The empowerment zone program that will turn Baltimore into a laboratory for urban revitalization has business leaders reacting with everything from elation to an attitude best summed up as "couldn't hurt."
The program includes a mix of features from urban renewal campaigns dating to the Truman administration. But two aspects of the Clinton empowerment zones initiative -- its focus on only a few cities and its "holistic" approach to urban problems -- are creating a sense of optimism among some business leaders who typically frown on big government programs.
"I'm as excited about this as I've ever been about anything" happening in Baltimore, said Frank P. Bramble Sr., chief executive and president of First Maryland Bancorp, parent of First National Bank of Maryland.
"I think what it does is it provides a substantial amount of capital into areas of the city that need that sort of investment, and there just hasn't been any way to get it before," Mr. Bramble said.
Baltimore's empowerment zone designation will bring $325 million in federal grants and corporate tax breaks, while triggering $800 million in city, state and private support, officials say.
The targeted areas are on the west, in the Sandtown-Winchester and Pigtown neighborhoods; the east near Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions; and in the industrial Fairfield section of South Baltimore.
The combination of business incentives and social programs, if managed properly, can turn the three areas into "very vital retail areas that will become very popular places to be, very attractive places to live," Mr. Bramble said. "I think they'll be downtown Baltimore's version of a Towson or an Essex."
Some executives warned against expecting too much.
"A lot of such programs in the past have demonstrated that they don't have such lasting effects," said Christian Poindexter, chairman and chief executive of Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. "Like all capitalists, I'm skeptical of big government being able to just throw money at things and being able to have positive, lasting impact."
At the same time, the needs are too pressing and the commitment of both public and private sector leaders is too great to give up hope, he said. "I think we have a wonderful opportunity here to show the world how we can be good stewards of the money and really make something good come out of it."
For some, merely winning the award represents progress.
"I think the hope is that this will be a tremendous boost to the spirit of Baltimore." said C. William Struever, president of Struever Bros. Eccles & Rouse, a construction and development firm.
"It's all built around the confidence that Baltimore is going to be a better place to live and work, and build for the future," said Mr. Struever, who served on several committees that helped develop Baltimore's empowerment zone application for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Empowerment zone boosters say that unlike President Lyndon B. Johnson's Model Cities program, the latest plan is focused. Baltimore is one of only six cities to receive the full $100 million in grants, as well as the tax breaks and other incentives.
Also, the empowerment zones will feature a wide range of approaches, from traditional social welfare programs to housing and infrastructure to business incentives.
Officials estimate Baltimore businesses will receive at least $225 million in tax breaks over 10 years. That includes payroll tax credits for hiring residents for jobs inside the zones and tax-free bonding authority for private businesses, according to attorney William Carlson, who co-chaired the task force's economic opportunities committee.
Mr. Carlson said businesses in the zones also will be able to depreciate up to $37,500 in equipment purchases in one year, instead of as many as seven, as the tax code normally allows. He said the city also is considering job training grants for zone residents, even if they work outside the zones.
Louis Denrich, president and owner of the 18-store Valu Food supermarket chain, places himself in the camp of the cautiously optimistic. "I get concerned when the Democrats throw a lot of money at these social programs, but I'm looking at it as a businessman to see if there's some opportunities to open some supermarkets."