Teaming up against urban poverty: the CED says corporations must support community groups with 'integrated action.' (Committee for Economic Development)The traditional approach used by corporations to fight urban poverty is a stopgap measure with limited--if not altogether ineffective--results, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the Committee for Economic Development (CED (Capacitance Electronic Disc) An earlier videodisc technology from RCA that was released in 1981 and abandoned five years later. Like phonograph records, the analog disc contained grooves that a stylus rode over. ), a research group headquartered in New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. . Currently, companies "parachute" plants into poor neighborhoods (for example, Digital Equipment Corp.'s factory in Roxbury, Mass.) or lend executives to community development organizations for limited periods. The CED, which taps business leaders to help shape U.S. social and economic policy, says such measures are helpful, but suggests that business would be more effective taking "integrated, community-wide" action. The economic dynamics of urban America are of increasing importance to major corporations. As the composition of the U.S. workforce shifts from mostly white males to minorities and women, CEOs know that urban areas will provide a crucial portion of consumers and employees. "If urban areas deteriorate de·te·ri·o·rate v. 1. To grow worse in function or condition. 2. To weaken or disintegrate. to the point where it affects daily life, it also affects business," says Virgil Roberts, a CED subcommittee trustee and president of Los Angeles-based Dick Griffey Productions (ranked No. 62 on the BE INDUSTRIAL/SERVICE 100). But a recent CED outline of problems of the inner city reveals that more than 5.7 million people living in "distressed" inner-city communities do not live up to their potential due to joblessness and inadequate job preparation, crime, social disorganization Social disorganization is a criminology theory that was developed by Henry McKay and Clifford R. Shaw of the Chicago School. Shaw and McKay were influenced by earlier urban ecology work by Ernest W. Burgess and Robert E. Park. and deficient de·fi·cient adj. 1. Lacking an essential quality or element. 2. Inadequate in amount or degree; insufficient. deficient a state of being in deficit. housing, among other ills (see chart). City government, inhibited by budget crunches, has been unable to provide many of the resources needed to address the roots of urban poverty. However, says the CED, corporations are uniquely suited to fill the technical and managerial gaps weakening resource-poor community organizations. Rather than parachuting in resources or individuals, the CED says companies should take the lead from community groups and provide infrastructure support. The goal: to find complementary initiatives in areas such as housing, commercial development and the provision of social services social services Noun, pl welfare services provided by local authorities or a state agency for people with particular social needs social services npl → servicios mpl sociales . |
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