Development Finance Review Weekly - July 3, 2025
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Features |
Join us for the 2025 CDFA Summer Institute on August 4-8!
Say goodbye to traditional online learning and hello to a faster, smarter way to advance your career. The CDFA Summer Institute delivers a complete, comprehensive development finance education in half the time! This year, CDFA is debuting an all-new executive format—designed for busy professionals. Over five days, we're offering five 6-hour streamlined learning experiences from the CDFA Training Institute, making it easier than ever to take multiple courses. No overlapping sessions. No fluff. Just focused, intensive learning designed to fit your schedule. Learn how Bonds, Tax Increment Financing, Tax Credits, and Revolving Loan Funds work—all in one week! All five courses are eligible for the CDFA Training Institute's Development Finance Certified Professional (DFCP) Program. Register for all five courses and fast-track your path to certification!
USDA Grant Cuts Leave Food Banks & Local Farmers in Disarray
In late March 2025, the USDA abruptly canceled approximately $1 billion in pandemic-era grants that had been enabling local food banks, schools, and community organizations to purchase produce directly from small farms, a lifeline for over 8,000 growers and numerous food-insecure communities. Organizations like Springfield Community Garden, which supplied meals across Kansas, Missouri, and Arkansas, now face dramatic rollbacks in their service capacity to underserved communities. Small farmers report that these grants accounted for up to 25% of annual sales, and the sudden loss has left their markets and planning in chaos.
MassDevelopment Provides $173M in Financing for Tufts Dorm
MassDevelopment has issued a $173 million tax-exempt bond to finance Tufts University's biggest-ever dormitory—a 664-bed, ten-story project in Medford. Partnering with Capstone Development Partners, the university broke ground on the 270,000-square-foot facility, expected to open in August 2027 under Erland Construction. Following community concerns over size, the developer committed $500,000 each to Medford's affordable housing trust and neighborhood improvement funds, and will sponsor a free shuttle to Medford Square. This financing highlights the importance of state-level public-private partnerships to advance bond-supported infrastructure, and showcases how blended financing, community benefits agreements, and transit-oriented siting can advance institutional projects with neighborhood buy-in.
Must-Watch Trends Shaping the Municipal Bond Landscape
Municipal finance professionals are navigating a market marked by higher, more normalized yields and steepening curve dynamics, offering opportunities across maturities. After record-level issuance in 2024, driven mainly by revenue bonds funding healthcare infrastructure and airports, the market absorbed the supply with resilience, and demand is rising again, particularly in separately managed accounts. Credit fundamentals remain robust—spreads attractive and default rates historically low—even as fiscal pressures prompt close monitoring of private-activity bonds, university and healthcare credits. For investors with active strategies, the municipal market's diverse sectors—from high-yield real estate to A-rated airports—offer compelling, yield-rich avenues in 2025.
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Upcoming Events |

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Upcoming Webcasts |
CDFA // BNY Development Finance Webcast Series: Risk Management and the Bond Credit Rating Evolution
July 15, 2025 - 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM Eastern
During this installment of the CDFA // BNY Development Finance Webcast Series panelists will share their perspectives on how these changes reflect a broader trend toward a more dynamic and complex understanding of creditworthiness, allowing markets to function more efficiently and effectively and provide more nuanced and reliable assessments of credit risk.
CDFA-TEDC Webinar: Harnessing PACE Financing to Empower a Resilient Future
July 16, 2025 - 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM CT
This webinar explores how local governments can use PACE to fund energy efficiency, water conservation, and resiliency projects. Attendees will learn the fundamentals of TX-PACE, its benefits for businesses and property owners, and strategies for effective implementation.
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This Week's Headlines |
MI Department of Agriculture & Rural Development (MDARD) Investing $5M Over Five Years in Water Quality Monitoring
Alliance for the Great Lakes | Jul. 2 | Agriculture Finance | Rural Development | Water Finance
Riceland Foods in Stuttgart, AK Pays $4M in New Water-Savings Program
Arkansas Democrat Gazette | Jul. 2 | Access to Capital | Agriculture Finance | Food Systems Finance
U.S. Farmers Face Rising Debt & Defaults in 2025: What Producers & Lenders Need to Know
Morning AgClips | Jul. 2 | Access to Capital | Agriculture Finance | Food Systems Finance
‘Big, Beautiful Bill' Would Be A Disaster for Clean Energy
canarymedia.com | Jul. 1 | Energy Finance | Federal | Green Finance | Legislative
Bipartisan Lawmakers in PA Rally to Restore LFPA Farm-to-Food Bank Funding
Pennsylvania Capital Star | Jul. 1 | Access to Capital | Agriculture Finance | Food Systems Finance | U.S. Dept. of Agriculture (USDA)
Fernandina Beach, FL Weighs Bond Financing for Brett's Waterway Café Redevelopment
Fernandina Observer | Jun. 30 | Access to Capital | Bond Finance | Food Systems Finance | Infrastructure Finance | Redevelopment
Minneapolis, MN Nonprofit Sues USDA Over Cancelled DEI Grant Funding
The Minnesota Star Tribune | Jun. 30 | Access to Capital | Agriculture Finance | Community Development | Economic Development | Food Systems Finance | U.S. Dept. of Agriculture (USDA)
Nationwide Farm Succession Crisis Threatens U.S. Food Security Amid Aging Producer Population
FarmWeek | Jun. 30 | Access to Capital | Agriculture Finance | Community Development | Economic Development | Food Systems Finance | Resiliency
USDA Signs Historic Agreement to Reduce Wildfire Risk in Montana
USDA | Jun. 30 | Disaster Recovery & Relief | Rural Development | U.S. Dept. of Agriculture (USDA)
U.S. Food Sector at Risk – Support for Migrant-Inclusive Workforce Infrastructure Needed
msn | Jun. 27 | Access to Capital | Agriculture Finance | Food Systems Finance | Resiliency
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National Sponsor Spotlight |
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KeyBanc Capital Markets
KeyBanc Capital Markets, headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, is a full-service investment banking firm serving issuers of tax-exempt debt for over 40 years. The Public Finance Municipal Banking Group operating out of offices in Cleveland, Chicago, New...
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Kutak Rock LLP
Kutak Rock LLP is a national law firm of more than 500 lawyers with offices from coast to coast. Their firm serves local, regional, and national clients in a practice that spans a wide range of disciplines. They encourage their attorneys to take...
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McGuireWoods
With 1000 lawyers and 21 strategically located offices worldwide, McGuireWoods LLP uses client-focused teams to serve public, private, government, and nonprofit clients from virtually every area of the law. To complement their services, they offer...
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CDFA Bookstore |
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Tax Increment Finance Best Practices Reference Guide 2nd Edition
The Tax Increment Finance Best Practices Reference Guide 2nd Edition addresses what TIF is, why it should be used, and how best to apply the TIF tool. This guide highlights both TIF and special assessment projects across the country and how they can be applied to address common economic development issues.
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The Council of Development Finance Agencies is a national association dedicated to the advancement of development finance concerns and interests. CDFA is comprised of the nation's leading and most knowledgeable members of the development finance community representing public, private and non-profit entities alike. For more information about CDFA, visit www.cdfa.net or e-mail info@cdfa.net.
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Council of Development Finance Agencies
425 Metro Place N., Suite 460
Dublin, OH 43017
(614) 705-1300
info@cdfa.net
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