As more and more people demand local and or ganic food, there are increasing opportunities for new farmers. The growing organic market can provide the opportunity, but it is challenging to start your own farm without proper planning.

Linking development finance and food systems can be a daunting undertaking for any community. Research on the current ecosystem of food systems finance has positioned CDFA to identify key strategies for the path ahead in this work. The Food Systems...

Regenerative farms rely on small-to-mid scale, aligned infrastructure to process, transport, and market their products. These middle infrastructure businesses help to improve farm income and bolster regional food economies while providing...

The Global Alliance for the Future of Food and Transformational Investing in Food Systems Initiative (TIFS) released a comprehensive new report that gives investors a roadmap of creative finance strategies that support entrepreneurs, farmers,...

This is a USDA resource guide to help people in rural America start and grow businesses, create good-paying jobs in their communities and strengthen America’s economy. The guide features information on how rural entrepreneurs can use USDA and other...

This report describes how three CDFIs drive economic growth in low-income and historically marginalized communities through a model defined by the EFOD Collaborative as Equitable Food Oriented Development (EFOD). EFOD is a development approach that...

Developed by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, the newly enhanced Community Investment Explorer (CIE) 2.0 includes over 73 million transactions totaling over $3.2 trillion in community and economic development capital from 2012 to 2020. This...

This white paper, authored by three researchers at Drexel University's Nowak Metro Finance Lab, argues that to drive a recovery that expands opportunity and innovation, local leaders would be well put to think about ways they can maximize SSBCI...

In this publication, the Center for Community Investment uses six case studies of successful climate resilience investments to surface a set of common strategies that take aim at the systems underlying the inequitable distribution of risk. Together,...

This study examines how housing and in-home supports affect public spending on individuals with chronic mental illness in Maricopa County, Arizona. It does so through a comparative analysis of average costs per person per year across three housing...

This paper considers the role of TCUs and in particular the role of TCU curriculum in business development and entrepreneurship in tribal areas. We utilize existing data on TCU curriculum and tribal area characteristics and consider whether and to...

Federal economic adjustment assistance (EAA) programs were established, in part, to help workers adjust to these economic disruptions. Experts in the GAO's roundtable identified a range of challenges to using EAA programs to effectively respond to...

During this installment of the CDFA Food Systems Finance Webinar Series, we explored how investing in food-centered redevelopment can restore local food systems infrastructure, catalyze additional neighborhood development, and protect healthy,...

This is an Opportunity Zones prospectus for Brattleboro, Vermont. It was authored in partnership with the Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation.

This is an Opportunity Zone Investment Guide for the City of Winooski, Vermont.

This is an Opportunity Zone Prospectus for the city of Lyndon, Vermont.

This is an Opportunity Zone Prospectus for Newport, Vermont.

During this installment of the CDFA // BNY Mellon Development Finance Webcast Series, we explored the landscape of the hospitality industry (large and small) and what is being done to ensure the industry may stay afloat.

Quality Electrodynamics (QED) turned to JobsOhio for support in creating a research and development (R&D) center for collaboration and innovation. This case study examines how the JobsOhio Research & Development Grant Program was able to assist QED.

This guide, authored by CDFA and Skeo, provides an overview of various development finance tools and suggestions for how communities could use these tools to finance projects in Opportunity Zones. Each section includes additional resources to learn...

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed acute and deep-rooted connections between physical and economic health. Many of the same places hit hardest by the pandemic are reeling concurrently from the health crisis, business closures, and job losses. These...

CDFA's first publication of the CDFA Charter Schools Financing Initiative series, funded with support from the National Alliance For Public Charter Schools. This paper demonstrates how charter schools can access development finance tools and public...

This is the sixth and final white paper in a series examining the potential creation of a food systems asset class that supports the market growth of local and regional food systems. This paper presents three replicable strategies for restoring...

This report from the White House' Council of Economic Advisers compares the advantages of OZs with those of other Federal antipoverty programs and documents the characteristics of the nearly 8,800 low-income communities designated as OZs. It also...

