[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 6]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 8934]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




   TRIBUTE TO REVEREND J. DELNOAH WILLIAMS AND THE SILVER PARK PLAZA

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. HAROLD E. FORD, JR.

                              of tennessee

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 6, 1999

  Mr. FORD. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Reverend J. 
Delnoah Williams, a highly respected community leader and Publisher of 
the Silver Star News, a weekly newspaper in the Ninth Congressional 
District. Since the newspaper's establishment in 1986, Reverend 
Williams has sought to make it more than just an outlet for the 
dissemination of news. The Silver Star News plays an integral role in 
improving our community. On its pages are important local and national 
issues. Reverend Williams and his professional staff always work to 
ensure that the activities of important local institutions like 
churches, small businesses, associations, sororities and non- profits 
are given prominent attention. As the newspaper's masthead states, the 
Silver Star News is ``Building Bridges For A Brighter Future'' in 
Memphis.
  In that tradition, Reverend Williams has undertaken a new venture. On 
May 15th, Reverend Williams will open the new Silver Park Plaza, a 
multi-service complex, for public and private events, including 
conferences, banquets, receptions, weddings, parties, meetings, 
seminars, recitals and concerts. The center will also serve as the 
newspaper's new home. What's significant about this new complex, Mr. 
Speaker, is that it not only represents a new beginning for the paper, 
it represents a new beginning for the Orange Mound community, the area 
of Memphis where the Silver Star News has had its offices since its 
founding. Through Reverend Williams vision and leadership, the Silver 
Star Park Plaza will serve as a catalyst for economic growth in the 
Ninth District.
  The Silver Park Plaza venture is part of a larger national trend of 
capitalizing on the untapped social and economic assets in our under-
served and rural areas. Michael Porter, a Professor of Business 
Administration at the Harvard Business School and founder and Chairman 
of the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City, believes that a new 
vision of economic development is needed to accelerate business growth 
in these areas. Sustainable economic progress, according to Professor 
Porter, must be based on drawing on our untapped competitive economic 
advantages which already exist in our central cities. Consider that 
more than 54 percent of the workforce growth over the next ten years 
will come from workers in central cities. Moreover, our central cities 
represent more than $85 billion in retail spending potential each year 
in the United States. The University of Memphis has documented this 
untapped economic potential in various sections of our city. 
Governments can help spur economic growth, but ultimately, it's the 
private, for-profit business enterprises that will transform our 
communities, create jobs and produce wealth. The Silver Park venture 
embodies that philosophy. Mr. Speaker, I urge all my colleagues to 
recognize Reverend Williams and the Silver Park Plaza. I know that 
similar, untold success stories exist in congressional districts 
throughout the nation. I urge my colleagues to take a close look at 
them in order to learn how we can best shape public policy in 
recognition of this new direction of economic growth in America.

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