J. Hunter



Artur Davis Takes The Initiative

Unlike city and county officials, federal lawmakers don't have their own pots of money to spend directly in their districts. But U.S. Congressman Artur Davis in 2003 started an economic development process in his 7th Congressional district, which includes many of the state's poorest counties and economically depressed sections of Birmingham. Initiative 7 brings much-needed technical assistance, some money and other resources to the district.

Mostly, it's bringing hope. Davis' Initiative 7 project team of nationally-recognized and local community builders organized meetings with constituents throughout his district last year. Entrepreneurs and community leaders in the Black Belt counties and in Birmingham City dusted off their dreams and business ideas that have lain dormant or on life support for years. They brought them to the Initiative 7 team.

The result is a package of about 34 community-based economic development projects, from expanding a specialty clothing store in Woodlawn, to expanding shrimp farm operations in Lowndes County

(see “Profit Margin")

The

Future

Is

Now

 County Commission President Langford, who’s always hatching ideas to improve the Birmingham area, says turning this region into an attraction means citizens
in the City and the rest of Jefferson County have to decide what they want it to ultimately become.

“Right now, it’s Mayberry RFD,” he says. “But we have to decide: Do we want to become a full-fledged metropolis with all the amenities necessary to attract and keep people here so that the brightest minds don’t pack up and move 150 miles to Atlanta or out of state?”

Langford says that if Jefferson County governments could cooperate regionally in five areas – schools, roads, a regional public transportation system, fire protection and police protection across jurisdictional lines – “then everything else would take care of itself.”

The projects hold so much potential that Art Campbell, a vice president of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta, is spearheading efforts to find capital funding or them all. Campbell says his bank, with more than $1 billion in assets, looks for people doing worthy projects that build communities from the ground up. He doesn't know how much the bank can contribute to Davis' overall efforts, "but we're very excited about the opportunity to work with somebody who has put this kind of imagination and thought into it."

Davis says the Initiative 7 projects "represent the dreams of people who want to better their communities, people who believe they can take the raw materials of their communities and make themselves stronger and better."

The freshman congressman is exploring another path to bring more help to his district. Last year, Davis coordinated a day-long bus tour of Black Belt industries and innovative economic projects for Mississippi lawyer Pete Johnson, head of the Delta Regional Authority (DRA) and state economic development leaders. DRA serves a 240-county/parish area in an eight-state region, including Alabama. It is designed to remedy the region's chronic poverty by distributing federal funds and fostering partnerships that stimulate economic development. Davis introduced the Southern Empowerment and Economic Development (SEED) Act, his first bill, last year. It would extend the DRA's reach into the Black Belt, which he calls "an undiscovered jewel." That means more money and technical assistance to support grassroots efforts that improve economic conditions in his district, much like Initiative 7 does.

Davis says citizens just need a little boost from responsive government leaders in order to transform their own communities, such as the DRA grants Johnson announced for a sewer system in the City of Pennington in Choctaw County and an airport runway extension in Selma. "We simply have to unlock the door of opportunity, and I'm convinced there are people who will come marching right through them."

Previous Page