United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office Resources, Community, and Economic Development Division author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 1998-08-19 monographic deposited born digital 10 p. GA 1.13:T-RCED-98-263 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-T-RCED-98-263 P0b002ee18039d082 f:rc98263t DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-28 GAOREPORTS-T-RCED-98-263 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-T-RCED-98-263 T-RCED-98-263 Rural economic development Community development programs Urban economic development Economically depressed areas Census Economic analysis Unemployment rates Eligibility determinations Statistical data HUD Empowerment Zones and Enterprise Communities Program Testimony RCED GAO discussed the targeting of community development benefits included in H.R. 3865, the American Community Renewal Act of 1998, as well as to share lessons learned from the early implementation of the community development program that created Empowerment Zones and Enterprise Communities.<p/>GAO noted that: (1) out of nearly 59,000 census tracts nationwide, 4,323 meet the bill's economic distress criteria, according to GAO's analysis of 1990 census data; (2) of these distressed tracts, 1,354 are in rural areas, 2,535 in urban areas, and 434 in mixed urban/rural areas; (3) 19 percent of these census tracts are located in an Empowerment Zone or Enterprise Community; (4) more than half of the local, state, and federal officials involved in implementing the Empowerment Zone program who responded to a survey that GAO conducted in 1996 agreed on the factors that had either helped or hindered their efforts to implement the program; (5) for example, they identified factors such as community representation within the governance structures and enhanced communication among stakeholders as helping the program's implementation; and (6) similarly, preexisting relationships among Empowerment Zone stakeholders and pressure for quick results were identified as hindering the program's implementation. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-T-RCED-98-263/html/GAOREPORTS-T-RCED-98-263.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-T-RCED-98-263/pdf/GAOREPORTS-T-RCED-98-263.pdf GAO/T-RCED-98-263 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-T-RCED-98-263 Testimony GAO/T-RCED-98-263; Community Development: The American Community Renewal Act of 1998; Rural economic development Community development programs Urban economic development Economically depressed areas Census Economic analysis Unemployment rates Eligibility determinations Statistical data HUD Empowerment Zones and Enterprise Communities Program