CDFA Announces the CDFA-Frost Brown Todd Infrastructure Finance Collaboration
The Council of Development Finance Agencies has partnered with Frost Brown Todd and its affiliate FBT Project Finance Advisors on the new CDFA Intro Infrastructure Finance WebCourse and the CDFA Finance Toolbox video series. This collaboration will focus on financial challenges and opportunities facing communities working to develop or upgrade energy, water, broadband, disaster recovery, transportation, and other services, and provide expert analyses to inform the development finance industry.
RESTAURANTS Act Introduced to Support Independent Restaurants Through New Revitalization Fund
U.S. Senators Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., and Representatives Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., and Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., introduced the Real Economic Support That Acknowledges Unique Restaurant Assistance Needed to Survive (RESTAURANTS) Act of 2020. The legislation would establish a $120 billion revitalization fund to help independent restaurants deal with the long-term structural challenges facing the industry because of COVID-19 and support the reemployment of 11 million workers.
Covid-19 Relief Loans Go to Firms that Stretch the Definition of "Small"
The federal government released limited details about recipients of the Payroll Protection Program, Congress' flagship forgivable loan program intended to mitigate the financial impact of Covid-19 on small businesses. The forgivable loans were intended to keep struggling Mom-and-pops afloat during the pandemic. Many went to giant poultry processors and chains reporting record sales.
Massachusetts Launches $36M Program to Expand Urban Access to Local Foods
Gov. Charlie Baker announced a new $36 million fund to strengthen the delivery network for local food producers to get products into low-income communities in the hopes of eliminating food deserts — neighborhoods that lack access to healthy food sources — and addressing supply chain disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Philadelphia, PA Businesses in High-Poverty Areas Awarded Less in Relief Funds
The City of Philadelphia distributed millions of dollars in aid for small businesses, but commercial corridors in high-poverty neighborhoods received less funding than their wealthier counterparts. Poorer corridors had more businesses awarded grants through the program, and the report notes that high-poverty neighborhoods "should be targets of future rounds of investment."
The Need to Expand Hometown Meatpacking Facilities
Agricultural businesses in Missouri's smaller towns can receive funds from the Missouri Agribusiness Revolving Loan Fund, which can be used to start, acquire, operate, or expand an agribusiness. The Meat Processing Facility Investment Tax Credit Program in Missouri is also available to qualifying meat processors interested in modernizing or expanding their facilities.
Pennsylvania Announces $10M in Funds for the Food System
Gov. Tom Wolf announced that $10 million is now available for Pennsylvania businesses that have worked to maintain access to fresh, healthy food throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. The Fresh Food Financing Initiative COVID-19 Relief Fund — funded through the CARES Act — is available to for-profit, nonprofit, or cooperative entities impacted by COVID-19, including grocery stores, corner stores, neighborhood markets, food hubs, farmers markets, urban farms, and food aggregation centers.
Planning for a Smarter Post-Pandemic Food System in Rhode Island
The COVID-19 pandemic is laying bare an alarming problem with our food system. The market channels linking farms and fisheries to our communities are more fragile than most of us imagined. As for developing increased food system resilience, we need to address both financing and regulatory barriers. Allocation of public dollars to boost local food production, processing, storage, and distribution of food can encourage private investment.
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Cultivating Development: Trends and Opportunities at the Intersection of Food and Real Estate
Bond Finance | Economic Development | Food Systems Finance | Revolving Loan Funds (RLFs) | Tax Credits | Tax Increment Finance (TIF)
Cultivating Development explores the mutually beneficial relationship between food-based amenities—such as working farms, community gardens, food halls, restaurants, and grocery stores—and real estate. Developers, owners, property managers, designers, investors, and others involved in real estate decision making can learn from the research, case studies, and food and development practitioner insights described in this report, thereby allowing them to create places that both support and leverage investments in food.
Economic Impacts of COVID-19 on Food and Agricultural Markets
Agriculture Finance | Disaster Recovery & Relief | Food Systems Finance
COVID-19 disrupted nations around the world in 2019 and 2020. It continues to cause death and economic damage in many countries. The changes in lifestyle and measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19 have significantly altered economic activity, employment, food consumption, and workplace environments.
Organic Opportunities: Investing in the Expansion of Organic Food and Agriculture in Northeastern North Carolina
Access to Capital | Agriculture Finance | Economic Development | Food Systems Finance
The Organic Agriculture Revitalization Strategy (OARS) builds upon the basic insight of this emerging research – that certified organic agriculture can provide not only environmental benefits but also socio-economic benefits, revitalizing rural landscapes and communities and building community health and wealth together.
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