Wal-Mart Creating Opportunity

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (Bentonville, Ark.) announced the locations of nine new Supercenters as part of its new “Wal-Mart Jobs and Opportunity Zone” program.

The program will provide support to local businesses by offering advertising inside Wal-Mart's store and in local newspapers, as well as presenting additional funding for local chambers of commerce.

The first nine zones are in Cleveland’s Tremont neighborhood; Landover Hills, Md.; Portsmouth, Va.; Richmond, Calif.; El Mirage, Ariz.; East Hills, Pa.; Sanger, Calif.; Indianapolis; and Decatur, Ga.

The initiative was launched in Chicago last year by Wal-Mart ceo Lee Scott. In addition to creating hundreds of jobs and generating substantial tax revenue, the company worked with local businesses and organizations to spur job creation and economic development around the store.

“It's about creating opportunity beyond the four walls of our stores,” the company said. “And it's about making unique contributions to the communities we serve, the millions of customers who rely on us and the thousands of associates we employ in communities just like this one.”

In Cleveland, the Wal-Mart Supercenter at Steelyard Commons is part of a $120 million commercial redevelopment project that is transforming 125 acres of abandoned industrial land into the largest open-air retail center ever to be built in Cuyahoga County. It will be anchored by the Wal-Mart Supercenter and engage local businesses and organizations to increase economic opportunities in surrounding neighborhoods. This initiative will create more opportunities for small businesses to capitalize on the benefits of having a Wal-Mart in their community.

Other aspects of the program include Wal-Mart choosing five small businesses in each zone for “Small Business Spotlights” and funding local newspaper advertising and offering free advertising on its in-store radio network. The company will also produce an annual “Wal-Mart Trends Report” that it will share exclusively with the small business community.