HHS announces a major new investment in community health centers

Valley Healthcare System, Inc. of Columbus and Community Health Care Systems, Inc of Wrightsville receive over $8 million in grants.

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today announced awards of $727 million to 143 community health centers across the country to address pressing construction and renovation needs and expand access to quality health care. The funds are the first in a series of awards that will be made available to community health centers under the Affordable Care Act.

Community health centers serve nearly 19 million patients, about 40 percent of whom have no health insurance. Community health centers deliver preventive and primary care services at more than 7,900 service delivery sites around the country to patients regardless of their ability to pay; charges for services are set according to income.

"There is no question that the economic downturn has made it harder for some Americans to get health care and important preventive services. Community Health Centers provide quality healthcare services to Americans across the country but are a life line for those who have lost coverage or are between jobs. These funds from the Affordable Care Act will help get more people care in some communities where there have not been many options in the past," said Secretary Sebelius. "The newly constructed or expanded community health centers will provide care to an additional 745,000 patients and much needed employment opportunities in both rural and urban underserved communities."

The Capital Development (CD) program grants, administered by HHS' Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), will support major construction and renovation at 143 community health centers nationwide. This builds on the more than $2 billion investment in community health centers in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. A state by state list of Recovery Act investments in community health centers is available at http://www.hhs.gov/recovery/programs/hrsa/index.html .

"Many of these community health centers need more modern space to meet the increasing patient demand for services. These funds will help community health centers build new facilities and modernize their current sites in their continuing effort to provide the best care possible to more and more people in need," said HRSA Administrator Mary K. Wakefield, Ph.D., R.N.

Over the next five years, the Affordable Care Act provides $11 billion in funding for the operation, expansion and construction of community health centers across the country. This expansion of sites and services will help community health centers to serve nearly double the number of patients receiving care, regardless of their insurance status or ability to pay.

-----
Community News You Can Use
Click to read MORE news:
www.GeorgiaFrontPage.com
Twitter: @gafrontpage & @TheGATable @HookedonHistory
www.ArtsAcrossGeorgia.com
Twitter: @artsacrossga, @softnblue, @RimbomboAAG
www.FayetteFrontPage.com
Twitter: @FayetteFP

Justice Department Announces More Than $20 Million in Awards to States to Enforce Underage Drinking Laws

/PRNewswire/ -- The Department of Justice's Office of Justice Programs (OJP) today announced more than $20 million in awards to enforce state and local underage drinking laws nationwide. The grant awards, made through the Enforcing Underage Drinking Laws (EUDL) program, support law enforcement, public education, and coalition building activities to address underage access to and consumption of alcohol.

"Alcohol is a serious and ongoing threat to the safety of our youth, their families and our communities," said Jeff Slowikowski, Acting Administrator of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP). "OJP's commitment includes providing training programs that build on best practices and strong partnerships to prevent underage drinking."

The EUDL program, administered by OJJDP, is the only federal initiative directed exclusively toward preventing underage drinking. The program consists of block grants and discretionary awards, research, and training and technical assistance.

Each state, territory, and the District of Columbia received a block grant of $356,400. The awards support a wide range of activities and emphasize the responsibility of adults to not provide alcohol to minors. OJJDP also awarded more than $2 million in discretionary grants to Maine, Nevada and Washington to assess both state and local underage drinking issues in the first year of the program and to develop and implement a strategic plan to address problems identified by the assessments. An OJJDP sponsored independent assessment team will support the states. After the initial planning period, the grantees will participate in an OJJDP sponsored evaluation of their activities.

More than 2,000 participants--including youth--are expected to attend OJJDP's 12th annual National EUDL Leadership conference, "Building Community Futures with Blueprints for Success," in Anaheim, Calif. today through Friday, August 20. The conference highlights communities, programs and other initiatives that have successfully implemented evidence-based strategies to reduce youth access to alcohol.

-----
Community News You Can Use
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page
Follow us on Twitter:  @GAFrontPage

Department of Justice Announces $1.2 Million in Grants to Protect Children from Sexual Exploitation

/PRNewswire/ -- The Office of Justice Programs (OJP) has announced the award of four grants totaling $1.2 million to support the development of strategies that protect children from commercial and sexual exploitation. These grants are part of the Department's national strategy to prevent and interdict child exploitation announced by Attorney General Eric Holder.

"Protecting our youth remains a priority with the Justice Department," said Laurie Robinson, Assistant Attorney General, OJP. "We are determined to have strategies in place that prevent, and if necessary, rescue and help children recover from exploitation. These grants will provide the resources necessary to reach the children and hold the perpetrators accountable."

OJP's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) will administer the awards, which will support selected Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Forces by making available improved training and coordination activities, help in developing policies and procedures to identify child victims, assistance in the investigation and prosecution of adult perpetrators and the identification and adoption of best practices for compassionate victim intervention. This grant program is authorized under the Providing Resources, Officers, and Technology to Eradicate Cyber Threats to Our Children Act of 2008, (P.L. 110-401, 42 USC 17601, et seq.) ("the PROTECT Act"). Eligible applicants under the competitive solicitation were the existing 61 ICAC Task Forces and affiliate law enforcement agencies.

Recipients include:
-- County of Alameda, Oakland, CA ($300,000)
-- Georgia Bureau of Investigation, Decatur, GA ($300,000)
-- City of Boston, MA ($300,000)
-- Cook County State's Attorney's Office, Chicago, IL ($299,999)

-----
Community News You Can Use
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page
Follow us on Twitter:  @GAFrontPage

US Department of Labor announces $150 million in 'Pathways Out of Poverty' training grants for green jobs

Goodwill Industries is on the list to receive a grant for green job training.

/PRNewswire/ -- Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis today announced $150 million in green jobs training grants, as authorized by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act). The "Pathways Out of Poverty" grants -- as the group of funding awards is known -- will support programs that help disadvantaged populations find ways out of poverty and into economic self-sufficiency through employment in energy efficiency and renewable energy industries.

"These Pathways Out of Poverty grants will help workers in disadvantaged communities gain access to the good, safe and prosperous jobs of the 21st century green economy," said Secretary Solis. "Green jobs present tremendous opportunities for people who have the core skills and competencies needed in such well-paying and rapidly growing industries as energy efficiency and renewable energy."

Through the 38 grants awards announced today, targeted populations will receive recruitment and referral services; basic skills, work-readiness and occupational skills training; supportive services to help overcome barriers to employment; and other services at times and locations that are easily accessible. Through these programs, participants will receive certifications and on-the-job training that will lead to employment.

In order to serve the specific populations targeted by these grants effectively, the Department of Labor encouraged applicants to focus project efforts in communities located within one or more contiguous Public Micro Data Areas (PUMAs) where poverty rates were 15 percent or higher. PUMAs are geographic areas designated by the U.S. Census Bureau. All applicants were required to have experience serving economically disadvantaged populations. Programs funded today will serve unemployed individuals, high school dropouts, and other disadvantaged individuals within areas of high poverty.

There are two types of award recipients for these grants: 1) national nonprofit entities with networks of local affiliates, coalition members or other established partners; and 2) local entities including nonprofit organizations, such as community and faith-based organizations, the public workforce investment system, the education and training community, labor organizations, and employer and industry-related organizations.

Today's grants are part of a larger Recovery Act initiative -- totaling $500 million -- to fund workforce development projects that promote economic growth by preparing workers for careers in the energy efficiency industries. For a full listing of the grants and project descriptions, visit http://www.doleta.gov/. To view a video by Secretary Solis, visit http://www.dol.gov/dol/media/webcast/pathways. The U.S. Department of Labor expects to release funding for one remaining green grant award category over the next several weeks.

-----
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page
Follow us on Twitter: @GAFrontPage

Governor Perdue Announces $8.3 million in OneGeorgia Awards

Governor Sonny Perdue and members of the OneGeorgia Authority Board met December 7 at Southwest Georgia Technical College and approved grants and loans from the OneGeorgia Authority’s portfolio of financing programs.

These awards will assist with a variety of economic development projects in rural Georgia aimed at creating jobs, stimulating new private investment, supporting the retention of existing jobs and enhancing regional competitiveness through capacity-building projects. These projects, along with their respective local leadership representatives, were recognized at the OneGeorgia board meeting.

Company officials and local leaders associated with the most recent EDGE awards were recognized at today’s meeting. The five EDGE awards, totaling $2.5 million, are leveraged against approximately $100 million in total project costs and are projected to create over 677 jobs within the next three years as well as to retain 75 jobs.

