Pennsylvania Power & Light Co. presented eight Harrisburg-area agencies with more than $496,000 in funding for community projects on Thursday (10/12) at a news conference at Harrisburg City Hall.

The funding is part of PP&L's Community Partnership Program to address the needs of communities in the utility's 10,000-square-mile service area. The program focuses on urban revitalization, affordable housing and support for small businesses.

"The funding demonstrates our continued commitment to helping the communities we serve meet increasing needs," said Kathy Wildauer, one of PP&L's Harrisburg-area community development directors. "Initiatives like these help reaffirm the integral role we play in community development and the value of promoting prosperity in our service area."

Wildauer said the company received 71 proposals for funding from numerous organizations throughout PP&L's 29-county service area in Central Eastern Pennsylvania. Seventeen were from the Harrisburg area. PP&L will fund 41 projects sponsored by 39 different agencies.

The projects to be funded in the Harrisburg area include:

• Capital Region Economic Development Corporation — To support a loan program for small businesses interested in start-up capital or expansion projects and to provide a mentoring service for small businesses.
• City of Harrisburg — To provide infrastructure improvements such as sidewalk and curb replacement, upgraded street lighting, signage and entry-way improvements in mid-town Harrisburg.
• Harrisburg Fair Housing Council — To establish a pool of funds for helping low and moderate-income first-time homebuyers with closing cost and down payment assistance.
• South Central Pennsylvania Housing Development Foundation — To construct and sell six single-family homes to qualified, first-time homebuyers in the Summit Terrace area of the city of Harrisburg.
• Visions International — To refurbish 25 low-income housing facades in the Allison Hill section of Harrisburg and to rehabilitate five low-income housing units in Allison Hill.
• Young Women's Christian Association — To support the YWCA's expansion of services in the Sylvan Heights area of Harrisburg.
• South Allison Hill Civic Association — To establish South Allison Hill's first-ever community center and community police station.
• Community Action Commission — To provide micro-enterprise loans and/or the development of business plans for small businesses in the communities of Allison Hill and south Harrisburg.

"Our business is our communities," she said. "Their financial health is our financial health. Such partnership initiatives help us effectively address urban needs and enable us to improve quality of life in our region."

Funding for PP&L's Community Partnership Program comes from shareowners. The company will continue the program for the next three years on a pilot basis. After that, PP&L will re-evaluate the program. Funding for local projects will be considered annually.