The Opportunity Zones tax incentive, created by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, was designed to spur investment in low-income and undercapitalized communities. The experiences of investors, developers, government officials, and business...

Founded by ex-Googlers and based in Silicon Valley, Upstart is the first lending platform to leverage artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to price credit and automate the borrowing process. Upstart partnered with the JobsOhio...

Linden is a distressed neighborhood in Columbus, Ohio. This plan is designed to create a roadmap for safe neighborhoods, economic development and access to affordable housing, quality healthcare, education and employment opportunities in Linden.

This summer 2019 performance report from the Idaho Economic Development Association discusses economic development in Idaho and offers several case studies.

This information summarizes Farm Credit System 2018 lending activity to young, beginning, and small (YBS) farmers, ranchers, and producers or harvesters of aquatic products. For total System loans, the number of new loans made in 2018 declined by...

The Fair Food Fund was designed to meet these entrepreneurs where they are and take them where they want to go. Since 2013, we have invested more than $3 million in 13 food businesses. Just as important is supporting these businesses on the road to...

Can women and minorities get the loans they need to buy and operate farms? According to USDA survey data, these "socially disadvantaged" farmers and ranchers get a disproportionately small share of farm loans. More detailed information isn’t...

On April 25, 2017, the President of the United States established the Interagency Task Force on Agriculture and Rural Prosperity through Executive Order 13790. The purpose and function of the Task Force was to identify legislative, regulatory, and...

One-third of reservation-based Native Americans fall below the poverty line, and the nations governing these reservations, unable to spur economic development, struggle to provide even the most basic services. Yet, despite their difficulty in...

Research and written by CDFA, this white paper is part of a series examining the potential creation of a food systems asset class which supports the market growth of local and regional food systems which meet the economic, social, environmental, and...

In this annual report, the Idaho Department of Commerce has assembled an FY2018 (July 1, 2017 - June 30, 2018) agency update complete with program reports, grant information, and highlights of the impacts these projects have on Idaho’s economy and...

Jong Sook Nee with Nee Plata Law presents several case studies on how several federal financing tools can be utilized on a single project.

Bennett Hilley with the U.S,. Department of Housing and Urban Development presents on the various development finance tools they provide and how they could work with other federal tools.

Rebecca Sullivan, Senior Vice President of MassDevelopment, walks through bond financing deals and explore strategies for maximizing the tool in New England, particularly focusing on providing capital to existing businesses and critical...

Vincent DiCara, Owner of DiCara Training and Consulting, LLC, discusses access to capital and the benefits of leveraging public sector support for even greater private sector investment and explore a variety of programs available in the region.

Thomas Porter, Director of Commercial Lending at the Vermont Economic Development Authority, discusses unique development financing solutions for mixed-use development.

George Durante, Transformative Development Fellow at Mass Development, highlights project examples and discusses the impact that pro-active catalytic investments can make while driving urban development and renewal.

Jeff Miller, Senior Economic Development Advisor at the Rhode Island Commerce Corporation, highlights project examples and discusses the impact that pro-active catalytic investments can make while driving urban development and renewal

James Key-Wallace, Executive Director at New Hampshire Business Finance Authority, discusses access to capital and the benefits of leveraging public sector support for even greater private sector investment and explore a variety of programs...

Maik focuses on how bonds can be used today to provide a significant portion of a project's capital stack with a special focus on bond financing programs in Florida.

Inez Long discusses how the ability of the NMTC program to expand the availability of credit, investment capital, and financial services in distressed urban and rural communities makes this financing tool a viable option for brownfields...

Jim Walker discusses how the ability of the NMTC program to expand the availability of credit, investment capital, and financial services in distressed urban and rural communities makes this financing tool a viable option for brownfields...

This report by Richard Sherman of The Seneca Group LLC provides an overview of the federal Railroad Rehabilitation & Improvement Financing (RRIF) loan program. The document reviews the purpose of and application process for the program and also...

Juan Cordero surveys the economic activity along the U.S. - Mexico border and looks at strategies for maximizing the financing sources needed to help trade and border-related businesses thrive.