Majora Carter: 3 stories of local eco-entrepreneurship

Summary

The speaker highlights innovative community-based solutions to social and environmental challenges. From a Chicago program that employs ex-convicts in honey-based skincare to Los Angeles' green infrastructure reducing energy costs, and a West Virginia initiative promoting wind energy over destructive mining, these examples showcase 'hometown security'—local efforts creating jobs, addressing social issues, and fostering sustainable growth.

Takeaways

• 💼 Brenda Palms-Farber's initiative in Chicago shows that creating a business for ex-convicts can significantly reduce recidivism rates by providing employment and life skills training.
• 📈 The cost of incarceration is significantly higher compared to education and innovative solutions, with early childhood education saving 17 times more than spending on jail per dollar.
• 🐝 The honey-based skin care business in Chicago is an example of social innovation, where seemingly unemployable individuals are given a chance to contribute to society through meaningful work.
• 🌳 Andy Lipkis's work in Los Angeles demonstrates how urban greening can address water scarcity and reduce energy consumption, turning environmental challenges into economic opportunities.
• 💧 Los Angeles' water management issues highlight the need for sustainable solutions that can cut infrastructure costs and create a healthier urban environment.
• 🏭 The transition from traditional coal mining to mountaintop removal has severe environmental and social consequences, leading to unemployment and health issues in communities like Whitesville, West Virginia.
• 🌪 Judy Bonds advocates for wind energy as a sustainable alternative to destructive coal mining practices, emphasizing the long-term benefits over short-term gains.
• 🌱 The potential of urban agriculture and integrating it with rural food systems can create jobs, improve food security, and reduce the reliance on long-distance transportation of produce.
• 🏢 The concept of 'hometown security' emphasizes rebuilding local economies and creating jobs that address both social and environmental challenges simultaneously.
• 🏥 Smart infrastructure, such as waste management and energy efficiency in schools, can lead to cost savings and improved health outcomes for communities.
• 🌐 The script calls for a national business model that focuses on local job creation and sustainable infrastructure to enhance economic stability and national security.

Q & A

What is the main focus of Brenda Palms-Farber's initiative in Chicago?

Brenda Palms-Farber's initiative focuses on helping ex-convicts reenter society by creating a business that produces skin care products from honey, providing employment and training to seemingly unemployable individuals.

How much does it cost taxpayers to send a person to jail per year, and what is the recidivism rate?

Taxpayers spend about 60,000 dollars per year to send a person to jail, and the recidivism rate is approximately two-thirds, meaning about 66% of them end up returning to prison.

What is the potential savings from investing in early childhood education compared to incarceration?

For every one dollar spent on early childhood education, such as Head Start, there is a potential saving of 17 dollars on future incarceration costs.

What is the comparison made between the cost of sending a person to jail and the cost of sending someone to Harvard?

The script points out that the 60,000 dollars spent to send a person to jail is more than the cost of sending one person to Harvard University.

How does Brenda Palms-Farber's program impact the likelihood of ex-convicts returning to jail?

The program significantly reduces the likelihood of ex-convicts returning to jail, with less than four percent of participants going back to prison.

What is the issue with water management in Los Angeles that Andy Lipkis is addressing?

Andy Lipkis is addressing the issue of water scarcity and the high energy consumption required for pumping water into Southern California, as well as the excessive spending on managing rainwater that leads to flooding.

What is the significance of the greenery initiative proposed by Andy Lipkis for Los Angeles schools?

The greenery initiative aims to replace asphalt with trees and other green spaces around schools, which would save the system more on energy costs than spent on the horticultural infrastructure, leading to net savings, healthier students, and increased employment for grounds maintenance.

What is the main concern of Judy Bonds regarding the coal mining practices in her hometown?

Judy Bonds is concerned about the environmental and health impacts of mountaintop removal mining practices, which cause air and water pollution, landscape destruction, and contribute to unemployment in her hometown.

What alternative does Judy Bonds propose to the destructive coal mining practices in her region?

Judy Bonds proposes the development of wind energy as an alternative to destructive coal mining practices, highlighting the potential for clean energy, job creation, and long-term economic benefits.

What is the term used by the speaker to describe the approach of rebuilding local economies and addressing social and environmental problems simultaneously?

