Community Investments Aim to Spur New Economic Foundation for Detroit

Creative Corridor, Job Training and Public Internet Access

DETROIT, Nov. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- In an effort to help create new economies in
Detroit, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation today announced more than
$5 million in grants to strengthen the city's creative sector, increase job
training and expand public Internet access.

At the effort's core: investments to help transform the city's
newly-designated Creative Corridor into an economic engine and national
destination. In a major boost for the corridor, the renowned Cranbrook
Educational Community will establish a Detroit presence through a partnership
with the Arts League of Michigan. The two organizations will produce joint
programming and exhibits with a $1.08 million grant.

Other creative sector grants include:

-- College for Creative Studies ($1.01 million): to join other funders in
helping the college create an art and design campus at the new Taubman
Center, originally a General Motors design facility. The center is
expected to bring 2,000 people to the premises daily. Some 300 college
students will live on site, giving the Creative Corridor the live-work
spaces it needs to thrive.

-- Detroit Symphony Orchestra ($500,000): to expand and diversify its
audience by creating a community concert series at places of worship,
schools and malls.

"A local economy that attracts talented professionals and fuels growth is key
to Detroit's future," Alberto Ibarguen, Knight Foundation president and CEO,
said at a press conference today at the Arts League of Michigan's historic
Virgil H. Carr Cultural Arts Center.

"We hope the Creative Corridor will help unleash Detroit's creative energy and
build a new economic foundation that will help the city thrive," Ibarguen
said.

Said Rick Nahm, Cranbrook's CEO: "Investments in the Creative Corridor will
help create a new identity for the city while buffering Detroit against the
swings of economic cycles."

Jobs and Digital Access

In addition to the creative sector grants, Knight Foundation is working to
help transform the local economy through jobs and digital access.

A new funder's collaborative will train workers for the city's health and
green sectors. The group - with a $1.025 million grant from Knight Foundation,
support from the National Fund for Workforce Solutions and managed by the
United Way of Southeastern Michigan - will help prepare low-skilled residents
for skilled Detroit health care and green economy jobs.

"While unemployment in Detroit is among the highest in the nation, regionally
we have found a mismatch of skills and available jobs," said Brenda Price,
Knight Foundation program director for Detroit. "The health sector, the
state's largest employer, and the growing green sector are natural ways to
move residents into the knowledge economy."

Knight Foundation believes that digital access is critical to thriving
communities. The blue-ribbon Knight Commission on the Information Needs of
Communities in a Democracy last month concluded that American democracy is
threatened by the lack of equal access to quality information. Universal
broadband access is key, it said, to meeting the information needs of
America's communities.

To that end, the foundation is providing grants to:

-- Detroit Connected Community Initiative ($810,000): to increase
high-speed Internet access to two large, low-income Detroit
neighborhoods, Central-Woodward-Northend and Osborn-Northeast. Lead
partners include The Community Telecommunications Network, Focus:
HOPE,
4Cs/Family Place and Matrix Human Services.

-- Detroit Public Library ($866,000): To expand free Internet access to
the
public at the Parkman Branch library by building a new technology and
literacy center. The library will be able to serve an additional 400
patrons a day with access to the Internet and an ever-growing range of
activities including job searches and resume building.

"Digital access is essential to first class citizenship in our society.
Without digital, you lack full access to information, you are second class
economically and even socially," Ibarguen said. "If a job application at
Walmart or McDonald's must be made online, how can we pretend that we have
equal opportunity when significant portions of our communities don't have
access?"

"Extending broadband access is one of several critical components to
revitalizing Midtown and Detroit," said Jay Noren, president of Wayne State
University, a key member of the Community Telecommunications Network that is
administering the project.

"By connecting the many participating stakeholders, this project will change
lives, uplift neighborhoods and help move this great city forward," Noren
said.

About the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation advances journalism in the digital
age and invests in the vitality of communities where the Knight brothers owned
newspapers. Knight Foundation focuses on projects that promote community
engagement and lead to transformational change. For more, visit
www.knightfoundation.org.

SOURCE The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation

Acquanetta Pierce-Glass, Avance Communications, +1-313-961-0084,
ap@avancecommunications.com, for John S. and James L. Knight Foundation