Feb 12, 2021 | News, Newsletter
The Western Reserve Community Fund (WRCF), which is managed by the Development Finance Authority of Summit County (DFA), has received official certification as a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) from the CDFI Fund, a program overseen by the U.S. Treasury. All CDFI’s share a common goal of expanding economic opportunity in Low-Income Communities by providing access to financial products and services for local residents and businesses, striving to foster economic opportunity and revitalized neighborhoods.
Feb 12, 2021 | News, Newsletter
Governor Mike DeWine, as part of his state operating budget kickoff, announced a broad and impressive $1 B Investing in Ohio program designed to impact the economic downturn created by the COVID 19 virus. Ohio like many other states around the country have experienced reduced revenues, and economic activity due to the pandemic and the governor is focused on provided resources and support to help spur economic activity while supporting small businesses in the state.
Feb 12, 2021 | News, Newsletter
The mission of economic developers is to grow jobs and capital investment in our communities. While the distribution of employment and investment in communities around the country has long been a concern of Economic Development Organizations (EDO), the question about “WHO” in the community benefits from any increase in jobs and investment is attracting widespread attention.
Feb 12, 2021 | News, Newsletter
Governor Mike DeWine’s Ohio Development Services Agency (DSA) operating budget proposal has clear winners and losers. Fueled by a planned influx of federal funding and additional Ohio General Revenue Fund (GRF) funding, Governor DeWine’s proposed DSA operating budget proposes a 37% decrease from all funding sources for a total FY 2022 budget of $1.7B and dropping to $1.4B in FY 2023. The big fiscal winners in the DeWine DSA budget are primarily focused on the Governor’s Investing in Ohio agenda focused on small business, broadband and small to mid-sized community infrastructure projects.
Feb 12, 2021 | News, Newsletter
New legislation enacted during the recent lame duck session of the General Assembly may alter the allocation of the federal income tax deduction granted for the design and installation of energy-efficient commercial building fixtures. Substitute Senate Bill 259, signed by Governor DeWine on January 9, 2021, requires public entities to allocate the energy-efficient buildings tax deduction to designers of public buildings upon such designers’ requests. (Note that public entities are prohibited from accepting fees, payments, or any other consideration for allocating the deduction.) After receiving an allocation request, the public entity has 15 days to respond, otherwise, the request is treated as though it was approved.
