South Carolina has a reputation for being a competitive state among economic development circles, and the state also has significant transportation facilities such as the deepwater Port of Charleston, inland port in Greer that will open later in 2013, and rail and interstate corridors providing connections within the state and to nearby cities such as Atlanta and Charlotte.  The state’s workforce development system and the collaborative research campus at Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research are also assets that make South Carolina and the 10-county Upstate region competitive.

This report was produced through the NADO Research Foundation’s Center for Transportation Advancement and Regional Development under a cooperative agreement with the Federal Highway Administration.  View the report at http://www.nado.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/SCAutoCluster.pdf.

Other reports related to transportation released by the NADO Research Foundation in recent months include:

• Aligning Strategies to Maximize Impact: Case Studies on Transportation and Economic Development
• The Rise of the Greek Yogurt Industry in Central New York
• Lessons Learned from Irene: Vermont RPCs Address Transportation System Recovery
• Freight Transportation and Economic Development: Planning for the Panama Canal Expansion

For more resources on rural transportation, visit NADO’s online clearinghouse at www.RuralTransportation.org.  To view other NADO reports, including recent releases on economic development, visit www.NADO.org.

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This year’s winning projects help meet their regions’ needs  through various program areas, including: bicycle and pedestrian planning, air quality, equity, project implementation, public involvement, safety, and transit. Contact information for each award-winning organization is also provided.

The Excellence in Regional Transportation Award is a program of the National Association of Development Organizations (NADO) Research Foundation and its program affiliate RPO America. RPO America serves as the network for the nation’s rural and small metropolitan transportation planners and other professionals.
This awards program is partially funded under a cooperative agreement with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA).

View the 2013 award winners (PDF)

Looking for award winning projects from prior years?  See the awards reports below:

• 2012 awards (PDF)
• 2011 awards (PDF)
• 2010 awards (PDF)
• 2009 awards (PDF)
• 2008 awards (PDF)
• 2007 awards (PDF)

For more information on the Excellence in Regional Transportation Awards program, visit www.RuralTransportation.org.

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Conference attendees heard an engaging keynote address from South Carolina Deputy  Secretary of Commerce George Patrick III, an update on activities from the Partnership for Sustainable Communities, and information from Federal Highway Administration staff on MAP-21 implementation.

Additional best practice sessions focused on public participation techniques, freight and economic development, long-range planning, regional transit, transportation and health, rural safety, and more, many relevant learning opportunities will be available to participants.  Longer workshops included an exclusive off-site visit to BMW Manufacturing Company to learn about freight and economic development, a Road Safety Audit workshop in the Town of Travelers Rest near Greenville, a walking and cycling tour of Greenville to discuss planning and implementation for its vibrant downtown, and an interactive session on equity and public involvement. The Excellence in Regional Transportation Award winners were also recognized during the conference (read more about the winning projects here, PDF).

View more photos from the conference in our Facebook photo album.

The conference was sponsored by AirSage, the Appalachian Regional Commission, Association of Metropolitan Planning Organizations, Development District Association of Appalachia, Federal Highway Administration, National Association of Development Organizations Research Foundation and NADO’s RPO America, along with other partners.  Exhibitors included Easter Seals Project ACTION, Federal Highway Administration/Federal Transit Administration Transportation Planning Capacity Building Program, LeFleur Transportation, Rural Assistance Center, Strategic Highway Research Program 2 (SHRP2), Transit Cooperative Research Program, and URS Corporation.  The contributions of Brazos Valley Council of Governments and J.R. Wilburn & Associates are much appreciated for their role as Conference Supporters.

Please visit www.nado.org/events/rpo2013 for the agenda and presentations. For more information, contact NADO Associate Director Carrie Kissel at 202.624.8829 or ckissel@nado.org.

GEORGIA

River Valley Regional Commission, Prison to Peanuts Bicycle Adventure

River Valley Regional Commission, RVRC Mobility Management

Three Rivers Regional Commission, Regional Mobility Management

KENTUCKY

Kentuckiana Regional Planning and Development Agency, Vanpooling Services

MAINE

Eastern Maine Development Corporation, Linking the Rural Regions of Four Counties in Maine to Enhance Transportation Opportunities and Improve Quality of Life

NORTH CAROLINA

Isothermal Planning and Development Commission, Pockets of Rural Poverty

Kerr-Tar Regional Council of Governments, North Carolina Lakes District

Land of Sky Regional Council of Governments, From Cradle to Construction – Project Tracking