Washington-Wilkes Payroll Development Authority / Callaway Farms Manufacturing, LLC

EDGE grant funds will be used to assist with building improvements to support the location of Callaway Farms Manufacturing, LLC (CFM), an animal bedding manufacturer, to Washington. The Company plans to rehabilitate an existing 20-acre site previously occupied by International Paper Company Sawmill. CFM is a privately held company that was created in 2007 by three individuals who have over 75 years of agricultural and business experience. The Company’s principal product will be animal bedding for horses that will be made out of pulpwood and unusable timber procured from a five-county area surrounding Wilkes County.

EDGE Award: $100,000 / Total Project Cost: $4.5 million
50 new jobs in two years / Interstate competition: Jasper, Alabama


Development Authority of Harris County / Hoover Universal, Inc.

EDGE grant funds will be used to assist with site preparation to support the location of Hoover Universal, Inc. (HUI), an auto supply manufacturer, to West Point, Harris County. HUI plans to construct a 127,500 square-foot facility on 27 acres in the Northwest Harris Business Park, which is located six miles from the KIA facility. The Company will manufacture interior automotive components, such as seats and door panels, as a Tier 1 supplier to KIA Motors Manufacturing Georgia, Inc. Hoover Universal is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Johnson Controls, Inc. (JCI) which was established in 1883. JCI employs over 140,000 worldwide.

EDGE Award: $1 million / Total Project Cost: $35.2 million
310 new jobs in two years / Interstate competition: Alabama


Development Authority of Walton County/General Mills Operations, LLC

EDGE grant funds will be used to assist with the purchase of machinery and equipment to outfit a new distribution facility in support of General Mills Operations, LLC (GMO). GMO is a subsidiary of General Mills, Inc. (GMI), a Fortune 500 company and one of the world’s premier consumer foods companies with products in over 100 countries around the world. With a current manufacturing facility in Covington, Newton County, Georgia since 1989, the Company seeks to expand in the southeastern region of the U.S. by constructing a regional distribution center. General Mills plans to construct a 1.5 million square-foot LEED certified (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) facility on 130 acres that will be one of the largest of its kind in the U.S. Some of General Mills’ more notable products and brands include: Cheerios, Wheaties, Yoplait, Hamburger Helper, Green Giant, Betty Crocker and the most recognized icon of GMI – the Pillsbury Dough Boy.

EDGE Award: $500,000 / Total Project Cost: $46.7 million
112 new jobs in two years / Interstate competition: Florida and Tennessee


HoustonCountyDevelopment Authority / Little League Baseball, Inc.

EDGE grant funds will be used to assist with site preparation in support of the location of Little League Baseball (LLB), Inc. LLB, a non-profit organization which organizes local youth baseball and softball leagues, has helped to organize over 200,000 teams (2.3 million players) in every state in the US and over 80 countries throughout the world. The Company is relocating its Southeastern regional headquarters from St. Petersburg, Florida to Warner Robins in Houston County to a new facility best suited for growth and expansion. LLB plans to construct 10,000 square-feet of administrative office/meeting space, practice fields, and enclosed one-story maintenance facility on 26 acres adjacent to the existing 29.56-acres Warner Robins American Little League complex. The location is expected to attract approximately 20,000 annual visitors to the area which over a 10-year period is estimated to have a $32 million regional impact.

EDGE Award: $598,640 / Total Project Cost: $5.5 million
5 new jobs and indirect impact of $3+ million annually across the region
Interstate competition: North and South Carolina


ThomasvillePayroll Development Authority / Senior Life Insurance Company

EDGE grant funds will be used to assist with site preparation and construction for the expansion of Senior Life Insurance Company (SLIC) in Thomasville. SLIC is a Thomasville based insurance company that has been in business more than 37 years. The Company is licensed to underwrite life and health insurance products in 20 states and the District of Columbia. It is a niche company which offers insurance products to senior citizens. SLIC has 75 employees in Thomasville and occupies 9,000 square feet of rental office space. In 2000, SLIC operated in Georgia and five other southeastern states and in 2002 and 2003, expanded to eight additional states, with two other state applications currently pending. With rapid growth, SLIC has outgrown its current facility, prompting management’s decision to expand its corporate headquarters in Thomasville or move to Florida. The Company plans to construct a 40,000 square foot facility on a 10-acre tract located at the intersection of West Jackson Street and U.S. Hwy 319 South in Thomasville.

EDGE Award: $350,000 / Total Project Cost: $7.9 million
200 new jobs in three years; retain 75 jobs / Interstate competition: Tallahassee, Florida


The Equity Fund is designed to assist communities and regions in building the necessary infrastructure to support economic development. The program’s flexibility also provides financial assistance to enhance publicly-owned tourism initiatives, workforce development opportunities and downtown revitalization projects. In addition, loan funds are available through the Equity Revolving Loan Fund to assist small business owners with business growth and expansion opportunities. Today, 12 Equity awards, totaling $5.1 million, are leveraged against approximately $202 million in total project costs.

City of Vienna - Sewer Infrastructure Improvements

Equity grant funds will be used for sewer infrastructure improvements to benefit the Tyson Poultry Plant located in the City of Vienna, Dooly County. Tyson Foods, the City’s largest employer, processes chickens and has the contract for the Wendy’s food chain in the Southeast. Due to the large amount of waste material associated with chicken processing, the wastewater conveyance system often gets backed up and spills into the environment which has resulted in a Consent Order from the Georgia Environmental Protection Division. If the backups last more than a day, plant production ceases. This could jeopardize Tyson’s contract with Wendy’s which could in turn mean the direct loss of 600 jobs for the region. In addition, closure of the plant would affect hatchery employees, poultry farmers, poultry wranglers, feed processors, truck drivers and employees of other related industries in the area.

Equity Grant Award: $500,000 / Total Project Cost: $2.5 million / Retain 600 jobs


City of Cordele – Road Infrastructure

Equity loan funds will be used to assist with road widening improvements along Frontage Road and Kelly Road to State Route 300 in order to open up the area to commercial development opportunities and encourage tourism to the area by accommodating the heavy traffic from I-75 and SR 300. The City of Cordele is located in Crisp County in south middle Georgia in a federally designated Empowerment Zone. Crisp, Dooly and Wilcox Counties have some of the worst poverty levels in the state. The proposed road improvements would increase the number of customers willing and/or able to access businesses along Frontage Road. Businesses to benefit from the road widening improvements are McDonald’s, Flash Foods, Papa’s Southern Meats and Eats, Back Woods Outdoors and Shelby’s Market Place. These Companies and the developer have provided a firm letter of commitment that assures the creation of 68 jobs and the provision of $7,960,648 in private investment.

Equity Loan Award: $500,000 / Total Project Cost: $9.5 million / Create 68 jobs


Downtown Development Authority of the City of Arlington – Facilitating Business Growth / Land, Site Prep, and Public Infrastructure

Equity loan funds will be used to assist with the expansion of Damascus Fertilizer Company, d/b/a Early Trucking Company (ETC), located in Arlington, Calhoun County, Georgia. ETC is one of the largest employers in Calhoun County with 42 full-time employees who reside in 9 counties. The Company provides several levels of services to Southwest Georgia’s peanut industry. These services include transporting peanuts from farmer to purchaser, transporting peanuts in the hull from buying locations to shelling plants, shipping shelled product to storage, shipping hull fiber to regional feed mills and chicken processors, and delivering bulk oil grade peanuts to regional processors. Increased demand has required an expansion of its truck fleet from 28 to 42 trucks, the purchase of 26 additional trailers and 14 additional full-time drivers. The existing location is no longer adequate for ETC’s expanded operations. Equity funds will be loaned to ETC for land acquisition, site preparation and building construction.

Equity Loan Award: $300,126 / Total Project Cost: $2.5 million/ Create 20 jobs


Grady County Joint Development Authority – Capacity Building/ Land Acquisition

Equity grant funds will be used to assist with the acquisition of 175 acres of land ($2.2million) to expand the existing 179-acre Milestone Industrial Park in Cairo, Grady County. The property is located just off Hwy 84, has CSX rail access and is attractive for companies needing access to the tri-state market of Georgia, Florida and Alabama. The City of Cairo has committed to provide all utilities ($1 million) including water, sewer, electricity and natural gas extensions. The Industrial Park was established in 1990 and has become the primary location for much of the industry located in the County, currently serving 17 industries with an estimated 950 workers. Because only small (4 to 10 acre) tracts remain in the original park, Grady County recognized the need to expand the Park, having larger sites available for prospective industries.

