February 20, 2004

The Economics Institute receives Ford Foundation grant

The Ford Foundation has awarded a $80,000 grant to the Economics Institute of Loyola for support of the project, "Catalysts for Growth." The Economics Institute, created in 1995, is a nonprofit organization housed at Loyola's Twomey Center for Peace Through Justice. The mission of the institute is to initiate and promote ecologically-sound economic development in the Greater New Orleans region.

The grant will help expand the work of the Crescent City Farmers Market (CCFM), one of the Economics Institute's programs. "CCFM has a proven track record in the New Orleans region. The grant will enable the CCFM to participate in a national conversation about public markets and to move beyond food to other sectors of the economy, like skilled trades and music," Economics Institute Director Richard McCarthy explained. "The program will also be able to expand the technical assistance delivered to community markets throughout Louisiana and beyond, as well as assisting in setting up markets in additional neighborhoods," he continued. The submission of this grant proposal was in response to a national initiative of the Ford Foundation that seeks public markets like the CCFM as mechanisms in "shifting sands" communities. The foundation wants to create social interaction among diverse groups and economic mobility among farmers, immigrants, and other minority groups. The Economics Institute first received funds from the Ford Foundation in 1995 through a community foundation grant the Greater New Orleans Foundation (GNOF) received. That grant focused on learning more about rural philanthropy and community-based economic development. As a result of this grant the GNOF was able to establish an endowment for the institute that has allowed exploration of innovative models for generating wealth.

The Ford Foundation was founded in 1936 as a local Michigan philanthropy until 1950, when it expanded to become a national and international fund provider. These funds derive from an investment portfolio that began with gifts and bequests of Ford Motor Company stock by Henry and son Edsel Ford, although Ford stock is no longer held by the foundation. More than $12 billion for grants, projects, and loans has been awarded over the years.

Currently there are three farmers markets in New Orleans: the original Saturday site in the Central Business District, Tuesday in Uptown Square, and Thursday in the Mid City area. In nine years of existence, the Economics Institute has replicated the markets model in 12 other cities: Baton Rouge, Covington, Mandeville, St. Charles Parish, Natchitoches, Lake Charles and St. Francisville, Louisiana; Jackson and Oxford, Mississippi; Mobile, Alabama; and St. Louis, Missouri.

—Helen Ellis, Assistant Director of Public Affairs