2001Annual Report Executive Summary
Five Star Rural Enterprise Community
The Five Star Enterprise Community is a partnership of 5 census tracts located in Eastern Washington State, Tri-County Economic Development District and USDA Rural Development. This rural region is sparsely populated and suffers from chronic high unemployment, extremely low per capita incomes and high poverty rates. By partnering with USDA Rural Development, the Enterprise Community Initiative has been a catalyst to help develop projects and new programs in this region that address issues such as economic development, housing, work force training, telecommunications, capacity building and health care to name a few. The Five Star is comprised of Tri-County Economic Development District (Lead Agency), three Native American Tribes; The Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, The Spokane Reservation and The Kalispel Reservation along with the communities of Newport, WA and northern Ferry County. This initiative has brought all these communities together to work on regional issues where traditionally they have not.
Although the region suffers from similar interests and demographics, each of the five communities has different objectives. For example, with the nearest hospital over 50 miles away, the Native American communities of Wellpinit, Inchelium and Keller on the Spokane and Colville Reservation have a strong desire for health care and are focusing on building new medical clinics. In Newport, crime and vandalism has decreased tremendously by the community working with youth to develop a Skateboard Park, and The Create Place – a full time arts center for all ages. In northern Ferry County, safe drinking water has been a high priority for the schools and communities. In Nespelem, the community desperately needed a Fire Station and in Omak, an after hours school program was needed to further provide for latch key youth.
As we enter our third year as an Enterprise Community, collectively we have identified over 112 benchmarks, developed strong partnerships with USDA-RD, the USFS, The Washington State Office of Trade and Economic Development, BIA, EDA and a host of other organizations. By utilizing this initiative, the Five Star has been able to leverage outside funds into their communities by a ratio of 40.9:1. To date, the Five Star has maximized approximately $248,913 of EC funds leveraging $10,186,443 of outside dollars with the largest contributors being the Department of Health and Human Services, The Department of Housing and Urban Development, USDA Rural Development, State Government and Tribal Government, each contributing over one million dollars. In fact, Tribal Government has contributed the most significant amount at $2.8 million. In order to accomplish all 112 current identified benchmarks and meet the objectives of the Strategic Plan, approximately $1,695,311 of EC funds must be utilized leveraging $60,149,340 of outside funds for a ratio of 35.5:1 over the next seven years. A special thank you must also be given to Karen Bailor of USDA Rural Development for her dedication and hard work ensuring the success of the Five Star Enterprise Community. Her training and assistance have helped many projects become a reality in these rural communities. Her efforts are well appreciated by everyone in the Five Star.