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DEL.ICIO.USCampaign generates $9M for low-income workers
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A delighted Bill Bolling, executive director of the Atlanta Community Food Bank, is amazed.
For a $200,000 investment, the Atlanta Prosperity Campaign has been able to generate $9 million to go directly into the wallets of the working poor.
“Show me any one who can get that kind of return, be it a for profit or a non-profit,” Bolling said.
This is the first year of the Atlanta Prosperity Campaign, which helps the working poor apply for available federal tax benefits that they can receive if they submit the proper paperwork.
Bolling has said that this is a form of economic development because it helps people who have some of the greatest needs and it pumps money into the local economy.
Several entities are partners on the Atlanta Prosperity Campaign, including Atlanta’s United Way and the hospitality industry.
Because of the first year’s success, the plan is to double the investment of the campaign in the coming year.
And Bolling, who can detect economic trends by the number of people who are seeking support from the food bank, said the working poor is being particularly hard hit today.
“Forty percent of the people who come through our doors have full-time jobs,” Bolling said. “Those are not the people we were set up to serve.”
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By John Templeton
July 9, 2008 12:01 PM | Link to this
For Immediate Release
contact John William Templeton 415-240-3537
Trouble in Air: State of Black Business 2008 addresses “black business blind spot”
SAN FRANCISCO — In an economy where microbusinesses create far more jobs than multinationals, business journalist John William Templeton considers it a profound oversight that the monthly Leading Indicators produced by the U.S. government do not address African-American owned businesses. “We give instant feedback to investment banking houses, but it is the people who are potential employees and consumers of black businesses who impact local, and state policymakers on a daily basis,” said Templeton, author of Trouble in the Air: State of Black Business 2008, fifth edition. The annual report is jam-packed with seldom-seen state-level data more recent than the six-year old Census of Minority Owned Businesses and current market data about African-American consumers. “There’s a black business blindspot for our economic policymakers that fails to recognize that most of the disparity in unemployment among African-Americans can be accounted for by the relative gap in self-employment,” the executive editor of blackmoney.com adds. States that want to reduce expenses in corrections or gaps in health insurance coverage might follow the example of states which have dramatically increased black business growth by tracking progress on a regular basis. The report includes the fifth annual ranking of states for their affinity to black business, a list topped this year by Illinois. During August, the fifth observance of National Black Business Month demonstrates to black consumers and others how they can impact that progress through their patronage. The concept is to visit at least one black business per day during the month. A guide to 31 suggested ideas is found at blackbusinessmonth.biz.
By markn30135
July 10, 2008 8:17 AM | Link to this
Where do I sign up? Every day I become closer to a low income worker.
By alan
July 11, 2008 9:36 AM | Link to this
is this the earned income tax credit that working poor can apply for?