CDFA is saddened to announce the passing of longtime supporter and friend Caren Franzini. Caren is a former CDFA Board Chair and former Chief Executive Officer of the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA). She is one of the most influential leaders in both CDFA and NJEDA's histories. Caren passed away on January 25, 2017. She was 57. Caren received CDFA's highest honor, the CDFA Lifetime Achievement Award in 2013 for her years of dedicated service and commitment to the Council. Over the years, Caren has presented dozens of times for CDFA. Her insight and expertise was unmatched in the industry. Representing CDFA was a distinguished honor of Caren's and she was a model example of professionalism and loyalty. A friend, colleague, mentor and loving person, she will be dearly missed. CDFA's prayers are with her family, friends and all those she has ever touched.

Best Best & Krieger LLP gives a summary of comments from Secretary Elaine Chao's confirmation hearing, which addresses some of the questions swirling around the Trump administration infrastructure plan.

President Trump's nominee for Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told lawmakers in writing that he plans to "enhance" private activity bonds so that they can be used to encourage more private investment in infrastructure projects.

This report from the Manhattan Institute proposes the Port of Authority of New York and New Jersey cease to own or operate transportation infrastructure, instead planning and regulating an array of concession companies who would be held accountable for operating transportation performance through bond covenants and long-term concession agreement terms.

Ryan Ford, a businessmen from Virginia, used NMTC's, private investment, and public grants in order to purchase a meat processing plant so that local meat so that local cattle could be processed locally. That investment has paid off and now his company, Seven Hills Food Company, provided tenderloins for the inaugural meal of the new presidency.

This month's CDFA // BNY Mellon Development Finance Webcast Series featuring John Piemonte from Ehlers, Inc. and Nick Samuels from Moody's includes an outlook for credit ratings and takes a look at the bond market for the upcoming year.

Trump signed an executive order this week that requires the chairman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality to coordinate "expedited procedures and deadlines for completion of environmental reviews and approvals" for infrastructure projects designated as a high priority by a governor or the head of a federal department or agency.

Unspent proceeds at the time of a current refunding will not cause Build America Bonds to lose their qualified status for Treasury subsidy payments, the Internal Revenue Service recently found in a recent private letter ruling.

During this installment of the CDFA // BNY Mellon Development Finance Webcast Series, learn from expert speakers as they discuss developments in the water finance space and how different financing mechanisms like bonds, RLFs, P3s, and other tools are being used to address today's water infrastructure projects.

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In the 21st century data-driven economy, reliance on data analytics to improve outcomes is a driving force behind decisions being made in government, business, education, and research. States rely on sound workforce and economic development investments to fuel their economic engines. But are these investments working in the way that state leaders expect?

This report is written by the Greater Ohio Policy Center in fulfillment of a grant from the Ohio Water Development Authority (OWDA) to the Greater Ohio Policy Center (GOPC) to examine new and innovative financing techniques for water, wastewater, and stormwater infrastructure in the state of Ohio.

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