2007 Annual Report Executive Summary

Fayette Enterprise Community

The Fayette Enterprise Community (FEC) is made up of six census tracts throughout Fayette County, Pennsylvania totaling 84.37 square miles including Redstone and Menallen Township, a portion of the cities of Uniontown and Connellsville and a portion of Dunbar Township.  The population of the entire FEC is approximately 27,216 with an average poverty rate of 27%.  The FEC also includes three developable sites totaling 1,499.34 acres.  Currently, the FEC Strategic Plan includes 105 benchmarks to help revitalize the most distressed areas of Fayette County.   

In 2007, the FEC Board received 39 grant applications for over $253,000.  The Board reviewed and approved 17 projects totaling $120,000.  Each of the benchmarks falls into one of the seven categories that make up the FEC Strategic Plan.  Those categories are Agriculture, Community Development, Economic Development, Education, Housing, Social Conditions, and Transportation.

For the remaining two years of the FEC program, the Fayette FEC Board continues the new funding policy where 50% of all future FEC funding appropriation will be directed to K-12 education projects, 25% to indirect education and workforce development projects and 25% to human and social services projects.  This policy is designed to direct resources to projects that will have a direct impact and specifically target the creation of systemic changes to help individuals living below poverty to become self sufficient.