Piedmont Triad Rural Planning Organization and UNC Highway Safety Research Center, Rural Comprehensive Speed Management Planning

Western Piedmont Council of Governments, Western Piedmont Annual Air Quality Conference

PENNSYLVANIA

North Central Pennsylvania Regional Planning, Engage North Central Pennsylvania

SOUTH CAROLINA

Lower Savannah Council of Governments, Lower Savannah Regional Bicycle & Pedestrian Plan

Lower Savannah Council of Governments, Resuscitation of Transit ( and Senior) Services in Allendale, SC

Lowcountry Council of Governments, Regional Mobility Management in the Lowcountry–From Cooperation to Consolidation

VERMONT

Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission, Transportation Surveys: Attitudinal Changes and Trends in Chittenden County VT, 2000 – 2012

VIRGINIA

New River Valley Planning District Commission, Regional Transit Organization Study – Regional Transit Coordinating Council

This awards program recognizes noteworthy projects and practices in rural and small metropolitan transportation planning, programming, and service delivery.  Click here for information about the Excellence Award program and to view past winners.

Eligibility:

• The organization applying to receive the award must be a member of NADO; if multiple organizations collaborated on a project, they may apply jointly, but the lead applicant must be a NADO member
• Up to three projects per organization may be submitted
• Projects must show substantive quantitative or qualitative results
• A competitive application should address one or more of the following issues: uniqueness/level of innovation; regional impact; ability to be replicated; long-term viability of the program and its impact; innovative partnerships and collaborations; and creative funding

Award winners will be recognized at a roundtable reception during the National Rural Transportation Peer Learning Conference (April 24 – 26, 2013 in Greenville, SC). For more information, visit www.RuralTransportation.org.  To send supporting documents or ask questions, contact NADO Associate Director Carrie Kissel, at 202.624.8829 or ckissel@nado.org.

NADO members and their local communities and board members are invited to attend a free webinar presentation by Transportation for America.  Rather than being a technical overview of MAP-21, which other sources have covered, this webinar will be an opportunity to engage stakeholders and decisionmakers on funding a variety of modes public transportation, vanpool, biking, walking, and road/bridge maintenance and repair projects that support in support of strong communities.  Please share the following announcement to invite your RDO and RTPO board members and others in your region to this presentation.

Investing in a variety of transportation options—like public transportation, vanpooling, bicycling, walking,  and safe roads and bridges—are crucial for stronger, more resilient communities in our nation’s rural areas. It’s important to know how our new federal transportation bill (MAP-21) has changed the way communities can access transportation dollars and what these funds can be used for.

Panelists for this discussion include:

• Commissioner Kathy Rinaldi, Teton County, Idaho
• Charles W. Fluharty, President and CEO, Rural Policy Research Institute (RUPRI)
• Chris Zeilinger, Director of Policy Development, Community Transportation Association of America Community Transportation Association of America (CTAA)
• Georgia Gann, Deputy Director of Government Affairs, Transportation for America
• John Robert Smith, President and CEO, Reconnecting America and Former Mayor of Meridian, MS (moderator)

Webinar logistics:

• Title: How to use the 2012 federal transportation bill to strengthen rural economies
• Date: Wednesday, February 27, 1 p.m. Eastern/10 a.m. Pacific
• Click here to register

AFI projects help participants save earned income in matched savings accounts called Individual Development Accounts (IDAs) with the goal of helping participants to purchase a first home, capitalize a small business, or obtain postsecondary education or vocational training.   More than 350 organizations across the country currently offer IDA programs, including many in rural and small metro areas. AFI projects are structured so that they are carried out by local organizations or as a regional network project and work well as a complementary program to a range of other community development activities.

IDAs have been used as a tool for economic self-sufficiency in a number of communities for several years.  The rationale for IDAs lies in the proposition that income transfers have eased the hardship of the poor but have been less effective in enabling low-income families to become economically self-sufficient.  An alternative view that emerged in the early 1990s was that to promote economic advancement and self-sufficiency—as well as to encourage socially positive behaviors—policies should focus on asset accumulation, in combination with income support.

AFI itself has supported the establishment of IDA programs since 1999, and it has made over 400 grants to local organizations for their work.  As a result, over 60,000 individual participants have opened accounts.  Those participants have saved $45-million.  About 24,000 savers have already used their accounts to purchase assets, including homes, educational offerings, or to open small businesses.  About 80 percent of the AFI-assisted savers are women.

