CDFA is traveling to Philadelphia, PA, for the 2023 National Development Finance Summit November 8-10! Join us for CDFA training courses, targeted breakout sessions, networking events, and workshops you can't get anywhere else. Register today!

The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund announced that Treasury will issue three guarantees to eligible CDFIs totaling $300 million under the CDFI Bond Guarantee Program. Nearly $2.5 billion has been guaranteed since the inception of the CDFI Bond Guarantee Program, which provides long-term, low-cost, fixed-rate capital for projects in low-income and distressed urban, rural, and Native communities.

The Rural Development Finance Toolkit provides an overview of the tools in the development finance toolbox - such as bonds, tax increment finance, tax credits, and revolving loan funds - and how they can direct and attract capital to rural businesses and projects. This toolkit features comprehensive case studies to provide examples of how tools can be implemented to spur growth and resiliency in rural communities.

The program – an initiative of the Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD), the Governor's Energy Office (GEO), and the Maine Technology Institute (MTI) – will provide grants to fund electric grid upgrades for businesses, with an emphasis on rural, energy-intensive industries, such as agricultural and food systems, seafood harvesting, forestry, manufacturing, and housing.

With more than $9.1 billion committed to new projects in Fiscal Year 2023 (FY23), the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) has increased its commitments markedly year-over-year since its establishment in 2019. The commitments align with DFC's five priority sectors: energy, infrastructure, health, agribusiness, and small business support.

Evernorth Rural Ventures, a subsidiary of Evernorth, was awarded its 7th allocation of New Markets Tax Credits (NMTC). They received a $60 million allocation to continue their successful economic and community development work in low-income areas in New England.

The Washington State Department of Commerce announced seven grants totaling $4.76 million from the state's Clean Energy Fund to enhance dairy digesters and advance clean energy in rural communities. These investments will result in improved air and water quality or soil health, reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, and local economic benefits.

Rural Development Partners (RDP) was awarded $50 million in New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) authority from the U.S. Department of the Treasury's CDFI Fund. RDP has financed 47 projects to date, spurring economic growth, providing food access, and creating quality jobs accessible to low-income workers in underserved communities nationwide.

CDFA Tribal Finance Webinar Series: Funding Healthcare Facilities on Tribal Nation Reservations
October 24, 2023 - 2:00 PM - 3:30 PM Eastern

CDFA // BNY Mellon Development Finance Webcast Series: The Latest in Cannabis Finance
November 21, 2023 - 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM Eastern

>>> VIEW THE RURAL DEVELOPMENT FINANCE RESOURCE CENTER   

This guide from Bricker Graydon outlines the array of tools with which Ohio economic development practitioners can intervene to stimulate or induce development to occur — or occur sooner than market forces sometimes allow — in their communities. This guide also assists practitioners by identifying programs, clarifying changes to existing programs, and introducing effective new options to consider. If knowledge is power, this guide provides practitioners with the unique ability to empower their communities or businesses to accomplish a variety of economic development objectives.

The purpose of this toolkit is to provide an overview of the tools in the development finance toolbox -- such as bonds, tax increment finance, tax credits, and revolving loan funds -- and how they can direct and attract capital to rural businesses and projects. This toolkit features comprehensive case studies to provide recent project and program examples of how tools can be implemented to spur growth and resiliency in rural communities. By understanding the development finance toolbox, economic development professionals can increase public and private financing opportunities for the rural communities they serve.

>>> SEARCH RURAL DEVELOPMENT RESOURCES