(cont. from pg 1) That’s compared to six days for a stick-built home. The resultant labor cost savings, coupled with the recent rise in wood prices, has minimized the cost difference between CSC’s panelized steel frame and a traditional stick-built frame. Godon also noted that with steel, there is no waste, no garbage containers in front of the house during construction and consequently, no landfill charges.

In addition, Initiative Capital has developed a new product called Enviro-Steel TM,

consisting of six ready ready-to-build ready-to-build housing plans that combine steel framing with green building technology. These plans have been fully stamped and signed by a licensed engineer and are available upon request. For more information about the Enviro-Steel product, please visit: www.ncinitiative.org/Enviro-Steel

To the Initiative, CSC is more than an investment in steel. It is an investment in the future of affordable housing.

The community economic development industry reached an important milestone in June, as Southern New Hampshire University’s School of Community Economic Development (SCED) celebrated its 25th Anniversary. The festivities, which were held over the weekend of June 8th, included a ground-breaking, professional roundtables and a gala dinner.

SCED, whose mission is “to advance the creation of just economies and sustainable communities,” is the only school in the

country offering both graduate and doctoral degrees in CED. A major focal point for CED thought, applied research and policy development, SCED has for 25 years trained and equipped practitioners who are improving the economic and social well-being of our nation and the world.

As part of the celebration, Lifetime Achievement Awards were given to honor nine individuals who have carried this difficult work forward over the past quarter century. Two native North Carolinians and

members of the Initiative family, Joyce Dickens and Abdul Rasheed, were selected for this award alongside an impressive cast of CED leaders from around the country.

Michael Swack, founder and Dean of SCED, was thrilled by the opportunity to recognize such an outstanding group. “(The School) awarded a whole range of people from grass roots practitioners to those who have moved the industry on the national front,” Swack said. “We wanted to honor leaders who have had measurable impact on their specific communities, as with Joyce, and also at the state level, as with Abdul.”

Joyce Dickens, president of Rocky Mount / Edgecombe CDC and a member of SCED’s Board of Overseers, has orchestrated the completion of over $30 million in CED projects since her graduation from SCED in 1990. “I was honored and surprised to be selected for this Lifetime Achievement Award. So many people have gone through this program – over 2,500, I believe – to be among the nine chosen was very shocking.”

Congratulations, Joyce and Abdul, from all of us at the Initiative. Your lives of dedicated service are truly an  inspiration.