IDAs have been found to be effective ways of helping many different types of community betterment programs.  For example, a number of community development organizations have used IDAs to help low-income residents save money to buy homes, start businesses, or fund educational programs that expand their job skills or broaden their economic outlook.   This use of IDAs has helped some families stay in the communities they have long called home.  Effective IDA sponsors have included community action agencies, local or state governments, public housing authorities, community development corporations, Urban League chapters, United Ways, community development financial institutions (CDFIs), and others.

Tacoma Housing Authority Uses IDAs to Help Tenants Buy New Homes

In 2002, when the Tacoma Housing Authority kicked off its first IDA program, one of its main motivations was to help some of its low-income tenants become homeowners.  Moreover, it had a large number of tenants who were soon to lose their apartments in the redevelopment of the Salishan public housing community in Tacoma, and all would need new homes.

Salishan was a complex of over 850 apartments originally built for World War II workers and their families in east Tacoma.  But the site had become run down and dangerous by the time the Housing Authority won a $35-million HOPE VI grant from HUD to redevelop Salishan in 2000.  To accomplish the redevelopment—which will result in over 1,200 units of mixed income housing and other amenities by 2012 or so—every tenant had to be moved, at least temporarily.

Like each of the 600 HOPE VI projects nationwide, the new Salishan will include both sales and rental housing, all to accommodate a mix of incomes.  Every tenant will be allowed back, and one-quarter of the sales units will be specifically priced at a level affordable to tenants.

Of course, though, not every tenant can become a home owner.  But to increase the odds, the Tacoma Housing Authority started its IDA program.  It won a HUD Homeownership Support Services grant in 2002 to, among other activities, begin helping tenants become owners.  “It has been a long-term process of helping tenants to overcome barriers to solve their credit problems, get better jobs and otherwise achieve their goals of homeownership in the new project,” says authority director of community services Nancy Vignec.

The authority’s program has always emphasized bundling counseling and education with the matched savings.  It helps participants learn about budgeting, improving credit, financial literacy, and using mainstream financial institutions.  Part of the difficulty on this last issue, Vignec points out, is that no banks have had branches at Salishan.  The authority wants to attract a bank to its new retail center to be built at the site.

The authority’s intensive work with tenants has worked.  Over 40 program participants have bought homes and 36 more families are currently active in building their IDAs.  Some graduates have used their savings to buy within the new Salishan, and others bought homes elsewhere.  It has helped the savers that Tacoma housing prices did not experience either severe increases or decreases over the years, and one can find a decent home for less than $200,000—far less than in nearby Seattle.

The Tacoma authority has expanded its original HUD-funded program by successfully applying for an Assets for Independence grant and receiving funds from the state of Washington’s department of Commerce, Trade and Economic Development.

The state has been an important partner for the authority and IDAs in the area.  As Vignec says, “It has a holistic approach to improving the financial situation of residents over the long run.”  The state has supported the creation of an asset building coalition in the Tacoma area, bringing together a broad set of partners for the authority.  Vignec points out that her office doesn’t have to create programs when other organizations locally have already proven their expertise.  “We can get one of our partners to provide good credit counseling,” she says, “and we can work with our partners to expand VITA sites in the community, including one on authority property for our tenants to use.”

The authority is contemplating two new directions for its IDA work.  One is an expanded effort to help youth learn about budgeting and saving.  It has used some of its state funds for a small youth IDA component, working mostly with people aging out of foster care.  Second, it is helping some IDA participants use their money to buy educational assets, recognizing that people need new skills to find jobs in the current economy.

Still wondering if AFI is a good fit for your organization?  

Applications for AFI grants of up to $1 million are currently being accepted. Eligible applicants include:

• Non-profit organizations,
• Qualified state and local governments,
• Low-income designated credit unions,
• Community development financial institutions, and
• Other community-based organizations.

Applicants must commit a non-Federal cash contribution of an amount equal to their Federal grant size at the time of application.

Check out this fact sheet to see if the AFI program is right for you.  For more information about how your organization can get involved with AFI visit our website at idaresources.org, attend one of our prospective grantees webinars, or contact the Assets for Independence Resource Center for free information and technical assistance.

Contact Information

• Assets for Independence Resource Center
• Phone: 866-778-6037
• Email: info@idaresources.org

For more details on the RPCs’ work, read the NADO Research Foundation report Lessons Learned from Irene: Vermont RPCs Address Transportation System Recovery, which was published in July 2012.  For more information, contact Kissel at 202.624.8829 or ckissel@nado.org.

View the presentation slides below: