A recently released report from the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. gives a glimpse of activity in the state's startup community in calendar year 2017. The organization's recap on its entrepreneurship program's impact that year reveals it helped in raising $505 million in new capital, a 26 percent increase from 2016.

Awards were made to 119 banks for increasing investments benefiting economically distressed communities across the nation. The awards were made through the fiscal year 2018 round of the Bank Enterprise Award Program (BEA Program). 

The Council of Development Finance Agencies (CDFA) is honored to announce that Maureen Hassett, Senior Advisor, Special Projects for the New Jersey Office of the Treasurer has been elected as Chair of the CDFA Board of Directors. Hassett served as Vice-Chair for the past three years under the leadership of former Chair, John Saris, Business Services Manager for Business Oregon.

Real gross domestic product increased in 1,931 of the nation's counties and decreased in 1,159 counties in 2015, according to prototype statistics from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. The inflation-adjusted data show GDP unchanged in 23 counties.

The Caren S. Franzini Fellowship was created to build leadership positions for women in the field of development finance and to inspire them to embody Caren's spirit and professionalism. Franzini Fellows are given the opportunity to work directly with CDFA through a one-year program aimed at developing lasting woman leaders in the field of development finance.

Well, 2018 will be remembered as the year HQ2 took over the conversation around economic development and incentives. This article recaps Smart Incentives five most popular non-Amazon blog articles for 2018. Topics such as Opportunity Zones and Housing were of particular interest this year.

UK based Responsible Finance has released its annual flagship publication on the responsible finance industry. This year's report reveals that the responsible finance sector grew by 19 million pounds from its previous total.

The USDA has announced that it is offering up to $600 million in loans and grants to help build broadband infrastructure in rural America. Telecommunications companies, rural electric cooperatives and utilities, internet service providers and municipalities may apply for funding through USDA's new ReConnect Program.

Republican Reps. Brian Mast and Bill Posey have sent a joint letter to DOT Secretary Elaine Chao requesting the U.S. DOT not to extend the December 31 deadline for the owners of the Brightline passenger train to issue private activity bonds.

In late November, the Rhode Island Infrastructure Bank closed its $18.3 million Efficient Buildings Fund bond, which received S&P Global Ratings' AA rating. The Efficient Buildings Fund bond is the first public market green bond to be issued by the Bank.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 was enacted one year ago this month, and we'll spend some time looking back what we've learned in that time. Our panel will explore the preservation of Private Activity Bonds, changes in the corporate tax rate and its effects, evaluate volume and the types of bonds most often used, and consider the effects of the elimination of advance refundings. We'll discuss options that issuers have for more flexible redemption options and strategies that have emerged to work around the absence of refundings. This webinar will feature the pros and cons and the questions that still remain twelve months into the new tax law.

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