The term used by the speaker to describe this approach is 'hometown security,' which emphasizes creating wealth locally, rebuilding natural defenses, and investing in solutions that improve the quality of life.

What is the speaker's view on the current state of philanthropy and its impact on social problems?

The speaker believes that despite record amounts of philanthropic dollars spent on social problems, issues such as educational outcomes, malnutrition, incarceration, obesity, diabetes, and income disparity have worsened or remained stagnant, indicating a need for a shift from charity to sustainable enterprise.

Outlines

00:00

🐝 Beekeeping for Social Innovation

The first paragraph introduces Brenda Palms-Farber, a social entrepreneur in Chicago, who employs ex-convicts in a unique way. She founded a business that produces skin care products from honey, offering employment and training to individuals who are often deemed unemployable. This initiative not only provides job opportunities but also integrates life skills training, such as anger management and teamwork, preparing them for future employment. The success of her program is evident in the low recidivism rate of less than 4%. This innovative approach to social issues demonstrates how business can be a force for good, creating value for both society and the economy.

05:00

🌳 Urban Greenery for Sustainability

The second paragraph shifts focus to Los Angeles, highlighting the city's water management and urban heat issues. Andy Lipkis is introduced as an individual working to reduce infrastructure costs associated with water management. He advocates for the use of greenery, such as trees, to naturally absorb stormwater and cool cities, thereby reducing the need for air conditioning. His efforts led to the replacement of 20 million square feet of asphalt with green spaces around schools, resulting in energy savings and increased employment for maintenance. This case study showcases how urban planning can address environmental and social challenges simultaneously, promoting a more sustainable and livable city.

10:03

💨 Wind Energy as a Path to Economic Recovery

The third paragraph tells the story of Judy Bonds, a coal miner's daughter from Whitesville, West Virginia, who advocates for wind energy as a cleaner and more sustainable alternative to mountaintop removal mining. She contrasts the short-term benefits of coal mining with the long-term potential of wind energy, emphasizing the economic and environmental advantages of the latter. Despite her personal health struggles with lung cancer, Judy's legacy is her business plan for Coal River Mountain Wind, which aims to transform the local economy and environment. This narrative underscores the importance of local leadership in driving sustainable development and the potential for renewable energy to revitalize communities.

15:05

🏭 Shifting Charity to Enterprise for Community Empowerment

The fourth paragraph delves into the speaker's personal journey and her advocacy for shifting from charity to enterprise as a means of community empowerment. She criticizes traditional philanthropy for its short-term solutions and lack of sustainability, arguing for a focus on local projects that can generate long-term benefits. The speaker shares her experiences in the non-profit sector and the challenges she faced in securing funding, despite her innovative programs. She emphasizes the need for investment in local enterprises that can create jobs, improve quality of life, and address social and environmental issues. The concept of 'hometown security' is introduced as a strategy for rebuilding communities and fostering economic stability through local initiatives.

Keywords

💡Reentry

Reentry refers to the process of individuals with criminal convictions returning to society after serving their sentences. In the video, it is highlighted as a challenge for ex-convicts, with Brenda Palms-Farber's initiative focusing on helping them reintegrate into society and avoid recidivism, which is a key theme of social innovation and community support.

💡Incarceration

Incarceration is the act of confining someone in prison. The video discusses the high costs associated with sending a person to jail, emphasizing the economic inefficiency of the current system where a significant portion of inmates return to prison, thus making the concept of reentry and alternatives to incarceration central to the discussion.

💡Early Childhood Education

Early Childhood Education (ECE) refers to the initial stage of formal education or child care, typically for children before they are of compulsory school age. The script points out the cost-effectiveness of investing in ECE, suggesting that it can lead to significant savings in the long term by reducing the likelihood of individuals requiring incarceration.

💡Social Innovation

Social Innovation is the process of developing and implementing new ideas that solve social problems. The video showcases Brenda's business model using honey for skin care products as an example of social innovation, which not only provides employment for the marginalized but also contributes to their personal development and societal integration.

💡Beekeeping

Beekeeping is the practice of maintaining hives of bees for the collection of honey and other products. In the context of the video, beekeeping is presented as a means of employment and skill development for individuals who might otherwise struggle to find work, tying into the broader theme of creating opportunities for those on the margins of society.

