Carrier Corp. was invited to attend the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's "Shared Visions" Economic Development Summit at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, S.D.

Carrier Corp. and other appliance manufacturer-founding members of the Partnership for Advancing Technology in Housing (PATH) were invited to attend the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's "Shared Visions: Native American Home Ownership and Economic Development Summit II" at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, S.D. Carrier donated three WeatherMate high-efficiency gas furnaces to the reservation. The furnaces have annual fuel utilization efficiency ratios of up to 91%, which will help homeowners on the reservation save up to $250 per year in heating costs.

President Clinton arrived at the reservation during the summit to promote his New Markets Initiative, a new public/private partnership to provide tax credits, investment capital and credit and technical assistance to encourage business formation and job creation in economically distressed rural and inner city areas.

Shared Visions was established by Housing Secretary Andrew Cuomo and American Indian tribal leaders nationwide to create a national housing model to build affordable homes in tribal lands and help more American Indians become homeowners.

The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation will be one of the first areas of the country to benefit from the Shared Visions model, which involves the creation of nonprofit organizations to provide long-term financial and housing services for tribal members. With a $2 million HUD grant, the Oglala Sioux Tribe has established the Oglala Sioux Tribal Partnership for Housing.

PATH is a public/private effort to develop, demonstrate and gain widespread market acceptance for the use of new or innovative technologies to improve quality, durability, environmental efficiency and affordability of homes. It links key agencies in the federal government with leaders from the home building, product manufacturing, insurance, financial and regulatory communities to focus on technological innovation in the American housing industry. Carrier is the only participating HVAC manufacturer.