12/25/2015
The time has come for a multi-faceted plan to revitalize Inner City Communities of Greater Columbus. The Urban Communities of Central City has a number of significant challenges with crime, housing, and economic development. And while the community has experienced and enjoyed some success through the leadership, advocacy, and passionate efforts of different Community Development Corporation and others, more help is needed.
Veterans are an under-utilized resource that can transform urban communities in the Central City. Veterans understand leadership and as people of action, in this case, they can be a catalyst that can help to revitalize Greater Columbus. This proposal is designed to create a setting that is not only veteran friendly, but also create an atmosphere that will fill a missing leadership void for the youth of Columbus Ohio.
Veterans can help reduce crime by increasing their visibility. As a former servicemen, veterans are not afraid to walk the streets and they are not afraid to approach young people in need of guidance and direction.
The Veterans Empowerment Initiative of Greater Columbus is a proposal that will increase this visibility which not only seeks to instill The Central City with services and resources favorable to veterans, but increase visibility by working to create an Economic Empowerment/Enterprise Zone for businesses and organizations that employ and provide services to veterans. The vision also includes ultimately creating a hub for veteran owned businesses to thrive.
Challenges and Partnership needs: To successfully achieve these goals, support is needed from the Federal, State, and local Government. The School system will also have to play a role. Some of the needs and partnerships may include:
• Federal Government: Assistance may be needed by legislators at the Federal level to blend some of the services and programs that may be offered by the Veteran’s Administration with some of the programs and services that are offered by the Small Business Administration and HUD. This includes but is not limited to home loan programs for Veterans and incentives to Developers that employ Veterans to improve the housing and commercial building stock of The Greater Columbus Communities.
• State Government: Coordination may be needed at the State level to see what support can be given to not only create a Veterans Enterprise Zone, but also identify what resources can be leveraged by the State to create attractive economic incentives that will encourage companies to not only locate their businesses in the The Central City, but also tax incentives which encourage the hiring of Veterans.
• Local Government: Efforts will be made at the County and City Government level to designate The Greater Columbus Urban areas as a Veteran Empowerment/Enterprise Zone as well as create a Tax Increment Finance Plan for these Urban communities. The city will also have to provide leadership in terms of providing tax incentives which encourage businesses to build and create jobs in The Central City. Special consideration will also have to be given to businesses that hire and provide services to veterans.
• School System: As this proposal includes raising the visibility of Veterans in the School system, efforts will have to be made to explore what is needed to make this a reality.
Crime and economic development have and continue to be central issues impacting the quality of life for the residents of many urban neighborhoods in the Central City. Any successful effort to revitalize these urban areas will have to invariably link these issues together simultaneously.
In summation this proposal will designate The Greater Columbus Urban Communities as a Veterans Enterprise/Empowerment Zone. It says we want Veterans. We welcome Veterans. And we need Veterans as active participants in transforming this community. We, the residents and business owners of Central City can only hope to achieve these objectives with the use of every tool and resource available. This means developing a policy that leaves no stone unturned; a policy that brings the full weight and resource of every level of Government to the table, a policy that includes the full weight of our country’s most valuable human resource, men and women who understand service and making a difference. Our most valuable players, Veterans!
