A Leg Up for Project Residents

Government contracts are a proven engine of growth for jobs and communities. Defense spending has helped to build communities across California. Ross Perot turned lucrative contracts for processing Medicare claims into a fabled fortune and a couple of campaigns for the presidency.

So why not use government contracts as a vehicle to create badly needed jobs and businesses in poor communities? That’s precisely what the Los Angeles Housing Authority is attempting to do. It has a three-pronged program to use federal public housing funds to provide residents more than just roofs over their heads. The authority’s Kumbaya Construction Co., for example, helps to hire and train residents for construction jobs.

The city is encouraging the development of resident-owned and -operated businesses within housing projects. Jordan Downs in Watts is the first of the city’s 21 federally funded projects to establish its own companies. In a little over a year, the Jordan Downs Security Co., a resident-owned business, has been awarded more than $1 million in housing authority contracts and provided full- and part-time work to about 70 residents. Profits from the security firm have in turn been used to set up a tenant-run moving company and a pest control business. There also are plans for a 99-cents store.

At Estrada Courts in Boyle Heights and Imperial Courts in Watts, joint ventures between residential management corporations and private construction companies also have provided jobs. And efforts are underway for resident-owned businesses and a joint venture at Pico-Aliso.

The housing authority campaign over the last four years has spawned promising plans to train residents, build businesses and help both gain experience. Such opportunities will be even more important with the impending cutbacks in welfare programs. If federal dollars can be leveraged to empower housing project residents to move up and out into the private sector, all of Los Angeles will benefit.