Rebirth of a Vital Urban Neighborhood

Locke Joins Community Affairs

Lisa Locke recently joined the Community Affairs staff of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Locke, a community affairs specialist, is assigned to the Louisville Branch, where she has worked in operations since 1994. Prior to coming to the Fed, Lisa was assistant branch manager of a retail operations center for National City Bank. She holds a bachelor of science degree from the University of Louisville and a master of arts degree from Webster University.

Lisa will assist in the Bank's efforts to provide banks and bank holding companies with information on programs to meet community development needs and facilitate communication among local governments, community organizations, neighborhood groups and financial institutions. Lisa may be reached at (502) 568-9216.

Fed to Publish St. Louis Homebuyer Brochure

The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis is producing a brochure that lists St. Louis-area homebuyer counseling providers and a summary of their programs.

The brochure is in response to recommendations from the four groups of the St. Louis Mortgage Credit Partnership project (MCP). The MCP project, co-sponsored by the St. Louis Fed and the Institute for Policy Leadership at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, is an on-going effort to identify and eliminate barriers to affordable housing in the city of St. Louis. The project studied all areas related to the homebuying process, including lending, appraisal, real estate, insurance and the secondary market.

The brochure will be available in April and is free of charge. For more information, please contact Diana Zahner at (314) 444-8761.

St. Louis Minority Business Council Administering Loan Program

The St. Louis Minority Business Council is administering a state-funded loan program called the Urban Enterprise Loan (UEL) program to assist companies expanding in or relocating to the state-designated Enterprise Zone or federally designated Enterprise Community areas. Borrowers are for-profit businesses with fewer than 100 employees. Eligible activities include fixed-asset or working-capital needs, and projects must retain or create one job for every $20,000 in funding under the UEL program. Job creation must occur within two years of the completed project.

Up to 50 percent of project costs, or a maximum loan amount of $100,000, is available through the UEL program. Typically, the loan structure will be 45 percent from bank financing secured by a first-security interest, 45 percent from a UEL-subordinated loan, and 10 percent equity. Loans are collateralized to the fullest extent possible.

For more information, contact the St. Louis Minority Business Council at (314) 241-1143.