💡Urban Heat Island

Urban Heat Island is a phenomenon where urban areas are significantly warmer than their surrounding rural areas due to human activities and industrialization. The video discusses Andy Lipkis's work in Los Angeles, where he aims to mitigate the urban heat island effect through green infrastructure, which is integral to the concept of creating more livable and sustainable cities.

💡Sustainability

Sustainability refers to the ability to maintain processes or conditions so that they can continue over the long term without depleting resources or causing harm. The video's discussion on green infrastructure and the use of trees to absorb stormwater and reduce energy consumption exemplifies the importance of sustainable practices in urban environments.

💡Mountaintop Removal

Mountaintop Removal is a surface mining practice where the top of a mountain is removed to extract coal. The script criticizes this method for its environmental impact and lack of long-term benefits to local communities, contrasting it with the potential for wind energy as a more sustainable and economically beneficial alternative.

💡Wind Energy

Wind Energy is the process of converting the wind's kinetic energy into electrical power. The video highlights Judy Bonds's advocacy for wind energy as a cleaner and more sustainable alternative to mountaintop removal, emphasizing the long-term economic and environmental benefits of investing in renewable energy sources.

💡Hometown Security

Hometown Security is a concept introduced in the video that encapsulates the idea of building local resilience and self-sufficiency through community-based solutions. It is tied to the broader theme of investing in local economies, creating jobs, and addressing social and environmental challenges simultaneously.

💡Smart Infrastructure

Smart Infrastructure refers to the strategic development and management of built environments to enhance efficiency, sustainability, and quality of life. The video discusses the potential of smart infrastructure to provide cost-effective solutions for municipalities, improve public health, and create economic opportunities, which is central to the narrative of local empowerment and resilience.

Highlights

Brenda Palms-Farber's initiative in Chicago to help ex-convicts reenter society through a honey-based skin care business, which also teaches life skills and reduces recidivism.

The cost comparison between incarcerating individuals and investing in early childhood education, with a significant return on investment for the latter.

The innovative approach of using bees and honey production as a means for social innovation and employment for individuals with criminal backgrounds.

Andy Lipkis's work in Los Angeles to address water scarcity and urban heat through green infrastructure, reducing energy consumption and creating jobs.

The economic case for replacing asphalt with green spaces around schools in L.A., leading to energy savings and job creation.

Judy Bonds' advocacy for wind energy over destructive mountaintop removal mining practices, highlighting the long-term benefits of clean energy.

The health and environmental impacts of mountaintop removal mining, and the potential for wind energy to provide a sustainable alternative.

The concept of 'hometown security' as a strategy for local economic stability and environmental restoration through smart infrastructure.

The importance of investing in local enterprises to create jobs and improve the quality of life in communities.

The potential for urban agriculture to integrate with rural food systems, creating a more sustainable and economically viable food system.

The challenge of waste handling and unemployment, and the opportunity for eco-industrial parks to create local markets and jobs.

The need for a shift from charity to enterprise to create sustainable solutions to social problems.

The speaker's personal journey from non-profit work to establishing a firm focused on community potential and quality of life improvement.

The speaker's experience with financial struggles in non-profit work and the realization of the need for sustainable, enterprise-based solutions.

The transformative impact of community projects, such as the South Bronx Greenway, which received significant funding and became a reality.

The call to action for collective investment in local infrastructure and social enterprises as a means to national recovery and security.

Transcripts

So today, I'm going to tell you about some people

who didn't move out of their neighborhoods.

The first one is happening right here in Chicago.

Brenda Palms-Farber was hired

to help ex-convicts reenter society

and keep them from going back into prison.

Currently, taxpayers spend

about 60,000 dollars per year

sending a person to jail.

We know that two-thirds of them are going to go back.

I find it interesting that, for every one dollar

we spend, however, on early childhood education,

like Head Start,

we save 17 dollars

on stuff like incarceration in the future.

Or -- think about it -- that 60,000 dollars

is more than what it costs

to send one person to Harvard as well.

But Brenda, not being phased by stuff like that,

took a look at her challenge

and came up

with a not-so-obvious solution:

create a business

that produces skin care products from honey.

Okay, it might be obvious to some of you; it wasn't to me.

It's the basis of growing a form of social innovation

that has real potential.

She hired seemingly unemployable men and women

to care for the bees, harvest the honey

and make value-added products

that they marketed themselves,

and that were later sold at Whole Foods.

