In most states, property tax incentives are the most valuable incentive, yet economic development professionals receive little-to-no property tax training.  The presenters will attempt to plug this gap so that professionals can structure property tax incentives transactions most optimally.  After this session, attendees will be able to estimate more accurately the value of property tax incentives, structure financings and PILOTs appropriately even when there are key unknowns and avoid the three most critical mistakes in property tax incentives transactions.

From this session you will learn how the IRA, IIJA and CHIPS Act can support various economic development opportunities, the prevailing wage, apprenticeship and other strings that come with these funding opportunities and how to create compliance processes with the strings, both those known and those still being finalized. 

Leading economic development professionals discuss strategies, tactics and best practices to balance the needs of parties on both sides of the table during an incentives negotiation.  Panelists that have experience at state, local and corporate levels.  After attending this session, the participant will be able to identify issues created by focusing solely on one party’s needs during an incentives negotiation, understand the potential benefits of identifying and considering the other party’s key desired outcomes and learn best practices for balancing the give-and-take of an effective negotiation.

In this session, you will learn how to apply a systematic and effective method for choosing the best site for your project. You will discover the key factors and criteria that influence site selection process. You will also explore the common challenges and pitfalls that can arise during the site selection process, and how to overcome them. 

This session is designed to dispel one of the most common misconceptions about tax increment financing—that TIF deals are too complicated and time-consuming to be worthwhile. After this session, attendees will be able to identify the most important questions that service providers should ask their clients (or clients should ask themselves) early in the deal structuring process to determine the most beneficial TIF structure, understand and evaluate the factors that will determine the most optimal TIF monetization strategy and successfully layer tax increment financing with other incentive tools.

Economic development professionals with experience in manufacturing, technology, and aerospace will discuss how other disciplines interact with and contribute to the success of EDI projects in their organizations. After attending this session, you will understand how EDI projects can be interdependent on other disciplines and how those other disciplines may bring a different perspective to the success of the project, find your team by identifying potential allies for your EDI project from other disciplines and learn practical tips to help incentive recipients navigate organizational challenges to make EDI projects a success.

Governments at all levels consider numerous factors when determining how to support an economic development project. How do governments determine both qualitative and quantitative returns on investment? What considerations go into the fiscal impact of a project? This session will explore best practices in helping private sector and public sector organizations better understand the key public benefits that serve as “returns” on investment for governments and how that plays into an economic incentives decision. By attending this session you will understand the various public revenue streams caused by an economic development project, understand how different revenues streams are prioritized in quantifying a return on investment to governments and learn the various ways governments monitor returns-on-investment and performance of an economic development project.