NEW HAVEN EARNS 4TH ALL AMERICA CITY TITLE

CITY ACHIEVES WIN IN TAMPA

(NEW HAVEN)-- At a competition in Tampa, Fla., New Haven became one of
10 winners of the 2008 All America City Award, a prestigious honor
recognizing communities for collaboration, inclusiveness, and successful
innovation. All-America Cities demonstrate community-wide civic
accomplishments, cross-sector cooperation, grassroots participation, and
creative approaches to important issues.

Each finalist completed an extensive application providing detailed
descriptions of the challenges they face and the impacts of three
community projects to address those challenges. The final step took
place this week in Tampa where a delegation from each of the 16 finalist
communities presented its programs and solutions to a jury of national
experts from across the United States. Their presentations addressed the
community's social and economic issues, including at least one project
that focuses on the needs of young people.

"New Haven is proud to receive the 2008 All America City Award," said
Mayor John DeStefano, Jr. "It is an honor to bring this title back home
to our residents in recognition of their tremendous work throughout the
community. What led to this win was the success of four programs that
make a difference in the lives of our residents every day: the Elm City
Resident Card Program, the combined efforts of the Street Outreach
Workers Program and CTRIBAT, and CitySeed. Throughout this journey it
became so clear that New Haven is a place with very different people who
get one very important thing right: we are better together."

The New Haven Delegation in Tampa was composed of 28 community leaders
and residents representing the Street Outreach Workers Program, Bregamos
Community Theater, Junta for Progressive Action, Unidad Latina en
Accion, CitySeed, CTRIBAT, City Hall, Empower New Haven, Town Green
Special Services, Market New Haven and the Economic Development
Corporation of New Haven.

A jury of national business, government, philanthropic, and nonprofit
leaders selected the top 10 communities based on their presentations and
applications: New Haven, Conn.; Goodyear, Arizona; Cerritos, Calif,;
Aurora, Colo.; Kissimmee- Osceola County, Florida; Gladstone, Missouri;
the St. Louis Region, Missouri-Illinois; Lenoir, N. C.; Reidsville, N.C.
and Akron, Ohio.

This year the awards program featured Innovation Forums to promote
peer-to-peer dialogues among the finalist communities and regional and
national leaders. The topics included best practices of All-America
Cities, effectively marketing your community, a youth forum, and a chief
elected and appointed officials forum on civic issues. Hot topic
workshops are being developed on green solutions, immigrant integration,
the community-side of the subprime lending crisis, and other issues.
Mayor John DeStefano, Jr. served as keynote speaker to an innovation
forum on immigrant integration and the success of the Elm City Resident
Card Program.

Now in its 59th year, the All-America City Award is an honor achieved by
more than 500 neighborhoods, villages, towns, cities, counties, and
regions across the country.

This year's AAC Awards are sponsored in part by Jones Day, MWH, RBC
Capital Markets, Southwest Airlines (The Official Airline of the AAC
Awards), Tampa Marriott Waterside Hotel and Marina (The Sole Official
Headquarters Hotel of the AAC Awards), and Marriott International.