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After a walking tour with members of community development corporations in the South Side and Lawrenceville last year, Mt. Lebanon officials were convinced that their own organization should be revived.

"Those tours showed us how a CDC can truly make a difference," Mt. Lebanon commissioner Dale Colby said. "In addition to real estate development, they can provide business assistance, community planning and neighborhood promotion."

Revitalization in the South Side and Lawrenceville was accomplished through community development corporations in those communities, Colby said.

Mt. Lebanon's new community development corporation, Mt. Lebanon Partnership, met for the first time last week. It will meet quarterly.

Community development corporations are independent nonprofit organizations established to promote economic development. Mt. Lebanon's previous community development corporation, Uptown Mt. Lebanon, has been dormant nearly 10 years.

"I think there was a perception that we didn't need them," said Art McAuley, a member of the Mt. Lebanon Economic Development Council. "But it soon became a reality that this was necessary."

Mt. Lebanon Partnership was formed by merging members of the economic development council with members who had served on Uptown Mt. Lebanon.

"This is going to allow us access to state funds through the (state) Department of Economic Development," said McAuley, who was elected as president of Mt. Lebanon Partnership. "Prior to this, we didn't have access to these types of grants."

The state's Elm Street Program offers funds for planning, technical assistance and physical improvements to residential and mixed use areas near central business districts, municipal Manager Steve Feller said. Another program, the Infrastructure Development Program, offers municipalities grants and low-interest loans financing for public and private infrastructure improvements, he said.

"You look at South Side's key projects and without their CDC, it wouldn't have happened," Feller said. "By creating Mt. Lebanon Partnership, it offers us another tool we can use to ensure continued development in the municipality."

One area Colby wants addressed is what he feels is a lack of entertainment in the municipality's business districts.

"We have many fine restaurants and retail shops," he said. "But entertainment is also important in maintaining a healthy community and we want to take a closer look at what we can do to improve that situation."

The Economic Development Council will remain an arm of the municipal government with its seven members serving as advisors for Mt. Lebanon Partnership. Mt. Lebanon Partnership will consist of eight members, including commissioners Colby and David Humphreys.

Mt. Lebanon Partnership currently has about $20,000 that is left over from the old Uptown Mt. Lebanon group, Feller said. The staff support -- staff time and incidental office expenses -- will come from the municipality through the commercial districts office, the municipal planner and municipal manager, he said.

Although most community development corporations raise capital through fund-raising campaigns, grants or an allocation of a municipality's operating revenues, McAuley made it clear that there will be no funds coming from the municipal budget.

"We will remain an independent organization within this community," McAuley said. "We're going to be able to open some doors now and maintain the quality of life in our community."

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