The Benefit Bank of NC Now Operating in 40 Counties Throughout the State.

A new program is under way in North Carolina to help thousands of families receive work supports that can keep them from sliding into poverty while they're working, going to school, or between jobs.

The Benefit Bank© is an online service used by community-based organizations such as churches, schools and food banks to connect low- and moderate-income people with the work supports for which they are eligible. It is now operating in 40 North Carolina counties, with plans to expand into every county in the state. In just four months, it has helped more than 8,000 families receive nearly $4 million in tax credits and refunds and an estimated $1.7 million in food and nutrition benefits.
The Benefit Bank of North Carolina is a project of Connectinc, a 10-year-old nonprofit in Battleboro that uses telephone-based outreach to connect displaced workers and others with a wide range of benefits and supports, and MDC, which manages the national
Work Supports Initiative and brought The Benefit Bank© to North Carolina as it expands nationwide.

Read the full press release here.

MDC's Work in the Dan River Region Recognized by the Council on Competitiveness

The Council on Competitiveness
has released the third installment in its series on regional innovation. Collaborate: Leading Regional Innovation Clusters begins with a simple question: why are some regions more successful than others in global competition?

Drawing on original research and case studies, the report says for regions to be competitive in the global marketplace they need leadership that's focused on collaboration, with an ability to leverage local resources and network with regional stakeholders.

The report notes:
This new kind of leadership confronts a series of tasks that differ substantially from those of the old, local economic model, where the region next door was the competition and recruiting firms from elsewhere was the mission. New regional leadership must create a shared regional narrative, build consensus, institutionalize innovation and lead change.

Prominently featured in the report is the strategic partnership formed between MDC and the Future of the Piedmont Foundation (FPF), an economic development initiative created by community leaders in the Dan River Region of Virginia in 2000.
 
MDC assisted the Foundation in creating an economic development plan to shift the region from a traditional manufacturing/agriculture-based economy to an information/high-tech economy.

As a result of that partnership, the Foundation created the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research, a $70 million dollar research institute and incubator that acts as a "catalyst for economic and community transformation."

The Dan River Region is a promising example of how a new kind of leadership can transform a region.

Read the full report.

Former MDC Board Member Juanita Kreps Passes Away

As the daughter of an Appalachian coal miner, Juanita had an intimate familiarity with the economic hardships facing working-class families and throughout her distinguished career she remained a strong voice for change in the American South.

As one of the few female economists in the 1960s and 1970s, Juanita was not only a pioneer in the world of academics, but also in the private sector, serving as the first female Director of the New York Stock Exchange, and in government, where she was appointed Secretary of Commerce by President Carter.

MDC President David Dodson remembers Juanita as a constant advocate for MDC and a catalyst for economic development and social advancement in the American South.

''What a great person Juanita was and how she loved MDC,'' says Dodson. ''Her loyalty, especially during times when MDC was struggling to deal with the post-Carter policy environment, was critical to our survival.''

''She also had a wicked sense of humor.  I remember an exchange with a group of male economists in the 1990s. One man said, 'I am concerned that we have a growing group of people who have high skills but low wages.' Juanita listened and then responded, 'Well, yes, we always have had people with high skills and low wages ... we call these people WOMEN.'''

We at MDC extend our condolences to the Kreps family for their loss and would like to express our gratitude for the years of selfless service Juanita provided to our organization.

Read the full New York Times obituary here.

The State of the South 2010:
Chapter 1: Beyond the 'Gilded Age'

Continuing a series that began in 1996, MDC has released the first chapter of its respected research publication The State of the South. In The State of the South 2010, a look at the region's economy, MDC researchers found that two recessions nearly erased the advances made during the unprecedented boom of the 1990s. From a time when the South led the country in population growth and job creation, the region was thrust backward: median household income declined more than in any other region, and the region returned to poverty rates of a decade earlier.

The receding economic tide revealed that many of the region's persistent problems had never been solved. Future chapters of The State of the South 2010 will look at five transformative strategies that could put the region back on its powerful economic track: Learning, Earning, Living, Connecting and Leading.

This is the seventh edition of The State of the South, and for the first time will be published in chapters, with free downloads available online. Read the full State of the South 2010: Beyond the 'Gilded Age'; the MDC news release about the report; and a page of Data Highlights. And stay tuned for future chapters.

MDC Connects South Alabama's Asian Communities to Emergency Preparedness

The small fishing village of Bayou la Batre, Alabama, was devastated by Hurricane Katrina in late 2005. However, nearly 30 percent of residents of the surrounding areas are Southeast Asian immigrants working in the fishing industry, and many of their needs were unmet by responses to Hurricane Katrina. By working with the community to identify their needs, MDC helped connect the four Asian communities - Thai, Lao, Vietnamese, and Cambodian - to local emergency management agencies and to the Community Foundation of South Alabama, as well as helping each community complete projects on emergency preparedness. This video documents MDC's work in south Mobile County after Hurricane Katrina, and the results for the Asian communities.

MDC Awarded $3.8 Million 'Pathways Out of Poverty' Federal Training Grant

MDC was one of eight national organizations to receive a grant from the U.S. Department of Labor's 'Pathways Out of Poverty' program, a national green jobs initiative. The $150 million in grants to 38 local and national organizations, authorized as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, will support programs that help low-income and disadvantaged populations attain economic self-sufficiency through good jobs in energy efficiency and renewable energy industries.

Through Career Pathways for a Green South , MDC proposes a new model for workforce investment in the region that draws on untapped potential of the region's citizens and relies on strong community colleges as hubs. MDC will use its $3.8 million grant to work with four communities in Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina that have suffered manufacturing job loss in recent years to help low-wage and unemployed workers find work in emerging green industries. By creating partnerships with local community colleges, workforce investment boards, and other organizations, MDC will bridge gaps between disadvantaged individuals and the training and support that lead to industry-recognized credentials and placement in green jobs.

Read the full MDC News Release and the DOL News Release about 'Pathways Out of Poverty' grants: http://www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/eta/eta20100039.htm .

What moves people into the middle class and places out of poverty: MDC's Quick Primer >>