2008 Annual Report Executive Summary
Four Corners Enterprise Community (4CEC)
With the Empowerment Zone/Enterprise Community (EZ/EC) Program scheduled to draw to a close at the end of the 2008 calendar year, 4CEC chose to concentrate staff time and resources on benchmark projects that support entrepreneurship and business development. During the past year the EC worked actively with the EZ/RC/EC Coalition. The coalition is comprised of various Empowerment Zones, Renewal Communities, and Enterprise Communities working together to urge Congressional leaders to extend the EZ/EC Program through December 2015.
The 4CEC submitted an application for a no-cost grant extension to USDA that proposed a new grant project period end-date of December 31, 2009. The application was approved. This will allow 4CEC to continue operations until the end of calendar year 2009 regardless of whether or not Congress chooses to extend the program through 2015.
In addition to serving as EC Executive Director, Mr. Lorenzo Max retained his position as the Executive Director of Bik’eh Hozho Community Development Corporation (Bik’eh Hozho CDC). Under Mr. Max’s guidance, Bik’eh Hozho CDC continued to make progress in the US Treasury Department Native Community Development Financial Institution (Native CDFI) Certification Process. The Bik’eh CDC is in the process of ironing out all final details to permit the organization to disburse its first business loan; and approve a second
business loan. Other projects in motion include the following: 1) offering development services (i.e. one-on-one success coaching); 2) coordinating entrepreneurship development classes and financial literacy classes to be offered in the near future; and 3) creating and implementing an outreach strategy designed to attract new clients and increase loan volume. It is anticipated that Bik’eh Hozho CDC will be certified as a Native CDFI by the end of December 2009. Certification of Bik’eh Hozho CDC as a Native CDFI will help ensure the Enterprise Community’s sustainability beyond the eventual end of the EZ/EC Program.