Atlanta Gets $2.8 Million Economic Boost From Community-Development Conference, Drawing 1,800+ Professionals

ATLANTA, GA--(Marketwired - February 10, 2016) - A $2.8 million boost is coming to the Atlanta economy when more than 1,800 community development professionals from around the country convene in the city for the NeighborWorks Training Institute (NTI) Feb. 22-26. The conference is hosted by NeighborWorks America, a national, nonpartisan, congressionally chartered nonprofit that creates opportunities for people to live in affordable homes, improve their lives and strengthen their communities.

"NeighborWorks America's Training Institutes provide community development professionals from around the country with the expertise and knowledge needed to improve their communities," said Paul Weech, chief executive officer of NeighborWorks America.

This is the third time that NeighborWorks America has brought its NTI to Atlanta during the past five years. Atlanta is a demonstrated leader in community development. 

There are two NeighborWorks organizations in Georgia: Atlanta Neighborhood Development Partnership and NeighborWorks Columbus. To read about NeighborWorks organizations' impact in Georgia and other states, view the NeighborWorks America interactive map.

A highlight of the the NTI is a Feb. 24 symposium that will focus on "Creating Opportunity through Collaboration." This is the first in a year-long, four-part series, Creating Economic Opportunity. The event will explore the housing and community development sector's efforts to create economic opportunity and social mobility through collaboration with the education, health and workforce development sectors.

"This year our Training Institutes will highlight the elements of places that create opportunity, such as access to healthcare, education, and jobs," said Weech. "On the Wednesday of each symposium week, in Atlanta -- and later, in Los Angeles, Detroit, and Washington, DC -- we will convene leading experts and innovative practitioners to explore one specific aspect of what it takes to create economic opportunities for all."

Among the speakers at the symposium are Todd Greene, vice president and community affairs officer at Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta; H. Luke Shaefer, co-author of "$2 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America" and associate professor of social work and public policy at the Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan; Robert Doar, Morgridge fellow in poverty studies at the American Enterprise Institute; and Nathaniel Smith, founder and chief equity officer, Partnership for Southern Equity.

The NeighborWorks Training Institute in Atlanta is supported by a variety of partners, including JPMorgan Chase and JPMorgan Chase Foundation, Wells Fargo Housing Foundation, Bank of America, HUD, Citi and Citi Foundation, BB&T, and Fifth Third Bank.

For more information about NeighborWorks America, and to watch a video highlighting the symposia series, go to http://neighborworks.org/EconomicOpportunity.

About NeighborWorks America
For more than 35 years, NeighborWorks America has created opportunities for people to improve their lives and strengthen their communities by providing access to homeownership and to safe and affordable rental housing. In the last five years, NeighborWorks organizations have generated more than $24.5 billion in reinvestment in these communities. NeighborWorks America is the nation's leading trainer of community development and affordable housing professionals.