Andre McEwing, TCCD, Formerly of Southeast Fort Worth, Inc.

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Andre McEwing spoke to the class about why sustainability makes good business sense, especially in the inner city. For several years, Mr. McEwing managed Southeast Fort Worth, Inc., a nonprofit that strives to attract business to southeast Fort Worth with by helping them procure government assistance through deductions, credits, and sometimes abatements. For him, the greatest challenge was to balance the "sweat equity" of the local community and showing the ROI to potential investors. To be successful, he felt that he had to constantly discuss fundraising wherever he went, and he needed to rely on a diverse board that represented varying local, governmental, and private sector interests.

The City of Fort Worth has designated a number of "urban villages," or target mixed use development areas, where they want to improve infrastructure and attract private investment as well as new residents.

Finding investors was always a challenge because they naturally wanted to be part of a larger city plan. When such plans are proposed, many vocal citizens may oppose the plan and slow down implementation of the plan. Citizens may also not be happy with the companies that ultimately decide to invest in their community; however, Mr. McEwing stated that one cannot simply dismiss a private interest because a few citizens do not like what they represent because private investment translates into jobs.

One of the most use tools at his disposal were tax increment financing, usually referred to as TIFs. By leveraging the future real estate value increases of a development project, city government and nonprofits are better able to attract private investment.

A specific challenge in multiethnic southeast Fort Worth is that there have been demographic shifts in several neighborhoods, which needs to be taken into account when attempting to attract private investment. For example, Mr. Ewing was able to help a local apparel store move to a new location because of a southeast Fort Worth TIF that make it possible to convert an abandoned gas station into a new apparel store. Before the move, the apparel store owner had been suffering from lackluster sales because his core demographic had long ago moved to other parts of the city.