The struggle to close the gaps through Appalachian economic inclusion continued yesterday with an Economic Roundtable, held at the Ramada Inn in Nelsonville.

Sponsored by the Rainbow/Push Coalition and Hocking College, the event united politicians, bankers, business owners and entrepreneurs in a discussion about obtaining capital for the Appalachian region.

"Appalachia has under-utilized talent and untapped capital," said the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who was the meeting's sponsor. "We need to work on vehicles to transport capital to Appalachia."

Jackson, whose self-professed goal is to unite Appalachia with Wall Street, said the region needs structural solutions, not the temporary programs the region has received in the past. Addressing problems such as inadequate housing, equal school funding, rising cancer rates and equal equity access also is important, he said.

In an effort to reach those solutions, the meeting focused on identifying the region's economic problems and deriving viable methods to correct them.

David Lollis, a panel speaker and president of Appalbanc CDFI, said the region's biggest dilemma involves securing credit, or venture capital, for individual entrepreneurs.

Because the majority of residents in the Appalachian region are impoverished, many "conventional lenders" choose not to extend credit to those individuals, he said. The residents' lack of sheer capital often prevents them from being able to produce a large enough down payment or meet the lenders expected rate of return.

"We need to figure out a way to make capital available and affordable to help people grow upwards economically," Lollis said.

Amy Borgstrom, panel member and the executive director of ACE-net, said the region should follow her company's method of creating "systemic solutions for systemic problems."

ACE-net is a small local lending company that focuses on training, technology, capital access and accessing the available markets, Borgstrom said. The company lends funds with an expectation of repayment through royalties.

"What Appalachian residents need is fast, easy, patient capital," Borgstrom said.

Two of the major ways to provide the capital necessary to maintain regional economic growth is to use the resources and programs the area already has in place, said Bruce A. Morrison, chairman of the federal housing finance board and the event's keynote speaker.

In the Ohio Appalachian region, several areas can be used to garner eco-tourism and wildlife development, said Jack Cline, former chairman of the HC Board of Trustees.

"We have a tremendous opportunity to put together things to draw people to Ohio," Cline said. "We have the right attitude and the right people who can do it, if we only had the upfront funding."

Morrison said the region should focus on mobilizing its existing capacity and community investment.

Oscar Turner, senior policy adviser for Capital Access, said money could be channeled into Appalachia by using the existing small investment company programs.

These programs are geared mostly to new businesses and guarantee entrepreneurs twice their deposit, Turner said.

David Mitzel, a panel speaker, the executive director of the Muskingum County Community Foundation and member of the Foundation for Appalachian Ohio, said the region should re-invest in community foundations.

These private lending organizations, which are regionally controlled and owned, provide money to individual entrepreneurs. The foundations are funded primarily by philanthropists and help communities to establish capital, Mitzel said.

Sectorial development through multi-group collaboration is another method to increase sustainable capital, said Karen Affeld of Rural Action, Inc.

By forming partnership's with other regional groups, an organization can afford to complete projects a single group could not do on its own, she said.

Other sectors also usually grow when one sector is boosted, Borgstrom said. For instance, an increased number of jobs in new businesses will cause the child care service sector to grow, she said.

This chain reaction will help build sustainable economic growth, Borgstrom said.

But in a broader sense, the region needs to do four things to cure its poverty, according to Jackson's Appalachian Action Plan.

First, the region should develop a private equity fund for the region's businesses and for job creation, he said.

Second, the region should close the gaps in health care, education and infrastructure by garnering financial resources from philanthropic organizations.

Third, the region should restore black lung benefits for mineworkers, spend the surplus of Mineland Reclamation Fund on jobs for dislocated mineworkers and expand community development venture capital.

Fourth, Appalachian residents should support public, private and government partnerships in order to "create a national vehicle for venture capital," Jackson said.

On a national scale, Jackson said he plans to ask President Bill Clinton to visit Nelsonville and speak on the region's economic problems. To physically connect Wall Street with Appalachia, Jackson said the next Wall Street and Rainbow/Push Coalition Conference will be held in Nelsonville.

"The people of Appalachia have citizen power, patriot power, worker power and voter power," Jackson said. "We need new formulas for reconstruction."