For Immediate Release: December 2005

Optimal was recently awarded a contract to provide technical assistance for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Community Grant Program. Researchers in Optimal’s Housing, Economic Development, and Transportation Research Center (HEDTRC) will provide HUD with the first in-depth analysis of the HBCU Community Grant Program to date. Researchers will study a small group of grantees and produce a report that: 1. characterizes the organizational and community context where HBCU grants are operational, 2. explains the process of implementing grant activities, and 3. highlight results at sites where outcomes can be demonstrated.

The purpose of the HBCU Community Grant program is to help HBCUs expand their role and effectiveness in addressing their communities’ neighborhood revitalization, housing, and economic development needs. Data generated from case studies will help HUD characterize the outcomes and experiences of recent HBCU grantees.

This project is being directed by Kenneth Temkin, Ph.D., a Principal Research Associate at Optimal. Dr. Temkin specializes in housing and finance issues, and has previously worked as a researcher at the Urban Institute. Project staff also includes Dr. Sheila Ards, A ssociate Vice President for Community Partnerships and Development in the Office of the Senior Vice President for system administration at the University of Minnesota and formerly the Vice President for Community Development at Benedict College.

Optimal Solutions Group, LLC, is a minority-owned economic and policy analysis consulting firm in the Baltimore-Annapolis-Washington, DC area. We are committed to supplying insightful program evaluation, cost-benefit and effectiveness analyses, custom econometric modeling, and market analyses for decisionmakers in both the public and private sectors.

Optimal has served the needs of numerous governmental and commercial clients, including federal and state agencies, community-based organizations, business associations, and law firms.

For more information, contact Mark Turner, 443.451.7060 or mturner@optimalsolutionsgroup.com.