Monica Blanton

Investment Tools
Monday, August 24, 2:10 - 3:15 PM

Vice President
Brightbridge Inc

Monica Blanton lives in Chattanooga and currently leads the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) division for BrightBridge Capital. Since 2005, Monica has worked in all aspects of NMTC operations and plays a key role in BridgeBridge’s success in being awarded $300 million in NMTC allocations to date. She was also instrumental in the CDFI certification process and business expansion, which has resulted in raising $150 million of capital.

She leads engagement of BrightBridge’s Advisory Board and oversees internal policy development and implementation for investor and regulatory reporting for BrightBridge’s NMTC and CDFI programs.

In addition to closing financing using BrightBridge’s NMTC allocation to projects that positively impact their local community, Monica provides consulting services to help borrowers obtain and close over $140 million NMTC financing from other CDEs. Monica also shares awareness of the NMTC financing tool thru individual and group presentations.

Monica’s professional experience includes eight years as a CPA with international firms in the area of assurance services. She then used her skills to provide management and supervisory consulting services in the areas of general business, financial systems, policies and procedures, financial reporting, and analytical analysis to a variety of businesses.

Outside of work, Monica loves nothing more than spending time with family, including her children and all the family pets. She enjoys outdoor activities, including gardening, hiking, and pickleball!

As an alumnus of the University of TN – Knoxville, Monica enjoys supporting and following the Vols athletics.

Arthur Cohen

Bedrock Tools
Monday, August 24, 11:45 - 12:50 PM

Partner
Hawkins Delafield & Wood LLP

Arthur M. Cohen is a partner in the public finance department of Hawkins Delafield & Wood LLP. In his more than 30 years of practice, he has specialized in all areas of economic development, and, in particular, in revenue bond financing for economic development and project finance. He has worked with many of the economic development agencies around the country, and especially in New York State. Those projects for which he has been directly responsible range from small industrial, manufacturing and warehousing facilities, to solid waste disposal and recycling facilities, to airport facilities to corporate retention transactions geared to gaining job commitments to municipalities by large corporate employers, and to reconstruction of multiple Towers of New York’s World Trade Center. He has served as bond counsel, borrower’s counsel and underwriters’ counsel in a variety of general obligation bond issues and revenue bond issues, including financings for facilities for various not-for-profit organizations such as schools, health care facilities and other charitable borrowers throughout the country. On behalf of his firm, he serves as general counsel to the Council of Development Finance Agencies.

In addition to various economic development agencies throughout New York State, he has worked with such diverse clients as the New York City Industrial Development Agency, Build NYC Resource Corporation, American Development Finance Incorporated (a nation-wide issuer of taxable commercial paper for economic development loans), the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, the Texas Small Business Industrial Development Corporation, the Islip Resource Recovery Agency, the Oklahoma Development Authority, Maine Governmental Facilities Authority, Rutgers, The State University, Arkansas Development Finance Authority, Massachusetts Industrial Finance Agency, Connecticut Development Authority, The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Maine Municipal Bond Bank, Erie County Water Authority, and the New York State Thruway Authority.

Price Finley

Targeted Tools
Monday, August 24, 1:00 - 2:05 PM

Partner
Bricker Graydon Wyatt

Price Finley has practiced law at Bricker Graydon Wyatt since beginning his legal career in 1990, with his practice focused on municipal bonds. He has extensive experience across all areas of public finance, including local government finance, economic development finance, and other structured and project financings. Price has broad experience with economic development tools, including frequent use of tax increment financing. He has also created and served as legal counsel for a wide range of overlay assessing and tax districts, including community development authorities, joint economic development districts, and special improvement districts. In addition, his practice includes assisting local governments and developers with the negotiation and documentation of development agreements for infrastructure financing and tax incentive arrangements, including real property tax, income tax, and sales tax exemptions. Price also has significant experience working with development finance agencies, including Ohio port authorities.

Price is a member of the Council of Development Finance Agencies and serves on its Board of Directors. He is also a member of the Ohio Economic Development Association and the National Association of Bond Lawyers. He received his undergraduate degree from Capital University and his JD/MBA from The Ohio State University. In 2023, Price received the CDFA Lifetime Achievement Award.

Tatiana Graver

Bedrock Tools
Monday, August 24, 11:45 - 12:50 PM

Associate Executive Director
Wisconsin Health and Educational Facilities Authority

Tatiana Graver serves as the Associate Executive Director at the Wisconsin Health and Educational Facilities Authority (“WHEFA”). During her 12-year tenure at WHEFA, Ms. Graver has participated in nearly 300 transactions totaling over $14 billion. She is the current President as well as a Founding Board Member of the Wisconsin Chapter of Women in Public Finance and is a Board Member of the National Association of Health and Educational Facilities Finance Authorities. Ms. Graver received her Bachelor of Science in Finance from Marquette University.  She is also a Development Finance Certified Professional.