She combined employment experience and training

with life skills they needed,

like anger-management and teamwork,

and also how to talk to future employers

about how their experiences

actually demonstrated the lessons that they had learned

and their eagerness to learn more.

Less than four percent

of the folks that went through her program

actually go back to jail.

So these young men and women learned job-readiness

and life skills through bee keeping

and became productive citizens in the process.

Talk about a sweet beginning.

Now, I'm going to take you to Los Angeles,

and lots of people know

that L.A. has its issues.

But I'm going to talk about L.A.'s water issues right now.

They have not enough water on most days

and too much to handle when it rains.

Currently, 20 percent

of California's energy consumption

is used to pump water

into mostly Southern California.

Their spending loads, loads,

to channel that rainwater out into the ocean

when it rains and floods as well.

Now Andy Lipkis is working to help

L.A. cut infrastructure costs

associated with water management and urban heat island --

linking trees, people and technology

to create a more livable city.

All that green stuff actually naturally absorbs storm water,

also helps cool our cities.

Because, come to think about it,

do you really want air-conditioning,

or is it a cooler room that you want?

How you get it shouldn't make that much of a difference.

So a few years ago,

L.A. County

decided that they needed to spend 2.5 billion dollars

to repair the city schools.

And Andy and his team discovered

that they were going to spend 200 million of those dollars

on asphalt to surround the schools themselves.

And by presenting a really strong economic case,

they convinced the L.A. government

that replacing that asphalt

with trees and other greenery,

that the schools themselves would save the system more on energy

than they spend on horticultural infrastructure.

So ultimately, 20 million square feet of asphalt

was replaced or avoided,

and electrical consumption for air-conditioning went down,

while employment

for people to maintain those grounds went up,

resulting in a net-savings to the system,

but also healthier students and schools system employees as well.

Now Judy Bonds

is a coal miner's daughter.

Her family has eight generations

in a town called Whitesville, West Virginia.

And if anyone should be clinging

to the former glory of the coal mining history,

and of the town,

it should be Judy.

But the way coal is mined right now is different

from the deep mines that her father

and her father's father would go down into

and that employed essentially thousands and thousands of people.

Now, two dozen men

can tear down a mountain in several months,

and only for about a few years' worth of coal.

That kind of technology is called "mountaintop removal."

It can make a mountain go from this to this

in a few short months.

Just imagine that the air surrounding these places --

it's filled with the residue of explosives and coal.

When we visited, it gave some of the people we were with

this strange little cough

after being only there for just a few hours or so --

not just miners, but everybody.

And Judy saw her landscape being destroyed

and her water poisoned.

And the coal companies just move on

after the mountain was emptied,

leaving even more unemployment in their wake.

But she also saw the difference in potential wind energy

on an intact mountain,

and one that was reduced in elevation

by over 2,000 feet.

Three years of dirty energy with not many jobs,

or centuries of clean energy

with the potential for developing expertise and improvements in efficiency

based on technical skills,

and developing local knowledge

about how to get the most out of that region's wind.

She calculated the up-front cost

and the payback over time,

and it's a net-plus on so many levels

for the local, national and global economy.

It's a longer payback than mountaintop removal,

but the wind energy actually pays back forever.

Now mountaintop removal pays very little money to the locals,

and it gives them a lot of misery.

The water is turned into goo.

Most people are still unemployed,

leading to most of the same kinds of social problems

that unemployed people in inner cities also experience --

drug and alcohol abuse,

domestic abuse, teen pregnancy and poor heath, as well.

Now Judy and I -- I have to say --

totally related to each other.

Not quite an obvious alliance.

I mean, literally, her hometown is called Whitesville, West Virginia.

I mean, they are not --

they ain't competing for the birthplace of hip hop title

or anything like that.

But the back of my T-shirt, the one that she gave me,

says, "Save the endangered hillbillies."

So homegirls and hillbillies we got it together

and totally understand that this is what it's all about.

But just a few months ago,

Judy was diagnosed

with stage-three lung cancer.

Yeah.

And it has since moved to her bones and her brain.

And I just find it so bizarre

that she's suffering from the same thing

that she tried so hard to protect people from.

But her dream

of Coal River Mountain Wind

is her legacy.

And she might not

get to see that mountaintop.

