economic development

When looking at economic development in the African American community one must look at the various options that the city gives in relation to tax breaks and incentives. While it is good that EDGE grants are being given out in minority neighborhoods, it is concerning that gentrification might happen due to the developers being from other parts of Memphis and having different goals in mind. Memphis does much of its inner-city development through ICED or Inner City Economic Development Loans, which provide forgivable loans of up to three years and 25,000 dollars. The problem with these loans is that they are basically given out through a political process where individuals with the highest influences are able to receive these loans. A new highly controversial plan created in 2016 is the Community Builder PILOT program that was created in an attempt to fix dilapidated areas of inner city Memphis. Arguably the most notable of these is the newly built Binghampton Gateway Center, which now houses a Save-A-Lot and a Dollar General. While this might sound like a good idea as it ends the food dessert in the areas, fears of gentrification still should run high in this area. It is important to determine the intentions of the builders of these Community Builder PILOTS   and to ensure that they do not attempt to gentrify  neighborhoods to the detriment of the inhabitants. A concern  is that the price of living will continue to increase  in these neighborhoods , including Binghampton, and a  new crowd of individuals will move in the area displacing the current  homeowners who are not able to afford the neighborhood. . It is difficult to insure  that these EDGE grants are being given out fairly and  and some type of system needs to be placed to ensure fairness in the program. It is important that all of these grants are not given  to wealthy developers in East Memphis but are given out equally throughout the city. Minority communities in Memphis should be given some type of priority when the distribution of PILOT grants are given out by the city, so that neighborhood can continue to be “homegrown”. This is a fair proposal due to the history of Memphis exploiting minorities and the poor population for free labor. The city truly has nothing to lose as it was heavily hurt during the recession and needs to bring more jobs back. It is essential that the city of Memphis takes these progressive steps in order to ensure equity in the minority population through economic development grants.