Register for CDFA's Intro Federal Finance Course taking place on December 13-14 to learn the federal funding resources available to help advance economic development. Our panel of expert speakers will discuss how federal support tools can work in coordination with other development finance tools for programs and projects on the local level.

Partnering with the Orange County Hunger Alliance (OCHA), social enterprise innovator RevHubOC is receiving a significant financial investment from the Samueli Foundation. The grant of $1,050,000 to the OCHA will boost the Alliance's mission to combat food/nutritional insecurity and food waste in Orange County, with a portion equal to $400,000 designated to RevHubOC for its key role in this endeavor.

The Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund released an updated frequently asked questions (FAQ) document concerning compliance for the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) incentive. These updates include an outline of the CDFI Fund's transition to 2016-2020 American Community Survey (ACS) data to define low-income communities, an update to the national unemployment rates that are in effect, guidance for new food deserts data, and more.

The Kentucky Agricultural Finance Corp. (KAFC) approved more than $1.8 million for 10 agricultural loans for projects across the commonwealth through the Agricultural Infrastructure Loan Program (AILP) and the Beginning Farmer Loan Program (BFLP).

Regenerative agriculture practices are much harder to employ because they're more expensive and labor-intensive, and can take three to five years and reduce profitability by up to $40 per acre during the transition. A unique three-year project from the Environmental Defense Fund and the Intertribal Agriculture Council hopes to yield quantitative data about the costs and benefits of regenerative practices.

Vice President Harris announced the launch of the Women in the Sustainable Economy (WISE) Initiative with more than $900 million in commitments by governments, private sector companies, foundations, and civil society to bolster women's economic participation in sectors such as clean energy, fisheries, recycling, forest management, and environmental conservation. 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is investing $27.9 million across 45 organizations that teach and train beginning farmers and ranchers, including programs for U.S. veterans who are entering into agricultural careers and starting new farming businesses. This investment is part of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture's Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program, which supports a wide range of professional development activities and topics.

The Utah Governor's Office of Economic Opportunity announced a significant tax reduction for Utah Flour Milling, an expansion project connected to the growth of Campbell's in Richmond. Utah Flour Milling has committed to creating 31 new high-paying jobs and investing $57 million in Cache County over the next five years as part of their expansion plan. The company will receive tax incentives for the expansion as part of Utah's Rural Economic Development Tax Increment Financing program.

CDFA // BNY Mellon Development Finance Webcast Series: Financing Childcare Facilities with Bonds
December 19, 2023 - 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM Eastern

Fundamentals of Economic Development Finance WebCourse
January 24-25, 2024 - Daily: 12:00 PM - 5:00 PM Eastern

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Croatan Institute and Self-Help announce the release of a major new collaborative report that explores leading challenges faced by the Farm Credit System – the largest lender in the agricultural sector. This new report documents leading environmental, social, and governance (ESG) risks and shortcomings at Farm Credit and recommends changes to help the System more fully meet its basic public purpose: to help farmers and rural communities access affordable, reliable capital. By managing ESG risks more explicitly, Farm Credit as well as the system's secondary market entity Farmer Mac, could serve the widely unmet investor demand for "green bonds" and impact investments that finance climate solutions, conservation, regenerative agriculture, and underserved farmers and rural places.

The CDFA-NASDA Foundation Socially Disadvantaged Farmers & Ranchers Access to Capital Toolkit is a set of best practice resources designed to provide practical assistance to communities looking to invest in socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers. The toolkit will address topics from effective revolving loan fund management to leveraging bonds, tax increment, and other forms of public and private capital, to encourage increased investment in socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers.

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