The Economic Innovation Group (EIG), with support from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, has released a report that explores the environmental conditions faced by children growing up in some of the nation's most distressed communities. The report examines the needs of children in Opportunity Zones and how the bipartisan community investment tool can be leveraged to support schools, childcare centers, and businesses focused on improving life outcomes for children.

USDA Rural Development is sponsoring free online training hosted by the Ohio Rural Community Assistance Program (RCAP). This edition of the "Workshop in a Box" series, entitled Sustainable Management of Small and Rural Systems, focuses on sustainable utility management, utility health, potential community impacts, and long-term planning based on the needs of the utility and community.

Contentious economic development incentives lawmakers and the White House are pitching as an answer to the nation's economic and social ills are structurally unable to help fix those problems—and may even exacerbate them—critics say. While the administration touts Opportunity Zones as a successful program, economic development, finance, and tax professionals say design flaws may prevent the policy from helping residents in low-income and minority communities.

The Food System Transformation Fund attempted to address that problem with program-related investments from foundations, on the premise that risk-tolerant debt could enable early-stage businesses to grow and eventually access traditional capital from banks and community development financial institutions. As RSF Social Finance winds down the fund and moves its food system investments into other RSF portfolios, they are sharing what they've learned in hopes of advancing efforts to build a regenerative food system.

HUD Secretary Carson announced the allocation of the remaining $1.988 billion in CARES Act funding for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program. The allocation focuses funds towards places with households facing a higher risk of eviction. To date, HUD has provided nearly $5 billion in CDBG funding nationwide to help communities combat the coronavirus and alleviate economic hardship.

A new investment fund, rePlant Capital, has been formed to help clove the crisis with capitalism by tying interest rates for farm loans to improvements in soil's carbon and water storage as a way to save farmers from the disastrous impacts of climate change. The fund will deploy $250 million to farmers transitioning to regenerative or organic practices, with about $200 million of that going towards loans based on soil health metrics.

A new survey found that 69% of U.S. mayors report the need to invest in infrastructure as a top and immediate priority to recover from the pandemic, yet 98% expect their city's operating budget will decline over the next 12-18 months. Another common theme was the desire for more public-private partnerships and capital investments, with corporations playing a larger role helping to rebuild and revitalize the economy.

A California-based manufacturer will open operations in north Lafayette in a $5.1M investment that will create 67 jobs at an average salary just under $50K Westfield Hydraulics, which creates precision hydraulic and fluid control components for aerospace and defense applications, will create an affiliate company, Westfield Fluid Controls, in a 30,000-square-foot facility in the Northpark Technology Center.

CDFA-Bricker PACE Webinar Series: PACE Program Capitalization
Tuesday, September 22, 2020 - 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM Eastern

CDFA Food Systems Finance Webinar Series: Financing Food Systems Entrepreneurs
Tuesday, September 29, 2020 - 2:00 PM Eastern

CDFA-PFM Capital Markets Webinar Series: Pricing Private Activity Bonds in Complex Capital Stacks
October 8, 2020 - 2:00 - 3:30 PM Eastern

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The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is committed to supporting robust regional food economies across the food chain. This graphic is designed to be a guide for which programs are best suited for different parts of the supply chain.

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