Equity Grant Award: $500,000 / Total Project Cost: $3.3 million


City of Madison Downtown Development Authority - Enhancing Regional Tourism / Building Construction

Equity grant funds will be used to assist with the development of the new Town Park Event Center in downtown Madison. The requested funds will be used for the construction of Harris Bicentennial Pavilion and an Art Guild Cottage, the Park’s primary venue and tourist welcome center. Although a center for education and agriculture in the 19th century, Madison is best known today as a popular tourist destination which already hosts over 50,000 visitors each year by marketing its historic downtown and attractions such as the Madison-Morgan Cultural Center, the African American Museum, Heritage Hall, the Rose Cottage, and others. Town Park will accommodate approximately 3,000 people and has already been a tremendous economic development catalyst in the City and Region. The new event center will attract visitors and tourists as it revitalizes a portion of downtown Madison, resulting in the generation of new jobs and tax revenues for the City, County, Region, and State.

Equity Grant Award: $300,000 / Total Project Cost: $2.5 million


Clayton-Rabun County Water and Sewer Authority – Enhancing Regional Competitiveness / Sewer Infrastructure Improvements

Equity grant funds will provide gap financing for needed sewer infrastructure along the northern sector of US Hwy 441 between Mountain City and Dillard to sustain existing businesses. The community has executed documents with GEFA for a $1 million loan and received an Appalachian Regional Commission grant of $300,000. With the Georgia Department of Transportation's completion of the widening/improving of the Northern section of Hwy 441, acceleration of tourism and commercial business sectors is anticipated in an area where topography and environmental protections often limit development opportunities. Because the northernmost portion of this highway (1.25 miles) is without sanitary sewer, existing businesses are threatened by failing onsite septic systems, and new businesses are unable to locate without this basic infrastructure. For example, both the Feed Mill Restaurant and Osage Farms are considering expansions due to business growth. However, due to failing sewer systems, these expansions are in jeopardy. Located in the northeastern corner of the state, Rabun and Habersham Counties are strategically positioned to attract and conduct business within a four-state region which includes Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, and South Carolina.

Equity Grant Award: $300,000 / Total Project Cost: $2.1 million / Retain 12 jobs


Toccoa-StephensAirportAuthority – Building Construction

Equity grant funds will be used to assist with construction of a 5,948 SF terminal facility at the Toccoa-Stephens County Regional Airport at R.G LeTourneau Field. Presently a small office within a privately-operated maintenance hangar serves as the airport terminal. The airport, located in the northeastern corner of the state, is centrally located near the Georgia and North/South Carolina borders and serves as a gateway to the Northeast Georgia Mountains. Statistics reflect that this Level II airport handles comparable traffic to other Level III airports (Cornelia, Blairsville) and is Georgia's northernmost airport before entering mountainous terrain, serving as a hub for Blue Ridge and Smoky Mountain tourist traffic. While neighboring Franklin and Hart Counties are served by two airports, neither have adequate facilities to welcome/meet prospective business clients. This proposed airport terminal will play a pivotal role in attracting regional business and tourism prospects to the Northeast Region. After losing 2,000+ furniture manufacturing jobs and similar amount of textile jobs, this region has adopted a plan to attract smaller diversified industry.

Equity Grant Award: $500,000 / Total Project Cost: $3.2 million


RandolphCountyDevelopment Authority – Agri-business

Equity loan funds will be used to assist with the purchase of machinery and equipment in support of the location of A.G. Daniel Industries, LLC to Randolph County, Georgia. A.G. Daniel Industries is a Georgia company which will manufacture cattle feed product from cotton gin waste material which is currently being disposed of via burning. This product can replace high quality cattle feed at a price that is significantly lower than the market price of other like feed products. The Company will also reclaim 11.5% good quality cotton lint which will be baled in industry standard 500 pound bales and sold to cotton product manufacturers. The processing equipment will also collect and separate what is known as mote cotton which will also be baled and sold to either a mote processor or a company that manufactures products from the short fiber material, such as money, insulation and furniture padding. A.G. Daniel will create at least 70 new jobs within two years and invest over $5 million in the community.

Equity Loan Award: $400,000 / Total Project Cost: $6.4 million / Create 70 jobs


Development Authority of Jefferson County – Water Infrastructure

Equity grant funds will support water infrastructure improvements in the new 664 acre Kings Mill Commerce Park located 3 miles south of Wrens and 10 miles from Louisville. The project will consist of constructing 17,700 linear feet of 12-inch waterlines to serve the park. Jefferson County is contracting with the City of Wrens to operate and maintain the system. The property is strategically located near the junction of US Hwy 1 and S. R. 80 and is bordered by nearly one mile of Norfolk Southern main rail line. Natural gas service is available via the City of Wrens. Jefferson County became Georgia’s first Certified Work Ready Community. In addition, the County is recognized as a Community of Opportunity. Known as a bedroom community on the outskirts of Augusta, Jefferson County is one of 14 counties that comprise the Central Savannah River Area. Although no tenants have been secured for the Park thus far, the projected impact in terms of job creation is 1,650 jobs at full build-out.

Equity Grant Award: $500,000 / Total Project Cost: $3.9 million


City of Barnesville – Water Infrastructure

Equity grant funds will assist with public water infrastructure improvements, specifically the installation of a dual feed loop to the City’s existing water system, to support the location of Piedmont Green Power, LLC (PGP) on 50 acres in the Legacy Industrial Park in Barnesville. Having a reliable, continuous supply of water at the required pressure will be a critical factor in the operation of the plant. The company plans to begin construction in March 2010 with anticipated operations/commissioning of the plant in the spring of 2012. PGP, a subsidiary of North Carolina-based Rollcast Energy, Inc, is a producer of clean, sustainable electrical energy. PGP plans to construct a 60,000 SF renewable power generation facility using native, regional biomass materials to generate nearly 50 megawatts of electricity that will be sold through a power purchase agreement (PPA) to Georgia Power.

Equity Grant Award: $500,000 / Total Project Cost: $161.1 million
Create 22 jobs and unspecified number of indirect jobs via trucking, forest products and ancillary services


City of Colquitt Downtown Development Authority – Regional Tourism/Building Rehab

Equity grant and loan funds will be used to renovate a 4,600 square foot 1950s era movie theater on the town square into a regional multi-use conference/ meeting/performance center to be called The Woodstork Center. The Center has a seating capacity of 300 and would accommodate all types of events. This facility is seen as an enhancement and expansion of the cultural tourism initiative started in 1992 with the first production of Swamp Gravy, Georgia's Folk Life Play. Over the last several years Colquitt has hosted multiple conferences including "Building Creative Communities" Conferences (2006-2009) with the 4th scheduled for February 2010 and also three Southwest Georgia Film Festivals held each September. Colquitt has also been selected to host the 2010 "Global Mural, Arts and Cultural Tourism" Conference next October, which will bring people from all over the world. Over the years, Colquitt has expanded its performance repertoire to include May-Haw, a musical variety theater offered during the year as well as summer and Christmas Youth Theater Programs. An estimated 55,000 people visit Colquitt and Miller County annually for performances, events, festivals, mural tours, and restaurants. The project will be another asset to build on the cultural tourism industry of the region.

Equity Grant/Loan Award: $500,000 / Total Project Cost: $1.2 million


Hart County Water and Sewer Utility Authority – Water Infrastructure

Equity grant funds will be used to assist with water improvements to benefit Cobb-Vantress, Inc. (CVI) and Crystal Farms, Inc. (CFI), two of the state’s leading poultry industries. Cobb-Vantress is a leading supplier of broiler breeding stock. They are currently served by three groundwater wells. A consistent, reliable water source is needed to hydrate and cool the 60,000 great grandparent birds at the location. Their 43 employees also take approximately 100 showers a day. Crystal Farms, Inc. is the largest commercial egg producer in the state of Georgia. The southwestern Hart County facility houses 1.4 million hens. The site currently has sixteen wells, three of which are dry. With a cumulative $24 million private investment and nearly 100 jobs, both poultry companies, located along an un-served 10-mile stretch of Hwy 29, are without fire protection and must solely rely on private wells for water. Over the past several years, both companies have had to rotate water supplies to sustain operations. Improvements include an interconnection between Hart County's Water Authority and the City of Royston.

Equity Grant Award: $300,000 / Total Project Cost: $4.9 million


The AIRGeorgia Fund is intended to accelerate the completion of critical airport infrastructure improvements. Today’s AIRGeorgia award of $651,835 is leveraged against more than $1.8 million in total project costs.

