DETROIT - Vice President Al Gore mixed humor with praise for Detroit's economic progress yesterday when he spoke at the White House Community Empowerment Conference.
"Communities are rising again from the ashes," Gore said at the first annual conference, citing Detroit as an example. "We need to trumpet the successes of local heroes."
The local heroes to whom Gore referred include entrepreneurs, companies and banks that have helped revitalize 15 empowerment zones nationwide by creating business districts in rural and urban areas struck with poverty.
The empowerment zone in Detroit was the site of a former Cadillac factory. When the factory closed, many people lost jobs and the neighborhood deteriorated - until the federal government declared it an empowerment zone.
Through block grants, tax incentives and priority consideration in federal programs, the federal government encouraged small and large businesses to move into the area.
"The greatest untapped markets anywhere in the world are right here at home," Gore said.
Gore also announced a new initiative of the Clinton administration yesterday - empowerment contracting.
"This will provide special preference to buildings in empowerment zones when it comes to government contracts," Gore said.
Gore noted some problems that empowerment zones must overcome, including racial and ethnic boundaries that prevent maximum expansion possibilities.
"It's like trying to run a marathon with a 100-pound weight on your back," Gore said.
Gore also said the government should lend support to financially stable suburban areas to ensure they continue to prosper.
"Now one of the challenges we face is to reconnect the different parts of our problems and our solutions," Gore said. "Maybe it's time to focus more on the areas that already have infrastructure."
Moving away from the serious topic of economic problems in Detroit, Gore also joked about the prospects of a Gore administration, given President Clinton's recent knee injuries.
"I'm only one kneecap away from the presidency," he said.
Gore said Detroit should serve as a model for the nation and Detroit Mayor Dennis Archer should be seen as a great leader in the empowerment zone project.
"Hope has always powered Detroit," Gore said. "I think Mayor Dennis Archer is the Tiger Woods of empowerment zones."
Archer said Detroit's progress is evident in comparing it to the city of 10 years ago.
"It is not the city you see today," Archer said at the conference. "Everybody rolled up their sleeves and wanted to make a difference. We've really had a rejuvenation of our city."
Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman, a University alumnus, said that while empowerment zones are important in urban areas, rural towns also benefit from them.
"Rural America faces the challenge of remoteness," Glickman said. "Geography shouldn't be a hindrance to development. I am proud of the changes underway in our rural empowerment zones."
Also present at the conference was Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Andrew Cuomo, who said he is proud of the people behind empowerment zones.
"You have done a phenomenal job," Cuomo said to the audience of empowerment zone business owners. "This system, America, does work."
Cuomo also said the planned opening of three casinos in Detroit will help the city's economic state.
"This will also allow people to go back to work," Cuomo said.
Empowerment zones face challenges in encouraging more profit-seeking large businesses to get involved with empowerment zones, Gore said.
"The private sector must be re-engaged," Gore said. "The private sector has only just begun to get engaged."
Gore said the empowerment zone program is effective because the people who will benefit from the zones are the ones who build them.
"It's designed not to be top-down, but bottom-up," Gore said. "You asked, we responded. The results speak for themselves."
While Gore acknowledged that some may doubt the government's interest in empowerment zones, he said the Clinton administration will continue to support them in the long run.
"There are no quick fixes. It's a process," Gore said. "Rest assured, we are in this together whether we live in the Kentucky highlands or south-central Los Angeles or anywhere in between."
MARGARET MYERS/Daily
Vice President Al Gore speaks in Detroit yesterday at the White House Community Empowerment Conference. Gore cited Detroit as an example of an improved city.