Lessons Learned from PPP

I worked closely with the President of the National Development Council to craft this op-ed highlighting the extraordinary work that NDC did to get PPP loans to truly small businesses and nonprofits — with the vast majority of forgivable loans going to WMBEs and businesses in low- and moderate-income communities. When big banks failed, small lenders saved small businesses August 11, 2020 07:30 AM Daniel Marsh   On Aug. 8, the Paycheck Protection Program—the federal government’s flawed but necessary small-business emergency lending program—came to an end. The program, designed to keep people employed through the initial Covid-19 crisis that brought the economy to a …

An Impact Look Book

Every now and then I get to put my journalism skills to work for my clients. For the National Development Council, I conceived, crafted and project-managed the organization’s first-ever Impact Look Book. Because NDC works behind the scenes on every aspect of economic development, it’s not always clear how this work affects real people’s lives. The Look Book features three uniquely impactful stories. A single father with two teenage sons finds an affordable home in a family-friendly neighborhood in Gallatin TN, where the average housing price has risen from $150,000 to $350,000 in the last decade. An immigrant family in …

Changing the Narrative …

Communicating complex policy issues is hard. And sometimes it’s made all the more challenging when only one side of the story is dominating the narrative. This is what’s happening with Opportunity Zones — a new tax incentive program meant to benefit low-income communities that is yielding very mixed results thus far. But that’s not the whole story. Working with the National Development Council and the Washington State Department of Commerce, together we crafted an important op-ed published in the Seattle Times showing how the State of Washington is developing a model approach to guiding OZ investment where it’s needed most. Read …

Designing the Factory of the Future

One of the most exciting projects happening at Rogers Partners is the collaboration with Nanotronics to reimagine a historic building in the Brooklyn Navy Yard as a fully integrated advanced manufacturing facility and headquarters. Nanotronics has a vision for reinventing the high-tech production process as a seamless workspace, from idea to design to engineering to sales. This requires a complete rethinking not only of this historic building, but also how to design for a cutting edge production process in the urban context. The shared goal is nothing short of bringing advanced manufacturing back to the urban core. From Fast Company: …

Thought Leadership in Urban Planning

  It was a pleasure crafting an article for Planning Magazine on behalf of Dan Marsh of NDC, Seth Pinsky of RXR Realty, and Luiz Aragon, Development Commissioner of New Rochelle. Titled “Skin in the Game,” the piece goes in-depth about an innovative, market-based planning process that is wildly successful for redeveloping downtown New Rochelle. This public-private-nonprofit collaboration is creating dense, transit-oriented development with significant community benefits baked into the process while protecting surrounding neighborhoods. This is exactly how cities will succeed economically, socially, environmentally. This planning process works. See the whole article (PDF): NEW ROCHELLE_1218-1  

NDC in Crain’s NY

October 25, 2018 Rebuild public universities with private-sector efficiency CUNY could speed up glacial development process with nonprofit P3 model Daniel Marsh The City University of New York is in the process of selecting a new chancellor. The longer it takes, the more challenging it will be for its next leader to address a critical issue: CUNY’s aging building stock. This is no small undertaking. The city’s public universities have 24 campuses and more than 300 buildings with an average age exceeding 50. Some date back more than a century. Repairing old CUNY facilities is difficult enough, but developing new …

NDC in Crain’s NY

OPINION December 14, 2017 12:49 p.m. Updated 12/14/2017 OP-ED Congress’ response to successful rehabs like Kings Theatre: kill them Federal reform poised to eliminate New Markets and Historic tax credits By Daniel Marsh Three years ago this February, Kings Theatre in Brooklyn reopened after a years-long effort to rehabilitate this Loews Wonder Theater, one of five built in the New York area at the peak of the Jazz Age. Styled as a French movie palace, Kings opened in 1929 as Brooklyn’s version of the Paris Opera House. Walking into Kings today is like stepping back in time to visit 19th-century Paris and …

NDC’s Non-Profit Model for Infrastructure Development

Filling the Funding Gap for Social Infrastructure By Daniel Marsh | March 1, 2017 Across the U.S., communities like Scranton need both low-cost financing and management help to build and repair infrastructure. In his first address to Congress, President Trump received a standing ovation for one of the few issues with bipartisan support: increased spending for infrastructure. As expected, his proposal relies on public-private partnerships to pay for America’s crumbling bridges, roads, tunnels and more. But even if the Trump Administration can move an infrastructure bill forward, it’s safe to say there will still be large gaps to fill. As …