City of Reidsville – Level I Airport – Runway Extension

AIRGeorgia grant funds will be used to assist with improvements to Swinton Smith Field at Reidsville Municipal Airport that includes an extension of the 3,802 ft runway to 5,000 ft, a taxiway addition and installation of aviation lighting. The Airport is located in Tattnall County in SE Georgia. Situated on 297.83 acres, this Level I airport is owned by the Reidsville Airport Authority and is operated by the City of Reidsville. The request for AIRGeorgia assistance equals 36% of the $1,820,884 total project cost. Project partners include the City, Airport Authority, Federal Aviation Administration, Georgia Department of Transportation’s Aviation Division, and the engineering firm of Wilbur Smith Associates. Benefits of the airport improvements will include improved safety as well as increased economic activity. In addition, the Georgia State Patrol (GSP) has two helicopters that are permanently stationed at the airport. Plans are underway to add a new hangar and to add a fixed-wing aircraft to the fleet of the GSP aircraft.

AIRGeorgia Grant Award: $651,835 / Total Project Cost: $1.8 million


The OneGeorgia Authority was created utilizing one-third of the state’s tobacco settlement to assist the state’s most economically challenged areas. The OneGeorgia Authority is expected to receive about $1.6 billion over the 25-year term of the settlement. From the Authority’s inception to-date, OneGeorgia has made 458 awards totaling $251 million leveraged against total project investment of $5 billion, a return on investment of 20:1. Impacting 132 economically-depressed counties, more than 45,000 jobs have been retained and created.

-----
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page
Follow us on Twitter: @GAFrontPage

HHS Awards $46 Million in Recovery Act Funds to Create Jobs and Spur Economic Improvement

Georgia grants awarded go to DeKalb County, Spalding County Collaborative Authority for Families & Youth, and Athens based Area Committee To Improve Opportunities Now, Inc.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today awarded $46 million to 84 grantees under a new program, the Strengthening Communities Fund (SCF), created by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The purpose of the grants is to improve the ability of nonprofit organizations to promote the economic recovery of people with low incomes.

"We are pleased to support nonprofit organizations that train people to land and keep jobs, earn higher wages, and reach economic independence," said HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. "This is what the Recovery Act was meant to do-provide the help people need to help themselves."

The Strengthening Communities Fund is comprised of two programs, both of which will boost the ability of community and faith-based organizations to handle the broad economic recovery issues in their communities, including job training and retention and access to state and Federal benefits. All grants are one-time, two-year awards. The State, Local, and Tribal Government Capacity Building Program provides funds for government entities, which then in turn work with community-based organizations. The Nonprofit Capacity Building Program funds intermediary agencies, which also work with community organizations to enhance their economic recovery activities.

"The Strengthening Communities Fund is an important part of the overall recovery effort," said Assistant Secretary for Children and Families, Carmen Nazario. "The activities funded under this program will fortify organizations in distressed communities so that they can improve their services to people who need jobs and opportunities to secure healthier, more prosperous futures."

Under the State, Local, and Tribal Government Capacity Building Program, 29 states and the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and American Samoa are receiving awards between $167,000 and $250,000. Awardees include seven state governments, the District of Columbia, three U.S. territories, nine city governments, eight county governments, four tribal governments, and 18 nonprofit organizations that have been designated by governments as eligible to apply.

One of the grantees receiving funds under this part of the program is the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families in Madison. Wisconsin has been hit hard by the recession, and this project is directly focused on Recovery Act goals. The grantee will give training and technical assistance, education, and easily accessible information on Recovery Act opportunities to up to 500 organizations that serve the state's most vulnerable populations

Under the Nonprofit Capacity Building Program, 35 applicants will receive grants between $765,000 and $1,000,000. Catholic Charities of Kansas City-St. Joseph in Missouri is one noteworthy project in this category with a long history of providing training and technical assistance to nonprofits. Their use of this grant will increase the operational capacity of about 40 local organizations through comprehensive education, mentoring, and funding. Further, the project requires that each nonprofit sponsor one young person who will learn how to manage and grow these organizations, thus creating the next generation of nonprofit leadership.

Another project in this category is in Knoxville, Tennessee. The Knoxville Leadership Foundation will work with partners from the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) program as well as organizations focused on general economic recovery. Through a combination of direct funding and intensive technical assistance, the project will help 50 grassroots organizations improve their service to families in need of support.

"Faith and community-based organizations have been the backbone of strong neighborhoods for generations," said Joshua DuBois, executive director, Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. "The Strengthening Communities Fund is an acknowledgement of their key role in reaching the goals of the Recovery Act by helping people weather tough economic times."

-----
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page
www.artsacrossgeorgia.com
Arts Across Georgia

U.S. Department of Labor announces more than $164 million for state unemployment insurance technology infrastructure grants

Georgia to receive $8,850,630

/PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. Department of Labor today announced $164.5 million to 49 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands to make technology upgrades that will improve the operation and security of unemployment insurance systems.

"Unemployment insurance programs play a key role in supporting dislocated workers," said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis. "I am pleased that these grants will help states improve their technology infrastructure and better serve those in need. Making sure that claims and benefits are processed and paid in a timely, consistent and secure manner is critical to providing workers with the income security needed to actively seek re-employment."

Funds will be used for a variety of projects designed to improve services for both unemployment insurance claimants and employers, including: modernizing systems to improve and speed unemployment insurance benefit payments, tax collections and appeals processing; helping consumers avoid debit card fees when collecting benefits; improvements in information technology contingency and security plans; and strategies to improve overall program integrity.

Today's funding was provided following supplemental budget requests by nearly all states and is made available through the fiscal year 2009 budget and appropriations for state administration of the Unemployment Insurance Program.

-----
Community News You Can Use
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page
www.artsacrossgeorgia.com
Arts Across Georgia

President Obama Signs Georgia Disaster Declaration for 5 Counties

The President yesterday declared a major disaster exists in the State of Georgia and ordered Federal aid to supplement State and local recovery efforts in the area struck by severe storms and flooding beginning on September 18, 2009, and continuing.

The President's action makes Federal funding available to affected individuals in Carroll, Cherokee, Cobb, Douglas, and Paulding Counties.

Assistance can include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses, and other programs to help individuals and business owners recover from the effects of the disaster.

Federal funding is also available on a cost-sharing basis for hazard mitigation measures statewide.

W. Craig Fugate, Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Department of Homeland Security, named Gracia B. Szczech as the Federal Coordinating Officer for Federal recovery operations in the affected area.

FEMA said that damage surveys are continuing in other areas, and more counties and additional forms of assistance may be designated after the assessments are fully completed.

FEMA said that residents and business owners who sustained losses in the designated counties can begin applying for assistance tomorrow by registering online at http://www.DisasterAssistance.gov or by calling 1-800-621-FEMA(3362) or 1-800-462-7585 (TTY) for the hearing and speech impaired. The toll-free telephone numbers will operate from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. (local time)

For further information: FEMA (202) 646-4600.

-----
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page

Governor Perdue Announces Nearly $37 Million in Grant Awards

Governor Sonny Perdue today announced Georgia has been awarded nearly $37 million in federal grants from the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for the state’s Community Development Block Grant Program (CDBG) and Community HOME Investment Program (CHIP).

“The Community Development Block Grant program provides an essential financial resource to Georgia’s smaller communities in their efforts to fund projects that will assist low- and moderate-income citizens,” said Governor Perdue. “As communities large and small are making tough spending choices, today’s grant announcement represents an important funding source for programs that improve quality of life, economic development and job creation programs.”

Nearly $32.6 million allocated for CDBG awards will be used to support projects in 65 Georgia communities. Projects include water and sewer improvements, senior citizen facilities, health facilities, programs for at-risk children and replacement or rehabilitation of sub-standard and dilapidated housing. A complete list of projects and award amounts is included at the end of the news release.

The CDBG program is administered by the Georgia Department of Community Affairs (DCA), which uses funds allocated through HUD to support local initiatives that focus on improving living conditions and economic opportunities throughout the state.

Governor Perdue also announced that Georgia was awarded nearly $4.4 million in Community HOME Investment Program funds. CHIP funds will assist 15 Georgia communities increase the supply of safe and affordable housing for low- and moderate-income persons.

“CHIP funds remain an essential resource for those communities that seek to increase available units and improve the standard of living for their fellow Georgians,” said Governor Perdue.
Added DCA Commissioner Mike Beatty: “We are pleased that these funds will be used to fund critical community development projects. Each year, the annual CDBG and CHIP funding announcement demonstrates how federal, state and local partners are working together to support local communities.”

For more information regarding Georgia’s CDBG and CHIP programs, please visit DCA’s website at http://www.dca.ga.gov/communities/CDBG/programs/CDBGCHIP.asp or contact DCA Assistant Commissioner Brian Williamson at (404) 679-1587 or brian.williamson@dca.ga.gov. In addition, an informational workshop for CDBG and CHIP recipient communities is scheduled for Sept. 24-25 in Pine Mountain. Recipient communities may direct workshop-related questions to Lisa Smith at (404) 679-5276 or lisa.smith@dca.ga.gov .

