Meeting to Discuss Use of Empowerment Zone Funds
How to spend millions of dollars in federal Local Empowerment Zone money to create jobs and improve the businesses in Pacoima will be discussed at a meeting Thursday from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Northeast Valley Multipurpose Senior Center, 11300 Glenoaks Blvd.
With the federal empowerment zone program, business owners receive loans, wage credits and tax breaks to encourage them to locate in the zone, hire people who live in the zone, or expand and renovate their businesses.
About 300 business owners have been invited by City Councilman Richard Alarcon to attend the meeting.
A total of $430 million in federal funding was made available two years ago to the Los Angeles empowerment zone, which includes parts of Pacoima and central and south Los Angeles, said Steve Valenzuela of the Community Development Bank, the city agency that distributes the federal dollars.
To date, about $4.6 million in loans have been made to 15 Pacoima businesses for expansion or start-up projects, he said.
Empowerment zones must have a poverty rate of at least 35%; the Pacoima area has a poverty rate of 25% to 40%, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development. (A family of four is considered living at the poverty level if their annual income does not exceed $16,450).
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