Nissan Foundation to Fund South-Central Job Programs

Nissan Motor Corp.’s U.S. sales arm said Monday that it has established a foundation to promote economic development in South-Central Los Angeles.

The Japanese auto maker’s Carson-based subsidiary will deposit $1 million in the Nissan Foundation each year for the next five years. The endowment’s interest earnings will go toward grants for programs that seek to create jobs in South-Central.

The first year’s grants, expected to total about $70,000, will be available beginning in June, 1993. One-quarter of the money will go to the Los Angeles Urban League.

Like other Japanese auto makers who manufacture and sell cars in the United States, Nissan has been criticized for building its assembly plant in a rural area, far from traditional urban manufacturing sites. Critics say such moves have contributed to the decline of American cities.

But Nissan Motor Corp. in U.S.A., which employs 1,500 people at its U.S. sales headquarters in Carson, says it has a hefty stake in the economic vitality of Los Angeles’ troubled inner city.

“This is our neighborhood,” said Thomas Mignanelli, president of the U.S. sales subsidiary. “We’re here for the long term.”