A complete listing of CDBG and CHIP awards follows. Communities are listed in alphabetical order.

Community Development Block Grant Awards

Recipient, Project Description, Planned Amount
City of Alma, Sewer Improvements, $500,000
City of Arabi , Water Improvements, $468,144
City of Argyle, Water Improvements, $475,118
City of Ashburn, Multi Infrastructure Improvements, $500,000
Atkinson County, Health Center, $458,875
City of Baconton, Drainage Improvements, $499,964
Berrien County, Boys and Girls Club, $500,000
City of Blakely, Head Start Facility, $500,000
City of Boston, Sewer Improvements, $500,000
City of Canon, Water Improvements, $500,000
City of Carrollton, Health Center, $500,000
City of Cartersville, Drainage/Streets Improvements, $500,000
City of Chickamauga, Water/Sewer Improvements, $500,000
City of Cochran, Drainage/Streets Improvements, $465,998
Coffee County, Drainage/Streets Improvements, $500,000
City of Colquitt, Multi Activity Program, $703,378
City of Damascus, Water Improvements, $396,057
City of Donalsonville, Water Improvements, $500,000
Dooly County, Housing Improvements, $488,047
City of Douglas, Housing Improvements, $210,000
City of Douglasville, Boys and Girls Club, $500,000
City of Eastman, Sewer Improvements, $500,000
City of Ellijay, Sewer Improvements, $500,000
City of Greenville, Housing Improvements, $500,000
City of Griffin, Water/Sewer Improvements, $500,000
Hart County, Water Improvements, $500,000
City of Homeland, Drainage/Streets Improvements, $269,377
City of Homerville, Sewer Improvements, $500,000
City of Leesburg, Drainage/Streets Improvements, $500,000
City of Milan, Drainage/Streets Improvements, $497,761
City of Milledgeville, Housing Improvements, $453,918
City of Millen, Sewer Improvements, $500,000
City of Molena, Water Improvements, $500,000
City of Monroe, Sewer Improvements, $500,000
City of Moultrie, Drainage Improvements, $500,000
City of Ocilla, Sewer Improvements, $400,775
Pierce County, Drainage/Streets Improvements, $497,711
City of Pineview, Water Improvements, $462,808
City of Portal, Sewer Improvements, $489,840
City of Quitman, Multi Activity Program, $800,000
Randolph County, Drainage/Streets Improvements, $465,049
City of Reynolds, Sewer Improvements, $500,000
City of Richland, Water Improvements, $500,000
City of Ringgold, Sewer Improvements, $500,000
City of Rockmart, Multi Activity Program, $800,000
City of Sandersville, Multi Activity Program, $800,000
City of Siloam, Water Improvements, $331,900
City of Smithville, Housing Improvements, $500,000
City of Sumner, Water Improvements, $429,775
City of Sylvester, Water/Sewer Improvements, $500,000
Talbot County, Multi Activity Program, $800,000
City of Tarrytown, Water Improvements, $445,734
Taylor County, Sewer Improvements, $500,000
Thomas County, Drainage/Streets Improvements, $294,463
City of Thomasville, Drainage/Streets Improvements, $500,000
City of Thomson, Multi Activity Program, $800,000
Tift County, Drainage/Streets Improvements, $500,000
City of Toccoa, Multi Activity Program, $589,959
City of Union Point, Water Improvements, $500,000
City of Uvalda, Sewer Improvements, $485,000
City of Varnell, Senior Center, $500,000
City of Warrenton, Sewer Improvements, $500,000
City of Woodland, Drainage/Streets Improvements, $295,753
City of Wrens, Sewer Improvements, $500,000
City of Wrightsville, Sewer Improvements, $500,000
TOTAL, $32,575,404

Community HOME Investment Program Awards

Recipient, Project Description, Amount
Ben Hill County, Housing Improvements, $300,000
City of Cartersville, Housing Improvements, $300,000
Dooly County, Housing Improvements, $300,000
City of Douglas, Housing Improvements, $281,605
Hall County, Housing Improvements, $300,000
City of LaGrange, Housing Improvements, $300,000
Lowndes County, Housing Improvements, $300,000
City of Marshallville, Housing Improvements, $300,000
City of McIntyre, Housing Improvements, $300,000
Randolph County, Housing Improvements, $300,000
City of Rockmart, Housing Improvements, $300,000
City of Rome, Housing Improvements, $300,000
City of Sandersville, Housing Improvements, $300,000
City of Thomasville, Revitalization Area Strategy, $200,000
City of Tifton, Housing Improvements, $300,000
TOTAL, $4,381,605
---
Community News You Can Use
Follow us on Twitter: @gafrontpage
www.FayetteFrontPage.com
www.GeorgiaFrontPage.com
www.PoliticalPotluck.com
www.ArtsAcrossGeorgia.com
---

Knight Foundation Gives $5 Million Grant to Help Revitalize College Hill Corridor

Macon will take a major step toward revitalizing College Hill with a new $5 million grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. The grant includes $3 million to the Community Foundation of Central Georgia to fund residents’ best ideas for transforming the neighborhood, and $2 million to Mercer University to form the College Hill Alliance. Both programs are designed to reshape the city’s first neighborhoods into a vibrant college town connected by leafy roads and bike paths to the city’s downtown.

Mercer President William D. Underwood made the announcement Monday at Mercer Village, the first retail district to be restored in the College Hill Corridor. Underwood spoke nearly a year to the day after the Miami-based foundation awarded the university a planning grant for College Hill, which produced a community-driven master plan for the neighborhoods.

“For many years Knight Foundation has been a strong partner in efforts to revitalize some of Macon’s first neighborhoods,” President Underwood said. “This substantial grant – the foundation’s largest single grant to date in Macon – will be a major catalyst for implementing the master plan, for funding creative, transformational ideas from residents and organizations in the Corridor and for attracting private and public financing that will allow realization of the College Hill vision. Knight Foundation’s investment will leverage additional capital and will advance a physical and social resurgence in the historic and cultural heart of one of the South’s great cities.”

“Knight Foundation partners with our communities to create lasting transformational change,” said Beverly Blake, Knight program director for Macon, Columbus and Milledgeville. “We believe the College Hill initiative will serve as the catalyst for Macon’s renaissance.”

The Knight Neighborhood Challenge will invest in residents’ own ideas on ways to restore College Hill. A broad-based, competitive grant program, the challenge will fund the best ideas – small and large – that give College Hill a sense of place, spruce up its parks and public spaces or enhance the arts and entertainment scene, among several other priorities residents identified in town hall meetings. The effort also aims to get residents involved in College Hill through an array of civic and cultural projects.

Individuals or organizations can apply to the challenge, which will be administered by the Community Foundation of Central Georgia in cooperation with the College Hill Corridor Commission.

“With these grants Knight Foundation has once again proven its commitment to our community,” said Kathryn Dennis, president of the Community Foundation of Central Georgia. “We are appreciative of Knight Foundation’s generosity and look forward to working with Mercer and the College Hill Corridor Commission to ensure that this grant identifies and funds visionary ideas from the grassroots level.”

The College Hill Alliance, with offices in Mercer Village, will focus on accelerating neighborhood revitalization. Specifically, the alliance will implement the master plan that will beautify the area, create a business case to attract private investment to College Hill and seek additional funding for the neighborhood.

The alliance also will fund a new round of grants for the highly successful Mercer-Knight Foundation Down Payment Assistance Program, which helps Mercer faculty and staff purchase homes in the Beall’s Hill, Huguenin Heights, Tattnall Place and Intown Macon historic districts.

“I’m delighted that Knight Foundation has provided this extremely generous grant to the College Hill Corridor initiative,” said Macon Mayor Robert A.B. Reichert. “The size of the grant is matched only by the enthusiasm of the College Hill Corridor Commission, and I’m confident that this will prompt additional investments of time, energy, and money that will transform this area.”

“Since we began our work two years ago, we’ve been so fortunate in our collaborations with all our neighbors — from longtime residents who saved these historic homes to the students who volunteer in the community and are just discovering its beauty,” said Sarah Gerwig-Moore, co-chair of the College Hill Corridor Commission and associate professor at Mercer’s Walter F. George School of Law. “Our public meetings were lively and engaged and it was truly remarkable to participate in such a collaborative and open process. But of course it is even more exciting to take this step toward implementing the plans we’ve been dreaming about, and none of this would have been possible without Knight Foundation’s support.”

