Economic Development

St. Paul, MN

A community-based non-profit organization that helps emerging entrepreneurs develop successful businesses in the Saint Paul and Minneapolis area.

Tucson, Arizona

A cultural organization that fuses arts and heritage to bring community members of all ages together.

Investors in America Award

For over thirty years of development that revitalizes and redefines the urban experience.

Entrepreneurial American Community Award

For the City of Atlanta's collaborative efforts and creativity in developing the Beltline Project.

Entrepreneurial American Community Award

For its innovative use of public/private partnerships in its economic revitalization plan centered on high-end residential development.

Entrepreneurial American Community Award

For its strategic planning and budgeting process that links funds in the budget directly to eight major goals to create more effective budgets.

Entrepreneurial American Community Award

For its spirit and risk-taking in the implementation of the Kalamazoo Promise, a tuition assistance program for the Kalamazoo residents.

Investors in America Award

Who has been a key local asset and figure in economic development and equal opportunity lending at Bank of America

Entrepreneurial American Community Award

For its successful affordable housing programs.

Entrepreneurial American Community Award

For having one of the most remarkable city center transformations in the nation.

Written by Tom Borrup with Partners for Livable Communities, this book features best practices and technical assistance how-to's on using culture as a fundamental tool for transformative community development. The book is a tool of broad scope covering topics such as: Asset Mapping; Funding and Policy; Effective Partnerships; Assessment and Evaluation. The book follows up on Partners ground-breaking Culture Builds Communities work.

Borrup writes, “In 1993 PLC began an extensive developmental program called Culture Builds Community, which aims to systematically place cultural assets within the portfolio of community development efforts…Nationwide in scope, the program gave rise to a publication, Culture Builds Communities, that inspired this book.”

Published by Fieldstone Alliance, Saint Paul, MN, 2006, 261 pages ($25)

(This Report/Book is only available for purchase. Partners does not have an electronic version available)

Bridge Builders Award

Carl W. "Bill" Struever, President & CEO, Struever Bros. Eccles & Rouse and Bank of America for their joint efforts in "Building Better Communities" throughout Baltimore and the East Coast through Smart Growth projects and neighborhood transformations.

Investors in America Award

Secretary of the US Treasury, for his commitment to promoting smart economic development policies and responsible business practices

Bridge Builders Award (Prince George's County, MD)

Nick Francis, President, Gateway Community Development Corporation and The Honorable Jack B. Johnson,  County Executive, Prince George’s County, Maryland for their development and creation of the Prince George’s Gateway Arts District, the largest, single public/private arts and community revitalization effort in the nation. Gateway is an innovator on how to use arts-based development projects as a catalyst for commercial revitalization by exploring ways to support the artists living and working in its community.

An exploration of whether midsize cities should have a league of their own, i.e. are they unique and special and should they have a stronger voice on public plicies in the U.S. and on global business development abroad? The results of a conference of invited researchers and public policy leaders led by Tom Argus of Rochester and Laura Durham of Partners for Livable Communities.

Author: William Fulton, Solimar Research, 16 pages, November 2002. ($5) Or Download the Report for Free here

Investors in America Award

For bringing manufacturing back as a key resource for America’s economic future