[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 98 (Thursday, June 15, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1251]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


   IN RECOGNITION OF AMCORE BANK AND THE ZION DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION

                                 ______


                        HON. DONALD A. MANZULLO

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 14, 1995
  Mr. MANZULLO. Mr. Speaker, it is a great pleasure for me to recognize 
the accomplishments of the partnership between AMCORE Bank and the Zion 
Development Corporation. These two organizations, acting in unison, 
have stabilized and redeveloped a major portion of the Rockford 
community. Their commendable efforts were justifiably included by the 
Social Compact in their 1995 Outstanding Community Investment Awards 
program.
  AMCORE Bank and the Zion Development Corporations have a long history 
of working together. AMCORE Bank, a major financial institution in 
Rockford, had been located for nearly 100 years on Seventh Street, 
directly across from the church that founded the Zion Development 
Corporation [ZDC]. The ZDC, established in 1982, has acted as an 
instrument to revitalize storefront and residential property in an 
urban neighborhood. Its mission is to provide affordable housing for 
low- and moderate-income families of every background, as well as to 
train the residents of Rockford for worthwhile employment 
opportunities.
  Neither AMCORE, nor the ZDC could have succeeded in creating safe, 
thriving areas within their neighborhood without the help of the other. 
Acting as a model for other businesses around the Nation, AMCORE 
granted generous and flexible loans to the ZDC, often financing close 
to 100 percent of the cost of the properties acquired by the ZDC. 
AMCORE went on to donate money directly to its partner, to establish a 
banking service for the residents of the new properties, and to help 
form the Seventh Street Area Development Council. The ZDC is, like 
AMCORE, a model itself. It is a nonprofit institution designed to 
positively impact citizens' lives directly. It has targeted and 
purchased the properties around Seventh Street which, in the past, have 
been infamous because of the prostitution and drug dealing that 
occurred there.
  These two organizations have earned admiration and respect because of 
their service. They have been deservedly noted by the Social Compact 
and provide inspiration to the rest of Rockford, as well as the 
country, to never concede a neighborhood as lost to crime.


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