Mayor James A. Young was in Washington last week at a sustainable communities summit and before his visit was over met with one of President Obama's top economic development advisors following an almost impromptu White House visit.
Young had been invited to speak at what was billed as a Capitol Hill Summit on Sustainable Communities, Environmental Justice and the New Economy on Thursday to address other small community leaders from across the Southeast.
Through some of his Mississippi contacts back home, Young arranged the solo White House visit after his speech.
The mayor was allowed to "peek in" the Oval Office, but President Obama was in New Orleans.
Young speculated, however, that based on the warm reception he received, he would have been introduced had the President been in town.
Young said he was impressed that the President's advisors "stopped to listen about Philadelphia."
"They made time for us," he said.
Young spoke with administration officials, including the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development, about several economic development projects he has initiated since taking office in July.
Projects Young discussed with administration officials included:
• An occupant for the former U.S. Motors plant that could employ up to 200 people. The prospective employer involves the coatings industry, he said.
The project is far enough along, he said, that engineers will be in town soon to assess the facility and determine what modifications would be needed should the company decide to locate in Philadelphia.
• Two other industrial prospects could involve 500 additional jobs and expansion of the airport, but the mayor declined to identify their sector because he said the discussions are preliminary.
Young updated the Chamber of Commerce on his Washington trip Tuesday morning and then stopped by The Neshoba Democrat for an interview.
Philadelphia-Neshoba County Chamber of Commerce President Bob Posey called the mayor's trip a success.
"He is out promoting Philadelphia and that is what it's going to take to have people such as him speaking directly to other people," said Posey, a bank executive.
"He's been to Washington and different places and that's what it takes nowadays because it's such a competitive market. We can sell our community because we have a lot of positive things to be proud of here."
Young said he spent about 45 minutes speaking with key economic advisers at the White House, including David Agnew, the President's Deputy Director of Intergovernmental Affairs for Mayors.
"He is the liaison between the President and the mayors," Young said.
Young said the purpose of the summit was to discuss the challenges small cities such as Philadelphia have in obtaining federal funding needed to attract jobs.
"We talked about how the guidelines could be changed to help smaller cities compete for federal funding in order to develop and attract industries because new jobs are needed to help us come out of this recession," Young said.
Viable cities with populations under 10,000 often face hurdles when it comes to receiving federal funding to create jobs, he said.
Young said federal funding was needed to help with the three projects he's working on and he praised David Vowell, president of the Community Development Partnership, and others for their efforts.
Without federal funds to assist, Philadelphia could lose these projects to other towns, Young said.
Agnew and others were very friendly and receptive to his concerns about the challenges small cities such as Philadelphia face, Young said.
While at the White House, officials arranged for Young to meet afterwards with John Fernandez, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development. They met for about half an hour.
"We are in a very good position, better than we've ever been in before, to get some new jobs," Young said. "We are doing everything we can to make that happen."
Young gained national attention earlier this year when he was elected Philadelphia's first African-American mayor against the backdrop of the infamous 1964 murders of three young men who were registering blacks to vote.
"People are seeing the positive changes taking place and are taking another look at Philadelphia," Young said.
"We are getting widespread attention and I want to use it to our advantage to continue to promote Philadelphia. It's been a whirlwind so far."
The mayor has so far been on economic development missions to, among other places, Louisiana, Tennessee, New York and California, promoting what he called "this new attitude in Philadelphia."
Young promised an aggressive strategy during his campaign and he says he's delivering by contacting grocery store chains and others about locating in Philadelphia.
"We're not sitting back waiting," Young assured.
The mayor said his goal was to see at least three or four more industrial prospects in Philadelphia.
"If we can get one domino to fall, others will follow, hopefully within the next year. I'm just excited about what's taking place. We are going to be very progressive in bringing jobs and in seeking jobs," he said.
The trip and other expenses were funded by the Sustainable Community Development Group Inc., based in Washington, a not-for-profit corporation that, according to its web site, is at the forefront of working with the public, private and community sectors to advance environmental sustainability, equitable development and global smart growth.
