City View from the Dike 14 Nature Preserve
by Chris Trepal, Envisioning Cleveland Photo Contest

Financial and Economic Analysis and Strategies
Policy Analysis and Planning
Training Seminars and Conferences
Information Distribution and Exchange
Report and Publications Series
The Urban Redevelopment Community Advisory Service
The Urban Redevelopment Forum

The GLEFC conducts financial and economic analyses to support environmental project planning, development, and implementation. It prepares public and private sector strategies to fund environmental projects, and conducts economic impact analyses identifying the costs and benefits of proposed environmental improvement projects.

The GLEFC assists state and local governments to evaluate public policy alternatives related to environmental finance, and helps these groups plan new financial programs to meet environmental needs.

The GLEFC provides professional training to state and local government officals, business executives, and others on environmental finance issues, strategies, and resources, helping clients make more effective use of existing public and private sector financial resources.

GLEFC provides a vehicle for the exchange of information about current and emerging financial issues and programs related to environmental improvement. The GLEFC encourages the use of the links on this web site to facilitate electronic access to environmental resources and information, both public and private, of selected organizations.

A library of client reports, articles, and other recent publications on environmental finance issues and projects are available. GLEFC staff reports are included in this library.

GLEFC provides professional training to state and local government officials, business executives, and others on environmental finance issues, strategies, and resources, helping clients make more effective use of existing public and private sector financial resources. The GLECF provides expert assistance in strategy-building for brownfields redevelopment. Finance, marketing, and urban real estate redevelopment are the key components of the services available at the GLEFC.

The Urban Redevelopment Forum was created as an experiential model of interagency cooperation in May of 2000 with one meeting, hosted jointly by US EPA Region V and HUD. The purpose was to bring together public development projects with potential funders in hopes of encouraging urban redevelopment. Since that initial meeting, the BOSS has evolved into a working forum of 14 partners comprised of federal, state and local agencies with the single goal of promoting urban redevelopment. The Great Lakes Environmental Finance Center of Cleveland State University facilitates the group.

The primary forum partners are:

• Department of Agriculture (USDA), Urban Conservation, as part of the Summit Soil & Water Conservation District
• Department of Commerce, Economic Development Administration (EDA)
• Army Corps of Engineers, Buffalo District
• Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
• Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA)
• Department of Transportation, Federal Transit Administration (FTA)
• Department of Justice (DOJ)
• National Park Service, Cuyahoga American Heritage River
• Small Business Administration (SBA)
• Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB)
• Ohio EPA (OhEPA)
• Ohio Department of Development (ODOD)
• Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT)
• Great Lakes Environmental Finance Center

Presentations to the Urban Redevelopment Forum:

Three to four development projects will be invited to present to the Forum, per meeting, approximately three times per year. The GLEFC will commit to providing individual follow up for each to determine which Forum agencies can provide financial or technical resources. Presentations will be 15-20 minutes in length with an additional ten minutes for facilitated discussion.

Criteria for Project Presentations:

• The project must have a public entity partnership (with any political subdivision)
• There must be some demonstrated private equity already pledged, either in actual costs incurred, or time or talent expended
• A Phase I site assessment must be completed
• Projects must show a pro-forma statement showing sources and uses of funds, identifying areas of specific need
• Projects with a watershed-related issue and/or an economic development benefit will be more likely to be served by the largest number of Forum agencies.