But rather than writing

yet some kind of manifesto or something,

she's leaving behind

a business plan to make it happen.

That's what my homegirl is doing.

So I'm so proud of that.

(Applause)

But these three people

don't know each other,

but they do have an awful lot in common.

They're all problem solvers,

and they're just some of the many examples

that I really am privileged to see, meet and learn from

in the examples of the work that I do now.

I was really lucky to have them all featured

on my Corporation for Public Radio radio show

called ThePromisedLand.org.

Now they're all very practical visionaries.

They take a look at the demands that are out there --

beauty products, healthy schools, electricity --

and how the money's flowing to meet those demands.

And when the cheapest solutions

involve reducing the number of jobs,

you're left with unemployed people,

and those people aren't cheap.

In fact, they make up some of what I call the most expensive citizens,

and they include generationally impoverished,

traumatized vets returning from the Middle East,

people coming out of jail.

And for the veterans in particular,

the V.A. said there's a six-fold increase

in mental health pharmaceuticals by vets since 2003.

I think that number's probably going to go up.

They're not the largest number of people,

but they are some of the most expensive --

and in terms of the likelihood for domestic abuse, drug and alcohol abuse,

poor performance by their kids in schools

and also poor health as a result of stress.

So these three guys all understand

how to productively channel dollars

through our local economies

to meet existing market demands,

reduce the social problems that we have now

and prevent new problems in the future.

And there are plenty of other examples like that.

One problem: waste handling and unemployment.

Even when we think or talk about recycling,

lots of recyclable stuff ends up getting incinerated or in landfills

and leaving many municipalities, diversion rates --

they leave much to be recycled.

And where is this waste handled? Usually in poor communities.

And we know that eco-industrial business, these kinds of business models --

there's a model in Europe called the eco-industrial park,

where either the waste of one company is the raw material for another,

or you use recycled materials

to make goods that you can actually use and sell.

We can create these local markets and incentives

for recycled materials

to be used as raw materials for manufacturing.

And in my hometown, we actually tried to do one of these in the Bronx,

but our mayor decided what he wanted to see

was a jail on that same spot.

Fortunately -- because we wanted to create hundreds of jobs --

but after many years,

the city wanted to build a jail.

They've since abandoned that project, thank goodness.

Another problem: unhealthy food systems and unemployment.

Working-class and poor urban Americans

are not benefiting economically

from our current food system.

It relies too much on transportation,

chemical fertilization, big use of water

and also refrigeration.

Mega agricultural operations

often are responsible for poisoning our waterways and our land,

and it produces this incredibly unhealthy product

that costs us billions in healthcare

and lost productivity.

And so we know "urban ag"

is a big buzz topic this time of the year,

but it's mostly gardening,

which has some value in community building -- lots of it --

but it's not in terms of creating jobs

or for food production.

The numbers just aren't there.

Part of my work now is really laying the groundwork

to integrate urban ag and rural food systems

to hasten the demise of the 3,000-mile salad

by creating a national brand of urban-grown produce

in every city,

that uses regional growing power

and augments it with indoor growing facilities,

owned and operated by small growers,

where now there are only consumers.

This can support seasonal farmers around metro areas

who are losing out because they really can't meet

the year-round demand for produce.

It's not a competition with rural farm;

it's actually reinforcements.

It allies in a really positive

and economically viable food system.

The goal is to meet the cities' institutional demands

for hospitals,

senior centers, schools, daycare centers,

and produce a network of regional jobs, as well.

This is smart infrastructure.

And how we manage our built environment

affects the health and well-being of people every single day.

Our municipalities, rural and urban,

play the operational course of infrastructure --

things like waste disposal, energy demand,

as well as social costs of unemployment, drop-out rates, incarceration rates

and the impacts of various public health costs.

Smart infrastructure can provide cost-saving ways

for municipalities to handle

both infrastructure and social needs.

And we want to shift the systems

that open the doors for people who were formerly tax burdens

to become part of the tax base.

And imagine a national business model

that creates local jobs and smart infrastructure

to improve local economic stability.

So I'm hoping you can see a little theme here.

These examples indicate a trend.

I haven't created it, and it's not happening by accident.

I'm noticing that it's happening all over the country,

and the good news is that it's growing.

And we all need to be invested in it.

It is an essential pillar to this country's recovery.

And I call it "hometown security."

