Steve Thompson (202) 720-2446
sathomps.@rdmail.rural.usda.gov
MISSISSIPPI DELTA COMPACT PROMISES NEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR DELTA REGION
CLARKSDALE, Mississippi, March 14, 2000 -- USDA Rural Development Deputy Under Secretary Art Campbell today announced the formal incorporation of a new government-private partnership to promote social and economic development in the seven-state Mississippi Delta region.
"At this meeting, we laid the foundation for a Delta-wide effort to improve infrastructure, economic opportunity, and health in rural areas," Campbell said. "Government and the private sector will work as a team to blend development resources in ways that multiply their effectiveness."
Campbell spoke after the adjournment of the two-day Mississippi Delta Summit in Clarksdale, which set up organizational rules and developed a strategic plan for the Mississippi Delta Compact. The Summit was hosted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the not-for-profit Housing Assistance Council.
The Mississippi Delta Compact is a broad-based coalition of federal, state and local government agencies, not-for-profit organizations, universities, foundations and other institutions, as well as interested individuals. Leaders of 33 such institutions and organizations signed the Compact in Greeneville, Miss., on August 11, 1998. The signing organizations pledged $40 million in resources and technical assistance for community economic development in the region.
Participants in the Summit came from all seven states comprising the Mississippi River Delta: Arkansas, Illinois, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Kentucky and Tennessee. The Summit endorsed the Compact's articles of incorporation and planned strategy for addressing four broad policy areas: housing and infrastructure, education and workforce development, rural development and agriculture, and health and nutrition.
"This is a great beginning, but there is much more that needs to be done," said Campbell. "So President Clinton is asking Congress to fund the Regional Delta Authority to support development in the region."
The proposed Regional Delta Authority would operate similarly to the Appalachian Regional Commission, which works through local development districts to fund infrastructure, housing, job skills training, technical assistance, and other projects. President Clinton has said that he hopes to get the Authority up and running before the end of his term in office.
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