Conference attendees drive by downtown Chester on a tour of the SC2 community.

HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan gave the keynote address at the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia's Fifth Biennial Reinventing Older Communities conference in Philadelphia, PA on May 10, 2012. The conference focused on how government, nonprofit, academic, philanthropic and private-sector partners can support economic development strategies to reinvent older communities and build more resilient cities--large, medium and small--across the United States.

Secretary Donovan highlighted HUD and the Administration's work to strengthen the housing market and create jobs. He talked extensively about the Strong Cities, Strong Communities (SC2) initiative as one key effort by the Obama Administration to help local governments strengthen their capacity, better utilize existing resources and change how the federal government partners with distressed communities to help slash red tape and rebuild their economies. Secretary Donovan noted that SC2 emphasizes the critical role of locally driven decision-making and priority setting. Federal staff who comprises the SC2 Community Solutions Teams works side-by-side with city government staff and other community partners to help address locally identified priorities and break down federal government barriers.

The Philadelphia Regional HUD Office is engaged in the SC2 pilot in Chester, PA, a city that is facing numerous challenges. As our SC2 team is learning, there are often many assets that can be leveraged, such as a local anchor institution like Widener University in Chester-one of the six SC2 pilot cities. Located 13 miles south of Philadelphia, the city of Chester is working closely with Widener, as well as the Institute for Economic Development and the Crozer-Chester Medical Center, to strengthen homeownership by encouraging employers to provide cash incentives to workers who settle in Chester, with the city contributing money to cover downpayment costs. (For more on resilience and the role of local anchors in Chester and around the nation, please see HUD's recent issue of Evidence Matters on the topic.)

Conference attendees tour Lebronze Factory in Chester.

As a part of the conference in Philadelphia, attendees joined a bus tour to visit Chester and witness first-hand the potential a small community like Chester still has to rebuild when the right partners are able to collaborate and align efforts with local leaders to support their vision for the future. That is what makes this Administration's SC2 initiative so special-and what made for a memorable week in Philadelphia and Chester.

HUD Regional Administrator Jane C. W. Vincent talked with attendees about the Administration's commitment to helping to strengthen the Chester economy. On March 15, 2012, the White House brought together the lead SC2 partners to discuss how to better collaborate and align efforts across the public, private and philanthropic sectors to build resilience.

During the conference, President Obama made a surprise visit to announce the creation of the White House Council on Strong Cities, Strong Communities. (For much more on this Convening, and on SC2, subscribe to the new SC2 e-newsletter.) The Council will build on the SC2 pilot initiative launched June 2011 aimed at creating new partnerships between federal agencies and localities to spark economic development in communities that have faced significant long-term challenges in developing and implementing their economic strategies. On May 30, 2012, federal partners on the SC2 team, including HUD, signed a memorandum of understanding with Chester Mayor Linder to continue the pilot SC2 project for another year.

[Photos courtesy of Melissa Kinney, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia photographer.]