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Bowling Green Enterprise Community

Lead Entity: City of Bowling Green Housing and Community Development Department

Demographics

State: Kentucky
Counties (Census Tracts): Warren (101, 102, 103)
Community Population: 9,374
Poverty Rate: 44%
Net Land Area: 3.6 square miles

Background

Round I Champion Community
53% Unemployment Rate
In the past fifty years twenty-two of the thirty-five manufacturing firms that went out of business or relocated, were in the Zone area.
Nearly 55% of the area population over the age of 25 does not have a high school diploma or GED.

Community Overview Bowling Green Enterprise Community is very ethnically diverse with over twenty-five different languages in the district schools, however forty-six percent of the student population is classified as economically deprived. Low levels of educational attainment and low skill levels have created a history of high unemployment, currently double that of the rest of the commonwealth and the nation. The problem of unemployment has been exacerbated by the recent closure of a Fruit of the Loom factory.

Strategic Plan Highlights

Bowling Green’s strategic plan builds on the goals and accomplishments that they started four years ago. The community has done an impressive job of obtaining technical assistance and identifying leveraging sources for funding.

Economic Development-expand the existing revolving loan fund and peer lending program to provide small and minority businesses access to loans, identify Brownfields and complete cleanup cost assessments, commit Community Development Block Grant Revolving Loan Funds for economic development loans in the community;

Supporting Families-create a preventative services program that takes health care screenings and education workshops out into the neighborhoods, provide affordable day care slots for those who are transferring from welfare to work, establish free health care for the working poor through a Free Clinic;

Education-invest in adult literacy and GED preparation, institute a training program that is responsive to the needs of local industry, expand the Even Start Program to provide assistance to children and parents that have limited English skills;

Housing-Create a homeowners Rehabilitation Program, expand the existing Affordable Housing Program to target more low-income residents who wish to buy their own home, rehabilitate 18 units of affordable housing and transitional housing along with holistic support for homeless substance abusers who are recovering;

Crime Prevention-invest in community policing, seek additional COPS funding to increase police coverage, organize additional Neighborhood Watch Groups, implement a Youth Gang Prevention Grant to reduce gang activities.

Partnerships

Bowling Green has taken an aggressive approach in contacting over 300 businesses and inviting them to a luncheon to inform the business community about their empowerment initiatives and to invite them to participate in the strategic planning process. Bowling Green has also organized local banks to discuss the potential for establishing a Community Development Financial Institution. Bowling Green also conducted a survey of health providers staff and administrators to identify ways to reduce the barriers to providing health care to families. Bowling Green has sought to address a range of community and economic development issues by contacting potential partners and bringing them in on the strategic planning process.

Leveraging

Bowling Green has been involved in community development projects since the Model Cities Program in the early 1970s. Since that time, it has created a wealth of experience in leveraging outside funding and securing technical assistance. In recent years, Bowling Green has worked with Western Kentucky University to secure a grant to create a work-study program that provided planning Graduate students the opportunity to work in the field and a source of technical assistance for the community. The Strategic Plan identifies specific funding programs for each of its benchmarks and intends to leverage a diverse pool of funding for each of its benchmark goals.

Community Involvement

The community used the innovative approach of having local youths paint murals around the community to beautify the local surroundings and to serve as a symbol for community driven improvement efforts. In addition to distributing 5,000 informational brochures, creating public announcements, and organizing community meetings, the community also received support from the local police department who used their computerized telecommunications system to inform residents about the EZ initiative.

Contact:	Lisa Ryan
Address:	P.O. Box 430
	Bowling Green, KY 42102-0430
Telephone:	(270) 393-3658
Fax:	(270) 393-3168
Email:	ryanl51@bgky.org
Website:	www.bgky.org

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