Dominic Cloud
Implementing CHIP: Rules, Requirements & Readiness
Thursday, January 15, 2:00 - 3:30 PM
City Manager
City of St. Albans
Over the last fifteen years Dominic Cloud has directed the comprehensive redevelopment of St. Albans. Under his tenure, the City has demonstrated the transformational power of forming public / private partnerships to advance economic development projects totaling $70 million in new taxable value. Mr. Cloud previously served as Director of the Vermont League of Cities and Towns Municipal Assistance Center and as a municipal lobbyist in the Statehouse. He received an MPA from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University and a B.A. in Government from St. John’s University. He lives in Essex, Vermont with his family
Jessica Smith Hartleben
Implementing CHIP: Rules, Requirements & Readiness
Thursday, January 15, 2:00 - 3:30 PM
Executive Director
State of Vermont- DED
Brendan Heil
Implementing CHIP: Rules, Requirements & Readiness
Thursday, January 15, 2:00 - 3:30 PM
Of Counsel
Bricker Graydon
Brendan Heil is a seasoned attorney in Bricker Graydon's Political Subdivision group. Brendan has extensive experience handling a variety of municipal law issues, including counseling cities and private entities on economic development transactions, public finance, legislation, eminent domain, annexation, land use, and zoning. Brendan is also well-versed in handling litigation matters for public and private clients in federal and state courts, including land use and zoning disputes, complex commercial class actions, and multi-district litigation.
Brian Pine
Implementing CHIP: Rules, Requirements & Readiness
Thursday, January 15, 2:00 - 3:30 PM
Senior Consultant
White + Burke Real Estate Advisors, Inc.
Brian is an accomplished community and economic development leader with over 25 years of experience advancing affordable housing, clean energy, and neighborhood revitalization. He has proven success in designing and implementing award-winning programs through public-private partnerships, innovative financing strategies, and equity-focused policies. He is adept in municipal leadership, HUD program management, and strategic consulting, with a strong track record of securing multimillion-dollar funding and delivering measurable community impact. Brian is also recognized nationally for excellence in affordable housing, lead hazard reduction, and neighborhood redevelopment.
Toby Rittner
Understanding TIF: Intro to Tax Increment Finance for Vermont Communities
Thursday, January 8, 2:00 - 3:30 PM
In Practice: Targeted Tools in Infrastructure and Housing Development
Tuesday, January 13, 2:00 - 3:30 PM
Implementing CHIP: Rules, Requirements & Readiness
Thursday, January 15, 2:00 - 3:30 PM
President & CEO
Council of Development Finance Agencies
Toby Rittner is the President & CEO of Council of Development Finance Agencies (CDFA), a national association dedicated to the advancement of development finance concerns and interests. CDFA is comprised of the nation’s leading and most knowledgeable members of the development finance community representing hundreds of public, private and non-profit development finance agencies. Mr. Rittner runs the day-to-day operations of the Council including the organization’s various educational, advocacy, research, resources, and networking initiatives. He also serves as the Chairman of the Board of Directors for the CDFA Foundation.
Rittner is one of the most vocal and recognized leaders of the development finance industry nationwide and has advised local, state, and federal leaders, including Presidents Biden and Obama, on economic development finance policy. Through his leadership and guidance, CDFA was successful in preserving private activity bonds and other critical development finance tools during the 2017 tax reform deliberations and has had numerous pieces of legislation introduced in the United States Congress. In 2021, Rittner successfully led a national effort to reauthorize and fund the $10B State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI) program as part of the American Rescue Plan Act. He has written and crafted dozens of strategic finance plans for development finance agencies and advised communities throughout the world on development finance approaches.
Rittner focuses on sustainable finance with an emphasis on infrastructure, clean energy, food systems, small business, and innovations in the development finance industry to drive sustainable outcomes. He has written extensively about impact ready initiatives that leverage and engage capital in ways that drive local sustainability in business and industry and the environment and economy.
Rittner is a frequent speaker at local, state, and national conferences and events focused on economic development finance. He has been featured in The Bond Buyer, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, NPR and other national media publications concerning the advancement of development finance tools. He is the author of CDFA's highly acclaimed Practitioner's Guide to Economic Development Finance and co-author of CDFA's Unlocking Capital: A Handbook for Becoming a High Performing Development Finance Agency.
Rittner is an adjunct faculty member at The Ohio State University and Carnegie Mellon University. He is also a Development Finance Certified Professional (DFCP) and has completed the prestigious Oxford University Sustainable Finance Foundation Course.
Mr. Rittner previously served on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Environmental Financial Advisory Board and is a member of the Advisory Board for the National Community Fund I. Mr. Rittner holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and a Master's of City and Regional Planning degree from The Ohio State University. Mr. Rittner was awarded the Ohio State University College of Engineering Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2016.
Michael Ryzhov
In Practice: Targeted Tools in Infrastructure and Housing Development
Tuesday, January 13, 2:00 - 3:30 PM
Associate Project Manager
SB Friedman Development Advisors
Michael Ryzhov, AICP specializes in public-private partnership finance and market analysis for large-scale planning projects. Since joining SB Friedman, he has focused on combining quantitative and qualitative approaches to help municipalities evaluate policy decisions, responsibly manage public funds, and create walkable, mixed-use communities. Select experience includes: creating transit-oriented development plans for bus rapid transit corridors; evaluating the impact of various policy decisions on market feasibility for a catalytic site in Bloomington, Indiana; and conducting financial due diligence to determine the appropriate level and structure of public financial assistance for major redevelopment projects around the country. Michael holds a Bachelor of Arts in History and Economics from Northwestern University and a Master of Urban and Regional Planning from UCLA.
James Snyder
Understanding TIF: Intro to Tax Increment Finance for Vermont Communities
Thursday, January 8, 2:00 - 3:30 PM
Senior Principal
Miller, Canfield, Paddock and Stone, P.L.C.
Jim's primary practice concentration is municipal finance, with an emphasis on economic development transactions such as those involving tax-increment financing and public/private partnerships. Mr. Snyder is a frequent speaker on municipal finance issues that involve economic development.
He regularly serves as bond counsel, underwriter’s counsel, bond purchaser’s counsel and special counsel on a variety of public finance transactions, including general obligation financings, revenue obligations, special service area and special assessment financings, tax increment bond financing, industrial development revenue bonds, multifamily housing financings, solid waste disposal facility bonds, and Section 501(c)(3) revenue bond financings.
Andy Struckhoff
In Practice: Targeted Tools in Infrastructure and Housing Development
Tuesday, January 13, 2:00 - 3:30 PM
President
PGAV Planners, LLC
Andy Struckhoff is the President of PGAV Planners, LLC; a multi-disciplinary consulting firm. Headquartered in St. Louis, MO with offices in Kansas City and Orlando, our team works with communities, developers, economic development and finance agencies to develop actionable strategies to solve planning and development challenges. We help communities solidify their vision for the future and we help them figure out how to bring it to life, which means figuring out how to pay for it, which means, more often than not, putting local incentive mechanisms to work and structuring public-private partnerships.