Conference Calls to Assess Community Action Stimulus Plans

National Community Action Foundation will be leading a series of conference calls this week to see where we stimulus spending plans are at with the Weatherization Assistance Program and the Community Services Block Grant. We are interested in a thumbnail sketch per state for a couple reasons.

First, we must soon provide Congress an initial overview of how the weatherization and CSBG stimulus dollars are being spent. Second, the initial information we have received reveals some major areas of concern about how stimulus funding is being handled in a few states.

Overall, I’m impressed with how Community Action Agencies are ramped up and ready to handle the increased stimulus dollars. In states like Michigan, CSBG and weatherization stimulus plans are perfect models. However, in a few other states initial plans do not appear very well developed for this stage of the game. We hope to address these concerns during this week’s calls.

I think that the stimulus funding, in a somewhat unexpected way, has revealed some of the strengths and weaknesses of the current system, particularly the federal-state relationship with Community Action Agencies. The increased responsibility is allowing us to reevaluate the effectiveness and accountability of our current system. I hope that we are able to use this exercise to make necessary improvements for the future.

-- David Bradley, NCAF Executive Director, Washington

CBS Evening News to Air Weatherization Story on Wednesday

I was interviewed yesterday by the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric about weatherization.

Although I was assured this would be a sunny story about weatherization, skepticism seems to remain among the news media about the network’s ability to resourcefully spend all the money contained in the stimulus bill and deliver such a large number of new jobs. I am interested in seeing how the CBS segment develops.

The interview should broadcast on Wednesday evening. Tune in and share your thoughts on this blog afterward.

-- David Bradley, NCAF Executive Director, Washington

SNHU Will Soon Offer Master's Program in Community Economic Development

After two years of discussions, National Community Action Foundation has reached an agreement in principle with Southern New Hampshire University to create a master’s degree program in community economic development.

A definitive meeting was held with SNHU on Monday. A joint committee will create curriculum for the 39-hour program, which will be conducted mostly online, with some on-campus weekends.

Many Community Action Agencies are heading in the direction of community development. I hope this is the first of many university programs that will be developed to help Community Action personnel and others in this arena.

-- David Bradley, NCAF Executive Director, Washington

Buying American, Cooperation Are NCAF Goals for Weatherization

National Community Action Foundation has had a number of discussions with General Motors representatives in our quest to buy American vehicles for Community Action’s weatherization efforts. Today we will meet again with GM to finalize details.

We also have been consulting cooperative experts about using the cooperative model in our weatherization efforts.

I’ll share more details here as we get them.

-- David Bradley, NCAF Executive Director, Washington

Budgets Passes, Bipartisanship Fails, Hope Remains

The House and Senate 2010 budget resolutions passed Thursday without a single Republican vote. Consequently, it is “high noon” for both parties.

Responsibility for the economy, spending, and recovery is shifting to the Democrats. Republicans are taking issue with deficits, “big government” and higher taxes. If economic recovery is delayed, I think the 2010 elections could be very fascinating.

Meanwhile, leading congressional Democrats involved with the budget and economic policy are privately expressing more confidence that economic recovery will take hold in the months to come. These same individuals were the ones that had been saying things would likely get worse before they became better. For the first time in months, they are seeing hope on the horizon.

-- David Bradley, NCAF Executive Director, Washington

Stimulus Follow-Up Continues

Stimulus inquiries continue to take up a lot of our time here at the National Community Action Foundation offices. There are dozens of calls and e-mails coming in regarding the additional weatherization funding, and just recently, there have been a flurry of questions about the Community Services Block Grant.

We continue to field press inquiries. At 7:45 a.m. this morning, a CNN reporter called with follow-up questions to a previous interview on the stimulus. Reporters are mostly interested in when the massive amounts of jobs are going to be created from the weatherization dollars included in the stimulus package.

As a follow-up to my last blog about new partnerships, organized labor represenatives soon will be coming to the NCAF offices to talk about weatherization. I don't know if they plan to come at it from the manufacturing side, the employment side or what? But, I am anxious to see what they have to say.

Also on the topic of partnerships, this week the NCAF-ExxonMobil partnership management committee held another detailed discussion about the training grants. This project remains on the front burner, and we expect to have some additional details out in the field by mid-April.

Through this important partnership with ExxonMobil, NCAF wants to help the weatherization network train and learn better. We hope to stimulate innovative ideas on training and make sure that good training takes place. However, this does NOT mean NCAF is getting into the training business.

Congress will be out for two weeks for Easter break, which will allow us some additional time to catch up on more phone calls and e-mails.

Have a good weekend!

-- David Bradley, NCAF Executive Director, Washington

The Opportunities and Challenges of Partnership Requests

Virtually every day for the last several weeks, National Community Action Foundation has been contacted by groups that want to participate in some of the weatherization windfall from the economic stimulus. This is another example of the challenges that come with opportunity, as this deluge of requests requires a lot of time to sort through.

I have been contacted by senior groups, disadvantaged youth groups, unions, those who want to help with employment and training, city and county governments, the private sector and a variety of other parts of American society. Many are under the assumption that Community Action is unable to handle all of the weatherization money included in the stimulus package. (However, I must say there is a great amount of confidence at the local level, and our network is stepping up to the plate nicely on this. Keep up the great work!)

Although partnerships are crucial in Community Action, our network must make strategic decisions about who we partner with and why.

NCAF’s recent partnership with ExxonMobil is really starting to accelerate. (For those who haven't yet heard, ExxonMobil is donating $5 million to NCAF to support projects that will expand the scale and scope of existing training programs so workers are well-prepared for sustainable careers in the growing fields of energy efficiency and weatherization.)

NCAF was working with ExxonMobil on the specifics of this partnership months before the stimulus package ever materialized. The partnership is based on our common goals of increased energy efficiency and economic development.

We have created a small board with a couple ExxonMobil representatives and a couple NCAF representatives for program oversight. Next, we will create an advisory committee of approximately 20 of our best and brightest Community Action personnel and other experts in weatherization and training that will help design the request for proposals and the scope of the work. There also may be other clusters of advisors to assist with public relations or other aspects of the project.

I expect the advisory board to come together in April, and full partnership details should follow soon after. Keep watching this blog and the NCAF web site for more information as it becomes available.

-- David Bradley, NCAF Executive Director, Washington