PHL gov’t committed to pursuing more public transport projects

MANILA -- President Ferdinand

R. Marcos Jr. on Wednesday pledged to push for more public transportation projects to further improve mobility and interconnectivity in the country.

Marcos made the commitment as he led the inauguration of the 4th-generation (Gen-4) light rail vehicles (LRVs) for the Light Rail Transit (LRT) - Line 1 in Baclaran, Pasay City.

“It truly makes me proud to witness the steady realization of our vision of a more developed Philippines coming to a fruition through our new LRVs, which will be used in the existing LRT-1 system and on the LRT-1 extension to Cavite,” Marcos said in a keynote speech delivered at the LRT-1 Depot.

“I assure you that this administration will continue to pursue more public transportation projects that will improve our people’s mobility and interconnectivity, as well as to enhance the quality of each Filipino.”

Starting July 20, the LRT-1 will deploy one Gen-4 train set for its main line to serve commuters daily, according to a statement from the Light Rail Manila Corp. (LRMC).

A series of safety checks, inspections, trial runs with minimum kilometers, and acceptance tests were conducted after the first batch of the Gen-4 trains arrived in the country in January 2021.

Procured as part of the LRT-1

Cavite Extension Project, the Gen4 train set measures 106 meters in length and 2.59 meters in width and can accommodate about 1,388 passengers per trip, increasing daily ridership to 300,000 passengers from the existing 280,000 a day in its first year of full operations.

Small Business Owners Need Access to Funding

By Peter White/eMS

SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- Sen.

Mark Warner,D-Virginia and co-chair of the Community Development Finance Caucus, joined a venture capitalist, a community leader, and a young entrepreneur July 14 to lay out the challenges and solutions for starting and growing small businesses in a post-Covid 19 environment.

Over 33 million small businesses make up about 99.9% of businesses in the US, and employ almost half of its workforce. During the Covid-19 pandemic, 40% of Black and Latinoowned businesses shut down, many permanently.

Community Development Finance Institutions — CDFIs — were one of the keys to recovery, said Warner. “In a strange bedfellows kind of moment, I partnered strongly with then-Secretary Steve Mnuchin of the Trump administration during the COVID-19 pandemic to try to get a lot of capital into our minority depository institutions,” he said, at the news briefing organized by Ethnic Media Services. Warner and Mnuchin were able to distribute $12 billion in funding through CDFIs, Minority Depository Institutions — MDIs — and Tier 1 capital through a Treasury Department initiative known as the Emergency Capital Investment Program.

“Access to capital is a hugely important issue,” said Warner, noting that many minority entrepreneurs do not have relationships with banks to allow them to successfully apply for loans.

Gelat’OH!

Entrepreneur Sierra Georgia encountered this very issue as she tried to expand her small business, Gelat’OH, based in Washington DC.

“Like a lot of small business owners like myself, this started with just a team of one and it’s still not that much bigger than that,” she said.

Like a lot of women of color who want to start a business, Georgia did not own a house she could mortgage to raise capital. She got funding through a CDFI, but only received half of what she needed to expand her business. So she raised money through SMBX, a small business bonds marketplace connecting small businesses to local investors.

“It’s a real bond offering. If you donate to somebody’s GoFundMe you’ll never see that money again, but if you buy a Gelat’OH bond, you get 11% back on your money in 2 years. It’s a way to bring wealth back to the community and empower small business owners,” said Georgia, who raised $25K in four days via SMBX.

Empowering Black America

“As President Calvin Coolidge said, ‘the business of America is business,’” said Charles Phillips, co-founder of the Black Economic Alliance, who served on President Barack Obama’s Economic Recovery Board. “This is what generates a lot of wealth in our country and makes us different from other countries.”

“We have a lot of entrepreneurs who build businesses and build wealth and support their families. And they support their families that way and pass that down to their families. And so we laud entrepreneurs in this country as we should because it’s one of our big differentiators.”