The recession has us reeling and fearful,

and there's something in the air these days

that is also very empowering.

It's a realization

that we are the key

to our own recovery.

Now is the time for us to act in our own communities

where we think local and we act local.

And when we do that, our neighbors --

be they next-door, or in the next state,

or in the next country --

will be just fine.

The sum of the local is the global.

Hometown security means rebuilding our natural defenses,

putting people to work,

restoring our natural systems.

Hometown security means creating wealth here at home,

instead of destroying it overseas.

Tackling social and environmental problems

at the same time with the same solution

yields great cost savings,

wealth generation and national security.

Many great and inspiring solutions

have been generated across America.

The challenge for us now

is to identify and support countless more.

Now, hometown security is about taking care of your own,

but it's not like the old saying,

"charity begins at home."

I recently read a book called "Love Leadership" by John Hope Bryant.

And it's about leading in a world

that really does seem to be operating on the basis of fear.

And reading that book made me reexamine that theory

because I need to explain what I mean by that.

See, my dad

was a great, great man in many ways.

He grew up in the segregated South,

escaped lynching and all that

during some really hard times,

and he provided a really stable home for me and my siblings

and a whole bunch of other people that fell on hard times.

But, like all of us, he had some problems.

(Laughter)

And his was gambling,

compulsively.

To him that phrase, "Charity begins at home,"

meant that my payday -- or someone else's --

would just happen to coincide with his lucky day.

So you need to help him out.

And sometimes I would loan him money

from my after-school or summer jobs,

and he always had the great intention

of paying me back with interest,

of course, after he hit it big.

And he did sometimes, believe it or not,

at a racetrack in Los Angeles --

one reason to love L.A. -- back in the 1940s.

He made 15,000 dollars cash

and bought the house that I grew up in.

So I'm not that unhappy about that.

But listen, I did feel obligated to him,

and I grew up -- then I grew up.

And I'm a grown woman now,

and I have learned a few things along the way.

To me, charity

often is just about giving,

because you're supposed to,

or because it's what you've always done,

or it's about giving until it hurts.

I'm about providing the means

to build something that will grow

and intensify its original investment

and not just require greater giving next year --

I'm not trying to feed the habit.

I spent some years

watching how good intentions for community empowerment,

that were supposed to be there

to support the community and empower it,

actually left people

in the same, if not worse, position that they were in before.

And over the past 20 years,

we've spent record amounts of philanthropic dollars

on social problems,

yet educational outcomes,

malnutrition, incarceration,

obesity, diabetes, income disparity,

they've all gone up with some exceptions --

in particular, infant mortality

among people in poverty --

but it's a great world that we're bringing them into as well.

And I know a little bit about these issues,

because, for many years, I spent a long time

in the non-profit industrial complex,

and I'm a recovering executive director,

two years clean.

(Laughter)

But during that time, I realized that it was about projects

and developing them on the local level

that really was going to do the right thing for our communities.

But I really did struggle for financial support.

The greater our success,

the less money came in from foundations.

And I tell you, being on the TED stage

and winning a MacArthur in the same exact year

gave everyone the impression that I had arrived.

And by the time I'd moved on,

I was actually covering a third

of my agency's budget deficit with speaking fees.

And I think because early on, frankly,

my programs were just a little bit ahead of their time.

But since then,

the park that was just a dump and was featured at a TED2006 Talk

became this little thing.

But I did in fact get married in it.

Over here.

There goes my dog who led me to the park in my wedding.

The South Bronx Greenway

was also just a drawing on the stage back in 2006.

Since then, we got

about 50 million dollars in stimulus package money

to come and get here.

And we love this, because I love construction now,

because we're watching these things actually happen.

So I want everyone to understand

the critical importance

of shifting charity into enterprise.

I started my firm to help communities across the country

realize their own potential

to improve everything about the quality of life for their people.

Hometown security

is next on my to-do list.

What we need are people who see the value

in investing in these types of local enterprises,

who will partner with folks like me

to identify the growth trends and climate adaptation

as well as understand the growing social costs

of business as usual.

We need to work together

to embrace and repair our land,

repair our power systems

and repair ourselves.

It's time to stop building

the shopping malls, the prisons,

the stadiums

and other tributes to all of our collective failures.

It is time that we start building

living monuments to hope and possibility.

Thank you very much.

(Applause)