Community Development: The Federal Empowerment Zone and Enterprise Community Program

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the Empowerment Zone and Enterprise Community (EZ/EC) program, focusing on: (1) the status of the program's implementation in the six urban empowerment zones, which are located along the east coast and in the mid-west regions of the United States; (2) the factors that program participants believe have either helped or hindered efforts to carry out the program; and (3) the plans for evaluating the program.