“But not everybody has access to actually building a business,” said Phillips, citing a 2020 survey by the management consulting firm McKinsey which found most black

Marcos lauded the efforts of the Department of Transportation (DOTr), Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA), and LRMC for working together to provide Filipino commuters with “safe, reliable and efficient” transportation services. He also thanked the Japan

International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the Mitsubishi Corp., and the Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles for their partnership with the Philippine government to enhance mass transit systems in the metro rail project.

“With this commitment that you have shown to enhance the capacity of the LRT-1 by increasing the number of LRVs, we’ll be able to now aid in easing traffic congestion, as well as mitigating air pollution caused by vehicles plying the roads of Metro Manila,” Marcos said.

“Equipped with advanced information system and a new signaling system, I am confident that the LRVs will not only improve the overall passenger experience but also will be championing safety.”

The President said he is looking forward to the full operation of the LRT-1 Cavite Extension by 2027 as it is expected to accommodate up to 800,000 passengers a day and shorten the travel time between Baclaran, Pasay City and Bacoor, Cavite to 25 minutes from 1 hour and 10 minutes.

“Having said that, I ask the public for your continued patience during the construction of the LRT-1 Cavite Extension,” he said. “And I also ask our commuters to practice courtesy and basic etiquette when using public conveyances, such as keeping

SAN DIEGO, CA -- San Diego

Gas & Electric (SDG&E) announced recently that it has awarded $10,000 scholarships to ten local high school and college students who are pursuing undergraduate studies in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) – many of them first-generation college students who face financial barriers to higher education. These are the first scholarships given by SDG&E under its newly launched Inspiring Future Leaders STEM Scholarship Program, which builds on the company’s long history of investing in STEM education to foster the region’s future generations of diverse and highly skilled workforce.

Scholarship winners who maintain their eligibility can have their scholarships renewed for an additional three years – meaning they could receive up to a total of $40,000 in financial aid.

“Today, many jobs require a STEM education, so it’s essential that we help build the talent pipeline by expanding access to higher education,” said SDG&E CEO Caroline Winn, who is an electrical engineer by training and a leading advocate for getting more women and people of color into STEM careers. “Through the scholarship program, we hope to create a STEM workforce that reflects the diversity of the communities we serve.”

According to the U.S. Census Bureau and Pew Research, women only make up 27% of the STEM workforce, while people of color only make up 33%.

Selected from a pool of more than 150 applicants from San Diego and southern Orange County communities served by SDG&E, the scholarship recipients are local women and students of color. Some of the college degrees being pursued by the scholarship recipients include biochemistry, biology, civil engineering, data science, marine science, mechanical engineering, neuroscience and physics. Learn more about our Inspiring Future Leaders STEM Scholarship winners are as follows:

1. JC Alvarez

University of Southern California

Planned Major: Finance/Data Science

2. Gizelle Flores UC Berkeley Planned Major: Applied Physics and Engineering

3. Alexis Garcia UC San Diego Planned Major: Biology

4. Diana Garcia UCLA Planned Major: Biochemistry

5. Chomnapp Khoth UC Berkeley Planned Major: Civil Engineering

6. Rudy Mercado CSU Fullerton Planned Major: Civil Engineering

7. Chloe Moya Barnard College

Planned Major: Neuroscience and Art History

8. Savannah (Annie) Riley CSU Long Beach

Planned Major: Marine Science

9. Jacqueline Salinas Columbia University

10. Daniel Bayliss Boston University

Planned Major: Civil Engineering

“I plan to be an example that one’s family background, financial status, or ethnicity does not define how far you get in life,” said scholarship recipient Diana Garcia, who will attend UCLA in the fall to major in biochemistry. “I am faithful to being part of an ongoing cycle that breaks the chains of poverty and changes the world for the better.”

Kathy Caputo, director of Partners in College Success (PICS), said it’s rare to see multi-year, renewable scholarships of the size offered by SDG&E.

“Many of the students we work with need financial support throughout their college career in order to complete their degrees.” Caputo said. “We hope other organizations will follow in SDG&E’s footsteps and make it more accessible for women and people of color to enter STEM careers,”