Delta region high schools. The Federal Employment Information/Touch Screen Computer Kiosks will be donated to the University of Arkansas in Pine Bluff and to Alcorn State University in Lorman, Mississippi. Three surplus computers will be donated to each of the following high schools: Pine Bluff High School, Dollarway High School, and Watson Chapel High School (feeder schools to University of Arkansas), and Jefferson County High School and Port Gibson High School (feeder schools to Alcorn State University).

INVESTMENTS TO STRENGTHEN DELTA FAMILIES AND DELTA COMMUNITIES. The Clinton-Gore Administration is committed to bringing opportunity, prosperity, and improved quality of live to Delta families and communities. Today, the President announced following the investments:

• The U.S. Geological Survey will contribute $100,000 in resources, and ESRI Co. will contribute $100,000 in software, toward a public-private partnership to improve accessibility to geographic and socio-economic data that will assist in regional planning. The partnership will include the USGS, the University of New Orleans, the Greater New Orleans Regional Planning Commission, the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation, ESRI Co., and others. Through the partnership, scientists and urban and community planners will be able to share digital data and technology -- including information on water quality and land use, digital maps, and geographic information systems software -- to assist planners in making environmentally sound, economically beneficial decisions about growth.
• The EPA will award $170,000 in new grants to train teachers on environmental safety and to encourage farmers to use environmentally sound practices. A $70,000 grant will be given to Mississippi Valley State University for teacher training on environmental health, hazardous wastes, and the use of Geographic Information Systems to better understand the relationship between human health and the environment. A $100,000 grant will be awarded through EPA's Clean Water Action Plan to assist Delta farmers in using environmentally sound practices that conserve, restore, and enhance natural resources.
• The Department of Agriculture will award $224,320 for home-building assistance in Arkansas. This Self-Help Housing Technical Assistance grant from USDA Rural Development will provide necessary funding to assist 20 families in building homes throughout Lee County.
• The Justice Department will issue $495,000 in new COPS grants to expand community policing. The COPS (Community Oriented Policing Services) program has been instrumental in helping communities to cut crime nationwide. These new grants will be awarded to Helena, AK and Greenwood, LA to put more police officers on the streets. These funds are in addition to the $2.98 million in COP grants that were announced in April.