The basic elements of the College Hill Corridor initiative were conceived in a Mercer Senior Capstone class taught by Dr. Peter Brown, senior vice provost and professor of philosophy and interdisciplinary studies, in the fall of 2006. A Community Foundation of Central Georgia grant, from its Knight Fund, allowed the students to travel to Washington, D.C., to meet with Richard Florida of the Creative Class Group to learn how they could help spur economic development in the College Hill area. Florida’s work focuses on diversity and creativity as basic drivers of innovation and regional and national growth. The students concluded that Macon was well positioned to recruit and grow creative service industries, such as graphic design, marketing and the arts, by retaining talented young people graduating from the city’s academic institutions.

Inspired by this visit, the Mercer students proposed a plan to make Macon more attractive to young professionals by connecting Mercer and the downtown area to create a “college town” atmosphere. In response, President Underwood and then Macon Mayor C. Jack Ellis formed the College Hill Corridor Commission in the spring of 2007 to make the idea a reality.

-----
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page
www.artsacrossgeorgia.com
Arts Acrosss Georgia

Georgia farm organizations to share nearly $1 million to promote, support and enhance Specialty Crops

Georgia Department of Agriculture Commissioner Tommy Irvin says that nearly $1 million in federal funds are on the way from Washington for competitive grants that promote the marketing and enhancement of “specialty crops” in the state. The funds, distributed as part of the 2008 Farm Bill, are designated under the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program.

Irvin says $909,576.44 in U.S. Dept. of Agriculture (USDA) funds will be awarded on a competitive basis for developmental projects that support and enhance the competitiveness of Georgia Specialty Crops. Awards will be presented for projects that can successfully measure the greatest return on investment of the federal dollars. Grants of $10,000 up to $150,000 will be awarded for up to three years.

The Georgia Specialty Crops eligible for these competitive grants include: fruits, vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits, horticulture, Christmas trees, turfgrass (sod) in addition to nursery and greenhouse crops.

Organizations eligible to apply include non-profit organizations, corporations, commodity associations, state and local governments, colleges and universities. Applicants must live, conduct business or have an educational affiliation in Georgia. The application deadline is 5 p.m., Friday, July 17, 2009.

Grants will not be awarded for projects that solely benefit a particular commercial product or provide a profit to a single organization, institution, or individual. Single organizations, institutions, and individuals are encouraged to participate as project partners.

To request an application for this grant program e-mail inquiries to grants@agr.state.ga.us or write Georgia Department of Agriculture, Specialty Crops Block Grant Program, 19 Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. SW, Atlanta, GA 30334.

-----
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page

The United States Conference of Mayors Celebrates Earth Day with Historic Energy Efficiency Block Grants for Cities

/PRNewswire / -- On Earth Day, The United State Conference of Mayors highly commended a new Administration for setting Climate Change as a top policy priority, including new funding for first-ever energy efficiency grants specifically for cities, counties and states.

"This Earth Day we are proud to announce close to 1,000 mayors committed to reducing carbon emissions in their cities. We are fortunate to have the support of President Obama, who is dedicated to protecting our environment against climate change," said U.S. Conference of Mayors President Miami Mayor Manny Diaz.

"Cities on every coast and in between are taking advantage of every resource to focus on protecting the environment and creating a surge of green jobs during a weakened economy. These green initiatives are a win-win situation for everyone involved, all while protecting our planet," said Tom Cochran, CEO & Executive Director of The U.S. Conference of Mayors.

Last month, the Obama Administration acted to distribute $2.8 billion in Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grants (EECBG) in the Recovery Package, which will benefit hundreds of cities throughout the U.S. This is the first time in the history of the U.S. that green grants for cities are available to specifically fund energy-efficiency projects in cities.

The EECBG program was "conceived" by The U.S. Conference of Mayors and was a top priority of the Mayors' 10-Point Plan and the Mayors' MainStreet Recovery Program.

So far, more than 944 U.S. mayors have pledged support for The U.S. Conference of Mayors Climate Protection Agreement.

-----
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page

Georgia to Receive 28 Grants for Community Health Center

Georgia is set to receive $6,964,291 for an anticipated 45,191 new patients at Community Health Centers.

HHS Releases $338 Million to Expand Community Health Centers,
Serve More Patients

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today announced
the release of $338 million to expand services offered at the nation's
community health centers. The money was made available by the American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act and comes as more Americans join the ranks
of the uninsured.

"More Americans are losing their health insurance and turning to health
centers for care," said Health Resources and Services Administrator
(HRSA) Mary Wakefield, Ph.D., R.N. "These grants will aid centers in
their efforts to provide care to an increasing number of patients during
the economic downturn."

The grants -- titled Increased Demand for Services (IDS) grants -- will
be distributed to 1,128 federally qualified health center grantees.
Health centers will use the funds over the next two years to create or
retain approximately 6,400 health center jobs.

Grantees submitted plans explaining how the IDS funds would be used.
Strategies to expand services may include, but are not limited to,
adding new providers, expanding hours of operations or expanding
services. The funds will provide care to an additional 2.1 million
patients over the next two years, including approximately 1 million
uninsured people.

Health centers deliver preventive and primary care services to patients
regardless of their ability to pay; charges for services are set
according to income. Health centers served more than 16 million
patients in 2007, about 40 percent of whom had no health insurance.

The IDS awards are the second set of health center grants provided
through the Recovery Act. On March 2, President Obama announced grants
worth $155 million to establish 126 new health centers. Those grants
will provide access to health center care for 750,000 people in 39
states and two territories.

-----
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page

Georgia State Professor Studies New Approach to Cyber Defense

Georgia State University’s Raheem Beyah is exploring innovative ways to keep computer networks secure from potential attackers.

The assistant professor of computer science has received a five-year, $400,000 Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program grant from the National Science Foundation to explore methods to better detect cyber activity that could do great harm to individuals, organizations, businesses and government.

There are two ways to approach intrusion detection — either on the computers themselves, such as antivirus and firewall software, or having a detection program on a network that observes intrusions.

Both have their benefits, but there are detractions for each method.

“The software itself on a computer can damage the device, or it can open up new avenues for attackers to access the system,” Beyah explained. “If you have intrusion detection on a network, this is mitigated, but it does not give you the same level of detail about intrusions compared with methods residing on the host.”

Attempting to find the intrusion could be as harmful as the intrusion itself, a situation Beyah compares to a biopsy in cancer patients.

“It would be really nice if they could use a non-intrusive tool to tell whether you have cancer without having to cut into the body,” he said.

“My goal is to do something to bridge between the two detection methods, and to give us the strengths of both while minimizing the weaknesses.”

In addition to security research, Beyah plans to reach out to underrepresented groups in science, mathematics, technology, and engineering subjects — including minorities and females — through a summer academy which will help teach students about computer architecture and networking.

The Acknowledge Academy at the Knowledge Is Power Program West Atlanta Young Scholars (KIPP WAYS) Academy, a preparatory charter school of the Atlanta Public Schools will give students hands-on experience in these abstract subjects by using popular electronics.

“We hope to use devices like the iPod Touch to let the students break them open to look at the processors and memory,” said Beyah, who is on the board of directors of KIPP WAYS.
“Hopefully, they'll learn that there's science behind all of this cool stuff they use.”

Previous Georgia State Computer Science CAREER recipients include assistant professors Yingshu Li and Xiaojun Cao. Li is researching routing problems in sensor networks, while Cao is investigating optical networking.

For more about computer science and research at Georgia State, visit www.cs.gsu.edu.

-----
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page

Emory Receives $14 Million Gates Foundation Grant to Reduce Tobacco Use in China

Emory University has received a $14 million, five-year grant from The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to help reduce the burden of tobacco use in China. The Emory Global Health Institute, in collaboration with the Tobacco Technical Assistance Consortium (TTAC) of Emory’s Rollins School of Public Health, will establish the Emory Global Health Institute – China Tobacco Partnership.

The Emory Global Health Institute will manage the partnership, which will collaborate with public health leaders in China to promote evidence-based approaches to reducing tobacco use that are tailored to the culture and circumstances of individual cities and provinces in China. The Emory Global Health Institute will also provide funding and support to establish national tobacco control resource centers in China.

"This grant will allow Emory to combine its significant public health expertise with that of health and government leaders in China to address a major international public health challenge," says Fred Sanfilippo, MD, PhD, Emory executive vice president for health affairs.

"Tobacco is the largest cause of preventable deaths globally and China has the most smokers in the world. There is a huge opportunity in this project to have a major impact on global health," says Jeffrey Koplan, MD, MPH, Emory vice president for global health and director of the Emory Global Health Institute.

Koplan will serve as principal investigator of the grant and will lead the partnership along with Pamela Redmon, MPH, executive director of TTAC, a nationally recognized tobacco control leader and technical assistance provider in the United States.

