Hennepin County, Minn. is using Information Age technology to spread some old-fashioned neighborliness among its citizens.

Community organizations in the county wanted a way to encourage volunteerism and support for small businesses in under served urban neighborhoods. They enlisted the help of the county Department of Economic Assistance to design the HeroCard automation program. The county received funding from U.S. Department of Commmerce’s Technology Opportunities Program, which is intended to address the digital divide in underserved areas across the country.

The HeroCard program is a fully automated system using computer-networked transactional equipment, Pentium-speed computers, a well-designed software package and Internet access to give people the incentive to support their local small businesses and volunteer their time and talents to their local community non-profit organizations.

Participating organizations give their volunteers a HeroCard which giving them credit at local businesses for their accumulated hours of volunteer time. HeroCard holders also earn credits with purchases at any shop in the program.

In this win-win scenario, community organizations and local businesses generate greater loyalty, the organizations get hours of volunteer effort, and citizens get rewarded for investing in their community. The concept is founded on the belief that communities have more resources available to them than they realize, but that those resources have to be cultivated and encouraged within the community.

Initially, 60 community organizations and 60 companies in the Lake Street neighborhoods of downtown Minneapolis will be outfitted with hardware and software. Participating organizations hope to quickly grow the program and make it self-sustaining.

The program has been piloted since 1997 by a neighborhood in South Minneapolis, and plans for the electronic expansion were showcased at the NACo Annual Conference in 1999. Following the pilot’s success, organizers expect to grow the program to more than 17,000 individuals, 100 non-profit organizations, and 250 merchants within the two years funded by the grant.

Hennepin County was one of 35 nonprofit organizations and local government agencies that received the Commerce Technology Opportunities Program grants. The federal grant of $298,000 will be matched by the county’s contribution of $284,000, which includes 90 percent of the salaries of two county employees who will run the HeroCard program, and another $28,000 worth of volunteer time for project support and evaluation, totaling $610,000 for the two years.

Staff from Hennepin County will work with two well-established community organizations, the Lake Street Partners and Lake Street Council Executive Directors, to implement the HeroCard automation program. In addition, the Commonwealth Team will provide technical support. The implementation team will also include neighborhood residents, non-profit organization staff and local business owners.

For information on how to apply for TOP grants contact TOP program staff at (202) 482-2048.