SOCIAL INVESTMENT IN JOBS - FOUNDATION PERSPECTIVES ON TARGETED ECONOMIC-DEVELOPMENT DURING THE 1990S

Dramatic changes in the U.S. urban labor markets have encouraged exper imentation with development projects that explicitly combine poverty a lleviation and economic development. A diverse set of jobs projects, w hich collectively might be called targeted economic development, empha size the short-term provision of decent jobs through the integration o f economic development, employment training, and human services. This review draws,on recent foundation surveys, evaluation studies, and rep lication efforts to describe targeted economic development strategies such as employment brokering, sectoral interventions, human services e mployment, spatial mobility, capitalization/enterprise development, an d collaboration. Projects usually combine multiple strategies and are distinctively entrepreneurial, market oriented, networked, empowering, integrative, and community based. Many projects, however exist in iso lation, a product of committed, long-term entrepreneurship. Without a more supportive policy context and set of civic resources, the major e ffect of targeted economic development will not be fulfilled.