The state is going to stop conducting studies to find out how poor the Black Belt economy is and instead focus on putting plans into action to bring this region up to par with other counties across Alabama, according to Gov. Bob Riley.

In his address Tuesday to local business owners and operators attending the Entrepreneurial Summit in the auditorium of Wallace Community College Selma, Riley said he was creating a commission which would be responsible for establishing programs to improve education, healthcare and industry in the Black Belt.

“We have talked about theory and vision. Now is the time to go in and say ‘if the unemployment rate is at 10.2 percent, we are going to do everything we can to move it to nine or eight percent’,” Riley said.

Riley said his commission would be broken down into 10 sub-committees, each one given the task of tackling a certain issue within the Black Belt and meet a goal set by the governor.

“We are going to set a benchmark and, after a year, see if they have moved the model,” Riley said. “It will be up to the committees to make sure every child is reading at grade level. The committees will have to make sure new industry is coming into the area and people are finding jobs.”

The governor also said the state needed to become a stronger participant in the world market and begin exporting products to other countries.

“We are going to make the Black Belt…get opportunities to compete with every county in

Alabama,” Riley said.

Mayor James Perkins, Jr., who along with Sen. Hank Sanders and WCCS President Dr. James Mitchell came up with the idea for the a entrepreneurial summit, said he was happy with the news that studies of the Black Belt would end.

“We want a better quality of life,” Perkins said. “We have one million square feet of land for industry, and 800,000 of that have been used for expansion or new businesses. Dallas County has gone from over 14 percent unemployment to 10.2 percent in the past two years.

We are doing something right.”

The mayor said he is working with Riley and U.S. Congressman Artur Davis to establish an entrepreneurial institute that would bring together state, county and city representatives to “make a dream come true.”

The three men signed a resolution during the summit stating they would work towards developing an institution to provide a long-term support system for small business owners.

In a press conference after the summit, Riley said the state already has several programs that work with new businesses owners to help them become successful.

“I think a lot of the problems (in the Black Belt) has to do with historical problems,” Riley said. “This area needs the technology to sell products anywhere in the world. We are trying to expand and merchandise our products to the global market.”

Davis, D-Birmingham, agreed with Riley that the Black Belt’s history has hindered its growth.

“We came a long way, and we still have a long way to go,” Davis said. “The struggle did not crest in the 1960s, it is still cresting today. It will be impossible for the South to reach its apex unless we can find a way to link the weak parts with the strong parts.”

After the morning of speeches by Alabama’s politicians, participants in the summit broke into various workshops to learn how they could find government resources and take advantage of the international market.

The summit will continue today with a Rural Economic Development Conference in a mobile trailer located in the parking lot of the Selma-Dallas County Library.

Beginning at 9 a.m. and continuing through Friday, representatives from the Small Business Assistance Center will be helping new business owners create a business plan and administer loans.