Tag Community Development

What are some of the biggest lessons learned from the first three years of the Opportunity Zones program? Bob Richardson is managing partner of Blue Cardinal Capital, a real estate private equity firm with Opportunity Zone projects in upstate New…

How has the Opportunity Zone marketplace evolved over the past 2+ years and how will it continue to evolve going forward? Peter Truog is founder of The Opportunity Exchange, a marketplace that connects impactful Opportunity Zone projects to capital sources.…

How can a regional economic development planning commission help their communities leverage their Opportunity Zone designations? Invest Acadiana serves as a perfect example. Chad LaComb is the economic development planner for the Acadiana Planning Commission (APC), a regional EDA organization…

How can investors, financial institutions, and other local stakeholders leverage the Opportunity Zone incentive to improve community development results? Jeanne Bonds is a professor of the Practice of Impact Investment and Sustainable Finance at UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School in Chapel…

Can an Opportunity Zone marketplace connect communities, OZ project sponsors, and investors to advance capital deployment and community impact? Peter Truog is founder of The Opportunity Exchange — a marketplace that connects impactful Opportunity Zone projects to capital sources. Also…

How can Opportunity Zones ignite a place-based economic development revolution in one of the nation’s poorest states? Alex Flachsbart is president and CEO of Opportunity Alabama, the nation’s first nonprofit organization to create a marketplace for Opportunity Zone investment in…

Erie, Pennsylvania is home to the nation’s poorest ZIP code, and the nation’s first organization dedicated to promoting a municipality’s Opportunity Zones. Erie Downtown Development Corporation is led by CEO John Persinger and VP for finance and development Matt Wachter.…

Is the development of owner occupied housing on a massive scale achievable in blighted Opportunity Zone neighborhoods? First, you have to shock the system. Daniel Edwards and Ebony Edwards believe they are about to do just that. They are the…

How can incubating local businesses in shipping containers achieve Opportunity Zone community activation and gentrification without displacement? Sasha Favelukis is founder of CoPlace, a San Diego-based investment and advisory firm that performs a mix of real estate and local business…

What types of opportunity zone investments are community leaders looking for? And what can local communities do to incentivize investment in their opportunity zones? Joining me on the podcast to discuss these topics and more is Erin Gillespie, principal at…