Co-principal investigators for the partnership will be Kathy Miner, PhD, MPH, associate dean of applied public health at Emory’s Rollins School of Public Health and principal investigator of TTAC and Michael Eriksen, ScD, a noted expert in national and global tobacco control efforts and director of the Institute of Public Health at Georgia State University.

Nearly two-thirds of the world's smokers live in 10 countries, with China having the highest tobacco use prevalence by far, according to the World Health Organization (WHO, 2008). Also according to WHO (2003), there are more smokers in China than there are people living in the United States. In China, two-thirds of men are smokers, and it is estimated that 100 million tobacco-related deaths will occur among people currently age 0-29 if tobacco prevention and control efforts are not implemented (Leming, et. al, Health VII Project, 2004).

Not only does China have the largest population of smokers, it also is the chief producer of tobacco products in the world. The national tobacco monopoly is the leading manufacturer and seller of cigarettes, earning billions in tobacco profits and excise tax revenues (WHO, 2003).

According to research reported recently in the New England Journal of Medicine (Gu, et. al, Jan. 8, 2009), tobacco smoking was responsible for about 673,000 premature deaths in Chinese adults age 40 or older in 2005.

The Emory Global Health Institute – China Tobacco Partnership will support the development of effective, accountable and sustainable tobacco prevention and control initiatives that address China’s unique needs and challenges. The program will be able to quickly and efficiently identify and mobilize global resources to assist China in reducing tobacco use.

The Emory Global Health Institute was established to advance Emory University’s efforts to improve health around the world through the creation of innovative global health programs. The TTAC, a trusted partner and collaborator with national tobacco control organizations, has developed and delivered training and assistance to all 50 states and the U.S. territories.

The Emory Global Health Institute – China Tobacco Partnership will coordinate and collaborate with the American Cancer Society (ACS) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CCD) Office on Smoking and Health. The program's advisory board will include representatives from Emory, Georgia State, ACS and CDC.

-----
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page

Southern Company and NFWF Award New Conservation Grants

/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Southern Company and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation today announced that four additional grants have been awarded to conservation and natural resource agencies through the Power of Flight and Longleaf Legacy partnership programs. The Power of Flight program protects birds through habitat and species restoration and environmental education. Longleaf Legacy supports restoration of longleaf pine forests, home to many endangered species like the red-cockaded woodpecker.

"Southern Company is proud to partner with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation for the sixth consecutive year to award much needed grants to these leading organizations," said Chris Hobson, Southern Company's senior vice president for research and environmental affairs. "The awards will help further the great work being done to conserve and protect the environment and restore bird populations and habitats throughout the Southeast."

Since 2002, Southern Company and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation have contributed more than $7.8 million through 80 grants to the Power of Flight and Longleaf Legacy programs. In addition, grant recipients have contributed more than $41 million in matching funds, resulting in an on-the-ground conservation impact of more than $49 million since the program's inception.

"With each year that passes, our partnership with Southern Company grows stronger, the projects funded under the Power of Flight and Longleaf Legacy programs become more meaningful, and the impact of those projects on the ground results in greater benefits to birds and longleaf pine habitats," said Jeff Trandahl, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation's executive director. "The people and natural resources of the Southeastern United States are indeed fortunate that Southern Company and their affiliated operating companies are such responsible corporate stewards of our lands and waters, and the fish and wildlife that inhabit them."

Through these two programs, more than 160,000 acres of longleaf pine and other critical habitat on public and private lands will be restored or enhanced to the benefit of bird populations across the Southeast.

Two grants were awarded under the Power of Flight program:

-- Project Orianne - to restore or improve 10,000 acres of longleaf pine habitat within the Apalachicola and Conecuh National Forests to create and enhance habitat for declining bird populations, such as red-cockaded woodpeckers and Bachmann's sparrow, and other species of concern, such as the gopher tortoise and indigo snake. This project will build on the existing infrastructure and expertise of the Forest Service by providing additional funding to implement land management practices within large tracts of contiguous forests on federal lands.

-- Quail Unlimited - to continue to address the goals of the Northern Bobwhite Conservation Initiative through improved forest land management of 1,607 acres on both public and private lands. The habitat restoration and enhancement will take place in the Bankhead and Talladega National Forests in Alabama, at J. Strom Thurmond Lake in Georgia, and on private lands in the 15-county target area of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources Bobwhite Quail Initiative.

Two grants were awarded under the Longleaf Legacy program:

-- Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge - to support conservation of 870 acres of land burned during wildfires in 2007 and plant approximately 170,000 longleaf seedlings over 400 acres. This project will support the expansion of red-cockaded woodpecker clusters on the refuge and is also part of a larger multi-agency effort to establish a half-mile longleaf pine conservation and fire resilient zone around the Okefenokee and Pinhook Swamps in southeast Georgia.

-- Auburn University - to develop a geospatial mapping and decision support tool to guide on-the-ground longleaf conservation efforts across its historical range. The tool will identify where restoration and management activities should be focused to best meet objectives for ecosystem restoration; species conservation (threatened and endangered species, migratory birds); and the need to manage longleaf habitats to maintain their structure, function, and diversity. This project will expand on the tool developed by the East Gulf Coastal Plain Joint Venture through a previous grant.

Visit www.southerncompany.com/planetpower to view fact sheets on the Power of Flight and Longleaf Legacy programs or to see a complete listing of awards granted.

-----
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page

Emory's Jane Fonda Center Receives Grant for Building Healthy Teen Relationships Program

The Jane Fonda Center at Emory University has been selected to receive up to a $1 million grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation aimed at reducing the nation’s unacceptable level of intimate partner violence through early prevention.

The Jane Fonda Center is one of 11 organizations in the United States receiving funding for the “Start Strong: Building Healthy Teen Relationships” four-year initiative aimed at middle school youth.

The Jane Fonda Center will collaborate with local partners, including the Teen Services Program at Grady Health System and Atlanta Public Schools (APS). The target population for the project is the nearly 10,000 students in the 6th, 7th and 8th grade in the APS. Its student population is 86 percent African American and 75 percent low income, and includes the 1,500 youth who visit the Teen Services Program at Grady annually. The initiative, which has been named locally the “Celebration” initiative, will also target parents, teachers, community groups and other teen influencers.

“Interpersonal relationship skills are not automatic; they are learned,” says Dr. Melissa Kottke, assistant professor of gynecology and obstetrics at Emory University School of Medicine and director of the Jane Fonda Center. “Our goal is to educate youth about healthy relationships in age and developmentally appropriate ways.

“By highlighting positive qualities such as self-respect and respect for others, along with effective communication skills and personal responsibility, we hope to foster an environment where teenage dating violence and abuse is not practiced and is not accepted,” says Kottke.

Kottke is the principal investigator of the national initiative at Emory.

As the nation’s largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to improving the health and health care for all Americans, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is working to discover new public health models that can not only reduce intimate partner violence among teens through intervention, but can change the attitudes and behaviors that transform social norms about intimate partner violence overall.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and its California partner, Blue Shield of California Foundation, are investing $18 million to prevent teen dating violence and abuse. With 11 sites from around the country, the “Start Strong: Building Healthy Teen Relationships” initiative will enable communities to create and evaluate comprehensive models of prevention for this serious public health issue.

“Intimate partner violence is one of our nation’s most serious public health problems,” says Dr. James Marks, senior vice president and director, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Group. “It is well past time we looked at prevention. The Jane Fonda Center at Emory is a leader in taking steps to building a coalition to end intimate partner violence. We congratulate them in their successful grant application and are eager to see the impact they and our other grantees will make for families in their communities.”

The local “Celebration” initiative includes implementing a skill-building education program for middle school students to help them better understand and manage their sexual feelings and behaviors in healthy positive ways. The project will engage older teens as educators and role models for this population. Other teen influencers such as parents, health care providers, and teachers will receive intimate partner violence training at the Jane Fonda Center and at other agencies in Atlanta.

Through partnerships with Fulton County Department of Health and Wellness, the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, healthy relationship education will also be taught to at-risk youth and to youth who are no longer in school due to pregnancy or delinquency.

“We are honored to have been selected for this nationwide initiative,” says Marie E. Mitchell, director of programs at the Jane Fonda Center. “By working to increase positive messaging to targeted youth, reaching youth in diverse settings, and training teen mentors, teachers and parents, this community program will discourage cultural acceptance of intimate partner violence and provide the next generation of youth with a skill set to build relationships free from physical, sexual and emotional violence.”