David Misky

Targeted Tools
Monday, August 24, 1:00 - 2:05 PM

Assistant Executive Director
City of Milwaukee

Dave Misky is Director of Real Estate for the City of Milwaukee and the Assistant Executive Director of the Redevelopment Authority of the City of Milwaukee, an independent corporation of City government which has a mission to eliminate blighting conditions that inhibit neighborhood reinvestment, to foster and promote business expansion and job creation, and to facilitate new business and housing development. He has 30 years of diversified experience in real estate and economic development with a strong focus on creative financing and environmental issues. He currently oversees the City of Milwaukee’s Real Estate programs including residential and commercial foreclosures, City-developed industrial developments, and Brownfield redevelopment. Dave and his team manage all sizes of developments from small vacant residential lots to vast economic drivers that address development plans, zoning changes, gap financing, stormwater management, and environmental aspects of remediation and sustainability. These projects include major developments along each of the three rivers of the City of Milwaukee and Lake Michigan. Dave holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Biological Sciences from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and a Master of Science degree in Water Resources Management from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Toby Rittner

Welcome & Overview
Monday, August 24, 11:00 - 11:05 AM

Understanding Development Finance & the Toolbox Approach
Monday, August 24, 11:05 - 11:45 AM

Federal Support Tools
Monday, August 24, 4:20 - 4:30 PM

Closing Discussion / Final Questions
Monday, August 24, 4:55 - 5:00 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.

Lori Sallaz

Implementing the Development Finance Toolbox
Monday, August 24, 4:30 - 4:55 PM

Chief Lending Officer
Development Finance Authority of Summit County

Lori Sallaz is the Chief Lending Officer for the Development Finance Authority of Summit County, where she leads lending strategy, oversees program execution, and manages underwriting and lending teams. In this role, she works closely with private borrowers and public partners to deploy capital through a variety of lending tools that support investment in local communities. Lori also oversees federal, state, and local financing programs, as well as the Authority’s A rated Jobs and Investment Bond Fund and all conduit bond activities, including tax-exempt private activity bonds and sales tax capital leases. In this role, she guides financing from initial concept through bond issuance and post-closing compliance, playing a key role in advancing economic development initiatives across Ohio.

Lori also serves as Executive Director of the Akron-Summit County Energy Special Improvement District (ESID), and brings deep expertise in real estate finance, capital markets, PACE financing, small business lending, affordable housing, and New Markets Tax Credits. With over a decade of experience in economic development finance and more than 30 years in management, she is recognized as a leader across both public and private sectors. I am a Development Finance Certified Professional

In her free time, Lori acts as the Vice President of the Ohio Council of Port Authorities, Vice President of the Greater Akron chapter of CREW (Commercial Real Estate Women), and Treasurer of the Southeast Youth Baseball & Softball Association.

Thomas Schnell

Access to Capital Tools
Monday, August 24, 3:15 - 4:20 PM

Business Finance Team Lead
Business Oregon

Tom currently serves as a Finance Officer and Team Lead for Business Oregon, the State of Oregon’s economic development agency. In this position he works to develop economic vitality for Oregon businesses through public-private partnerships and leveraged funding opportunities for companies and entrepreneurs.

Tom has over 35 years in finance, 25 of which were in commercial banking. He has been involved in both debt and equity financing. His experience ranges from serving small start-up companies to large corporations. He has experience in agricultural, real estate, asset based, equipment, line of credit and royalty-based financing. In addition to loan production, he managed several commercial banking centers and served as a loan workout specialist. Tom has served on numerous boards and committees during his career. He currently serves on the St. Charles Hospital Authority Board and is a board member on the Risk Management Association (RMA) for Central Oregon, a member organization for the finance industry. He is a past instructor at the Northwest Economic Development Course.

Tom is a graduate of Oregon State University where he studied Finance and General Behavioral Science. Tom obtained an international business degree from the Aarhus School of Business in Denmark and his graduate degree from Pacific Coast Banking School.

Kim Smith

Investment Tools
Monday, August 24, 2:10 - 3:15 PM

Partner
Holland & Knight

Kimberly Smith is a transactional attorney in Holland & Knight's New York office. Ms. Smith focuses her practice on New Markets Tax Credits (NMTC), low-income housing tax credits (LIHTC), commercial lending and real estate finance.
Ms. Smith has significant experience structuring complex NMTC financing transactions for 501(c)(3) organizations, real estate developers, operating businesses and governmental entities. These transactions often involve layered capital structures, including conventional financing, tax-exempt bonds, state and federal grants, and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) financing. She also regularly closes construction loans nationwide and in the New York City metropolitan area for LIHTC transactions requiring coordination of multiple financing sources, tax credit equity and public subsidy funds.
In addition, Ms. Smith has served as borrower counsel, lender counsel and community development entity (CDE) counsel on projects spanning affordable housing, healthcare, education, mixed-use, social services and industrial/manufacturing facilities. She also has experience representing financial institutions, governmental entities and borrowers in commercial lending, tax-exempt bond financings for 501(c)(3) organizations and project finance transactions.