The top 5 Smart Incentives stories of 2018

by Ellen D. Harpel | Dec 17, 2018 | Incentive programs, Integrated housing and economic development, Opportunity Zones

Well, 2018 will be remembered as the year HQ2 took over the conversation around economic development and incentives. Our most popular articles this year were our recent posts on Amazon’s incentive agreements with Virginia, New York and Tennessee, but since we just...

One-third of states consider creating incentives for investments in Opportunity Zones

by Ellen D. Harpel | Sep 3, 2018 | Opportunity Zones

The Council of Development Finance Agencies (CDFA) has a new report describing steps states are taking to make the most of their Opportunity Zones. One common strategy is assessing how other incentive programs can be combined with Opportunity Zones to maximize...

Opportunity Zones Can Benefit From Incentives Lessons Learned

by Ellen D. Harpel | Jun 14, 2018 | Opportunity Zones

I had the opportunity to join a great group of speakers at the CDFA Maryland Conference in Baltimore this week to discuss a wide range of economic and community development finance topics. While I talked about business incentives, other panelists covered everything...

Opportunity Zones – Driving Community Development Finance Through Equity Investments

by Ellen D. Harpel | May 22, 2018 | Opportunity Zones

Now that most Opportunity Zones have been designated, we thought it would be good to provide some insight on the basics of Opportunity Zones and how this tax incentive could be used to spur investment into low-income and underserved communities across the country. How...