Wednesday, December 9th & Thursday, December 10th 2009

Hotel Monaco

700 F Street, NW

Washington, DC

Wednesday, December 9th

12:00 – 12:30 pm: Conference Registration (Paris Ballroom)

12:30 – 2:00 pm: Welcome and Opening Luncheon (Paris Ballroom)

Welcoming Remarks

• Ron Phillips – Coastal Enterprises Inc. (CEI) & President, NMTC Coalition
• Bob Rapoza – Rapoza Associates

Luncheon Speakers:

• Honorable Michael Barr – Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions, US Treasury Department

2:00 – 2:45 pm: NMTC Allocation Awards (Athens Room)

NMTC Coalition staff will report on the CDFI Fund’s 2009 NMTC allocation awards and discuss some of the trends that have emerged in the awarding of NMTC allocations over the last 6 years.

• Courtney Spangler – Rapoza Associates

2:45 – 4:00 pm: Strategies for Raising Investment Capital in a Changing Economy (Athens Room)

During a period of sustained economic growth, Congress enacted the New Markets Tax Credit. Nine years and $14 billion in QEIs later, the NMTC industry is learning to operate in an economy in which unemployment, foreclosure rates and federal budget deficits are on the rise. While this upheaval has an impact on New Markets, CDEs are finding new ways to put workable transactions together. This panel of seasoned NMTC practitioners will discuss how they are closing investments in this environment and what they see ahead.

• Moderator: Bob Rapoza – Rapoza Associates
• Robert Davenport – National Development Council
• Julia Nelmark – Midwest Minnesota Community Development Corporation
• Robert Jenkins – Hampton Roads Ventures, LLC
• Scott Sporte – NCB Capital Impact

4:00 – 4:15 pm BREAK

4:15 – 5:15 pm: Comments on the NMTC Allocation Application (Athens Room)

On August 3, 2009 the CDFI Fund issued a request for public comments on the New Markets Tax Credit Allocation Application. Along with other organizations, the NMTC Coalition submitted comments on a range of issues including the definition of unrelated parties, and provided recommendations for improving the collection of economic impact data, increasing minority CDE participation, and how the application can more efficiently collect information on a CDEs financing products. This panel will provide you with an opportunity to hear from NMTC interest groups about how they feel the NMTC application could be made more efficient for both applicants and the readers who score the applications.

• Moderator: Gary Perlow – Reznick Group
• Linda Davenport – Rapoza Associates
• Michael Novogradac – Novogradac & Company

Thursday, December 10th

8:00 – 8:30 am: Breakfast and Opening Remarks by Congressman Xavier Becerra (D-CA) (Athens Room)

8:30 – 9:30 am: NMTC Coalition Annual Membership Meeting (Athens Room)

9:30 – 10:00 am: Congressman Brian Higgins(D-NY) and Congressman Patrick Tiberi (R-OH) (Athens Room)

Congressmen Higgins and Tiberi will address the conference and discuss how they came to be champions of the NMTC and the work they are doing to support the NMTC extension effort.

10:00 – 10:30 am: Donna Gambrell, Director of the CDFI Fund (Athens Room)

Donna Gambrell, Director of the CDFI Fund will address the conference and share her insights and impressions as a result of her many visits to NMTC projects and working with the Administration to advance its NMTC agenda

10:30 – 11:30 am: NMTC Policy Panel (Athens Room)

Representatives from IRS and Treasury Department working with the New Markets Tax Credit program team will discuss regulatory and program issues regarding the NMTC including comments received on the NMTC allocation application. Congressional staffers working to advance the New Markets Tax Credit Extension Act of 2009 will also be on hand to provide the latest news from the Hill on tax legislation and the extender bill.

• Moderator: Alison Feighan – Rapoza Associates
• Jorge Castro – Office of Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV)
• Melissa Mueller – Office of Representative Richard Neal (D-MA)
• Adam Francis – Office of Congressman Patrick Tiberi (R-OH)
• Matt Josephs – Community Development Financial Institutions Fund
• Paul Handleman – Internal Revenue Service
• Brandon Carlton – Department of Treasury, Office of Tax Policy

11:30am – 12:30 pm: Challenges and Opportunities in the NMTC Investor Market (Athens Room)

How have changes in the financial services landscape impacted the NMTC investor market? While the slowing economy has forced some investors out of the Credit market it also motivated CDEs to seek out new debt and equity investors. How have market changes and new bank oversight and regulations affected the way lenders evaluate NMTC investments and loans? And how might some of the anticipated changes in bank regulation and CRA impact the way that lenders evaluate investments opportunities in low income communities? These and other questions will be addressed by a diverse panel of NMTC investors and regulators.

• Moderator: Linda Davenport – Rapoza Associates
• Ellen Lazar – Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
• Barry Wides – Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
• Reggie Johnson – Huntington National Bank
• Matt Reilein – JPMorgan Chase
• Marc Hirshman – US Bancorp
• Joseph Firschein – Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
• Claudia Robinson – Bank of America

12:00 pm: Closing Remarks

Download a copy of the agenda here.