The Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone Development Corp., also referred to as UMEZ, is a

non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

that seeks to revitalize economically deprived communities by using

public funds Government spending or expenditure includes all government consumption, investment, and transfer payments. In national income accounting, the acquisition by governments of goods and services for current use, to directly satisfy the individual o ...

and

tax incentives A tax incentive is an aspect of a government's taxation policy designed to incentivize or encourage a particular economic activity by reducing tax payments. Tax incentives can have both positive and negative impacts on an economy. Among the po ...

as catalysts for private investment. UMEZ’s mission is to sustain the economic revitalization of all communities of

Upper Manhattan Upper Manhattan is the northern section of the New York City borough of Manhattan. Its southern boundary has been variously defined, but some of the most common usages are 96th Street, 110th Street (the northern boundary of Central Park), 1 ...

through job creation, corporate alliances, strategic investments and small business assistance.

History

Upper Manhattan was designated as an urban empowerment zone (Empowerment Zone) under federal legislation authored by Congressman

Charles B. Rangel Charles Bernard Rangel ( ; June 11, 1930 – May 26, 2025) was an American politician who served as U.S. representative for districts in New York City for 46 years. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the second-longest serving incumbent ...

and signed into law by President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

in 1994. The Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone Development Corporation (UMEZ), which is an independent not-for-profit corporation, was formed in response to the federal empowerment zone legislation. Funding for UMEZ is provided by the federal government with matching amounts from the City of New York and the State of New York. UMEZ’s ongoing operations are not dependent on the extension of the federal empowerment zone legislation, which has been extended periodically, and UMEZ expects to continue to operate if the Empowerment Zone designation expires. By the close of 2013 UMEZ provided funding for: more than $90 million in grants focused on arts and culture and workforce development $72 million in loans to mixed-use real estate development projects, commercial businesses, and small business enterprises $57 million in tax-exempt bonds for real estate development projects for a total of almost $220 million of investments. UMEZ investments have leveraged over $1 billion of private capital invested in Upper Manhattan, and this commitment has created nearly 9,000 direct jobs thus far. The Empowerment Zone’s legacy will live on in the substantial investment that it has made in projects across Upper Manhattan. Papers b
Professor Ester Fuchs
and th
Initiative for a Competitive Inner City
detail the investments and impact. In recent years major corporations and residents with higher-levels of disposable incomes have flocked to Harlem. "The zone has awesome potential," says Lloyd Williams, president and CEO of the Greater Harlem Chamber of Commerce, but revolutions don't happen overnight. The zone is a tool. We have to make sure it's not the only tool that we have".

Leadership

Blair M. Duncan is the President and CEO of UMEZ. UMEZ Board of Directors Joseph J. Johnson, III (Chair), Nikisha Alcindor, Kevin Chavers, Maurine Knighton, Anthony Q. Fletcher, Amir Kirkwood, Harriet Michel, Diane Collier, Michael Smart, Maxine Griffith, Teresa Eyring, Keith Taylor, Ed.D. Carmen Vasquez, Rekha Nambiar, Lisa Downing, Nilsa Orama Community Partners: New York Women's Chamber of Commerce; Audubon Partnership for Economic Development and Harlem Business Alliance

External links

Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone
* https://web.archive.org/web/20141207203142/http://umez.org/index.cfm?e=inner2&itemcategory=59546
Empire State Development Corp.

Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation

Crain's New York article on small business in Harlem
*http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1365/is_n7_v27/ai_19051583/ Smith, Eric L. "Harlem Renaissance - Takes Two: After Years of Neglect, Will Empowerment Zones Allow Harlem to Thrive Once Again?" Black Enterprise February 1997 Organizations based in Manhattan Economic development organizations in the United States