Equitable Pursuits

By Peter West

Elsie Crum leans close to a fresh-from-the-box personal computer and points with pride at the small metal tag that identifies it as an Urban Technology Center machine.

It isn't a brand that you'll find in any retail store. And that's exactly the point.

With the help of corporate donations, inventive finance plans, and the collective marketing savvy of its backers, the nonprofit Urban Technology Center hopes to make its brand of new and reconditioned computers at least as affordable for inner-city...