Jefferson East steps up clean and safe activities, will break ground on community garden this spring

On the heels of their first quarterly membership meeting of 2008, the Jefferson East Business Association is ready to take on new challenges in the coming months.

The meeting was focused on the organization's clean and safe initiatives; a new program was announced that will immediately be implemented. In partnership with the Detroit Police Department, Wayne County Sheriff's Office and local developers and churches, JEBA will begin an anti-loitering campaign that will attempt to return teenagers to school and find them suitable employment.

If this doesn't sound like economic development in the traditional sense, think again. "Loitering is a major issue on Jefferson Avenue," says Sheila Jackson, JEBA's director of membership and clean and safe initiatives. "Loitering deters potential customers from our businesses."

Additionally, the Sheriff's Department will begin an aggressive "zero tolerance" policy in the area that will target drug houses, prostitution, chop shops and abandoned vehicles. Meanwhile, the Detroit Police Dept. will operate its Weed and Seed program that works to deter crime with preventative measures.

In other news, a DTE Energy grant will enable JEBA to break ground this spring on a year-round vegetable garden that will utilize solar panels, a water retention system and "pods."

Last but not least, JEBA continues to focus on business attraction. "We're marketing existing businesses and we're marketing available properties," says Robin Duncan, the organization's business development coordinator. "We're focusing on a big marketing push this year."

Source: Sheila Jackson and Robin Duncan, JEBA
Writer: Kelli B. Kavanaugh