An independent research group will conduct a national evaluation of “Start Strong: Building Healthy Teen Relationships” that will run concurrently with the program. This national evaluation team will work closely with the Family Violence Prevention Fund, one of the nation's leading organizations working to prevent domestic and sexual violence, to identify best practices from each community partnership and evaluate the program’s impact and effectiveness.

-----
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page

Soybean Grant Gives Researchers Tools to Unravel Better Bean

For millennia, people have grown soybeans and turned them into many useful products. But when it comes to understanding why a soybean grows, blooms or produces like it does, researchers are left with unanswered questions.

University of Georgia professor Wayne Parrott aims to find the answers with a three-year, $2.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation and a jumping gene in rice found by a UGA colleague.

"I'm convinced that soybeans would be so much more useful and flexible if we knew what genes we need to be working with," said Parrott, a crop and soil sciences professor in the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

The soybean's genome was sequenced, or mapped, earlier this year. Now Parrott and his colleagues from the universities of Nebraska, Missouri-Columbia and Minnesota are taking soybean's genetic map and translating it so that soybean breeders can use it to produce a better bean.

Parrott is using a jumping rice gene for his part of the research. His counterparts are using radiation.

UGA plant biology professor Sue Wessler found the jumping gene in rice. Her discovery is unique. The gene is one of only a few with the ability to cut themselves out of and move to another location in the genome, altering it, Parrott said.

She shared the technology. Parrott's lab will insert the jumping rice gene into soybean plants. When something changes in a plant with the added jumping gene - such as how fast it flowers - they will then search the plant genetically. When they find the jumping gene - presumably in a new location in the genome - they can identify the modified gene there and, in this example, know what caused the plant to bloom faster.

The more genes they identify using the jumping gene technique, the more they'll know about the soybean and what they can do to improve it. The soybean has a few issues that could stand modifying, Parrott said.

On grocery store shelves, soybeans may seem like the perfect plant. It can be made into tofu and its synthetic meat products. However, the bean's protein is not balanced to the 21 amino acids humans need for a healthy diet. In addition, soybean oil contains trans fats after it's processed.

On the agricultural side, an improved soybean variety would allow farmers to plant a crop that produces more soybeans using the same amount of land. And with soybean plants that are disease and insect resistant, farmers wouldn't have to apply as much money - draining pesticides.

Farmers could also grow varieties that produce more oil or more protein.

"Genome sequencing and gene discovery is starting to open a new, exciting era for us," Parrott said.

It's a good time for soybeans. Since 1982, the U.S. has had a 15 percent increase in total soybean production.

"Acreage-wise, soybeans are among the top three crops in the United States," Parrott said. "It's the No. 1 source of vegetable oil and vegetable protein. In that regard, it's the most important of the crops."

Soybeans are used for adhesives, alternative fuels, disinfectants, plastics, salad dressings, particleboard, candy, cookies and swine feed, to name a few. "It just boggles the mind that it lends itself to so many different uses," Parrott said. "It's even in furniture care products."

-----
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page

Emory Receives $4.5 Million for Ph.D. Program

Emory University's Candler School of Theology has received a $4.5 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. to continue building the doctoral program in religious practices and practical theology. The award follows an earlier Endowment grant to Candler in 2002 of $10 million that founded the program, which is changing and strengthening the training of a new generation of ministers and religious leaders.

"In six years Emory has helped reshape the landscape of graduate education in religion and theology," says Emory Provost Earl Lewis. "We have become recognized as one of the leading university-based practical theology programs in the country."

Jan Love, dean of Candler School of Theology, says that "with this continued support from Lilly Endowment, Emory will have a profound impact on the way theology and religion is taught, and in turn, the way ministers and religious leaders are educated in the future."

The grant will continue to build Emory's cohort of new Ph.D.s in religious practices and practical theology in the Graduate Division of Religion. The program's current enrollment is 33, with more growth expected with the entrance of this year's doctoral class, says Elizabeth Bounds, who directed the program for the past six years, alongside administering the Graduate Division of Religion.

These new Ph.D.s will be in high demand, says Bounds, because of a shortage of well-trained scholars in ministerial and practical fields and because today's ministers and religious leaders need instruction from a new kind of faculty. "The program trains future faculty not only in fields such as religious education and pastoral care, but also in systematic theology and ethics so that faculty members all across the curriculum are able to teach and do research about the ways people live out their faith."

Reshaping theological education

"Theological seminaries across the country are working hard to develop new, more effective ways to prepare their students to be excellent pastors," says Craig Dykstra, senior vice president for religion at the Endowment. "Emory University and its Candler School of Theology are at the vanguard of this effort. The new doctoral program in religious practices and practical theology is helping theological education as a whole to re-conceive the ways theology and ministry are thought and taught, while also producing a very talented and much-needed new generation of scholar-educators who are well prepared to teach and lead in new ways."

"Doctoral work in religion and theology has generally been text-based," says Thomas Frank, a colleague of Bounds who is directing the program going forward. "We've discovered that doctoral education comes alive in new ways when students come into contact with actual, contemporary faith communities."

He cites as an example the issue of social justice. "Reading a book about justice is critical, and the concept takes off in new directions when students see a justice ministry in action, when they see a congregation that sends people to vigils at a prison's death row. Suddenly justice is not an abstraction anymore. Seeing religious practices in action adds a whole new dimension to doctoral studies."

The program also includes a post-doctoral fellowship, which allows recent Ph.D.s to spend a year reorienting their research and teaching toward engagement with religious practices.

This grant is part of the private support being sought for the recently announced Campaign Emory, a $1.6 billion fundraising endeavor that combines private support and the university's people, places and programs to make a powerful contribution to the world. The campaign is expected to transform every school and unit of the university. Investments in the campaign fuel efforts to address fundamental challenges: improving health, gaining ground in science and technology, resolving conflict, harnessing the power of the arts, and educating the heart and mind.

-----
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page

Institute for Advanced Policy Solutions Receives $600,000 Peterson Foundation Grant

Emory University’s Institute for Advanced Policy Solutions (IAPS) has received a $600,000, one-year grant from the Peter G. Peterson Foundation to establish a Center for Entitlement Reform, the Institute announced today.

The new Center for Entitlement Reform is one of only a few university-based research centers in the U.S. focusing on federal health care entitlement reform.

The Center will conduct research and analysis in order to outline the factors responsible for the rise in federal entitlement spending, specifically focused on public health insurance programs; link new approaches in financing, payment, and care delivery for achieving better value (lower costs with the same or better outcomes) based on factors driving higher spending; and present the options to key policymakers in the U.S. Congress and White House, along with state-level governments, business leaders, the public and the media.

Public health policy researcher Kenneth E. Thorpe, PhD, will direct the new Center. Thorpe is also chair of the Department of Health Policy and Management, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, and IAPS executive director. Additional staffing for the Center will include faculty from Emory’s Institute for Health and Productivity Management, as well as a select group of IAPS fellows chosen from some of the nation’s foremost and emerging thought leaders in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors.

“Entitlement programs must be reformed to reflect current economic realities and longer life spans while also making them solvent, sustainable, secure and more savings oriented,” says Thorpe. “Spending cannot continue unabated without imperiling future generations. For far too long, needed health reform has foundered on ideology.

“The moment has come to set aside partisanship and, guided by sound research that explains both the nature and the urgency of the challenge, achieve real results,” says Thorpe. “The Center for Entitlement Reform will help translate research into action to avert the looming crisis.”

The rise in projected federal spending on health care results mostly from increasing costs per beneficiary but also because the aging of the baby boom generation will significantly raise the number of Medicare beneficiaries. According to the Congressional Budget Office, if health care spending grows as projected under current law, future budget deficits will rise to levels that will seriously jeopardize the nation’s long-term economic growth.

“Washington policymakers are continuing to put off tough choices by charging the nation's credit card and expecting our kids and grandkids to pick up the tab,” says Peterson Foundation President and CEO David M. Walker. “Social Security and Medicare must be reformed if we expect to maintain reasonable tax levels, invest in our collective future and deliver on the promises that the government makes. We are thrilled to be investing in Ken and Emory’s thoughtful leadership in this fight.”

The Center is expecting to complete its groundwork research and analysis and develop preliminary policy options—focused on reducing the rising prevalence of diagnosed and treated disease, more effective approaches for managing chronically ill patients and approaches for reducing the wide variation in per capita spending—by the end of calendar year 2008.

“America’s health care crisis was not created overnight, and won’t be solved immediately,” adds Thorpe. “The Center for Entitlement Reform will have a research agenda encompassing for long-horizon views. However, we also recognize the short-term opportunity to impact health care policy of the incoming administration and 111th Congress early in 2009. Our near-term agenda is to complete an analysis of the key drivers of rising Medicare and Medicaid spending.”

-----
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page