Partner
Tony Smith
Tony has expertise in the financial and strategic aspects of community and economic development, with a focus on navigating complex financing structures to make high-impact projects a reality.
Tony advises nonprofits, CDFIs/mission-driven funders, manufacturers and developers on the full spectrum of community and economic development finance—from assessing eligibility for various financing tools to developing solid pro formas to structuring and closing multi-layered financing to bring projects from concept to reality. He founded and leads the firm's New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) practice, which provides a full spectrum of services for:
- Project sponsors looking to secure NMTC financing for their projects or businesses; and
- CDEs looking to secure, deploy and manage compliance for NMTC allocations.
SB Friedman’s NMTC practice has written successful applications that have garnered over $2 billion in NMTC allocation from the US Treasury for CDEs, and successfully structured and closed more than $4 billion in transactions. With over 20 years of working in community development finance, Tony has particular strength in stacking the appropriate financing tools: NMTCs, historic tax credits, housing credits, state tax credits, below-market loans, philanthropic capital and public financing, to close financing gaps that would otherwise prevent a project from happening.
Affiliations & Achievements
- University of Pennsylvania, Master's and Bachelor of Arts degrees
- Chicagoland Opportunity Zones Consortium
- Council of Development Finance Agencies (served as national TIF curriculum advisor and instructor, and as lead editor of CDFA’s Advanced TIF Guide)
- Lambda Alpha International-Ely Chapter
- LISC Chicago Board of Advisors
- National Women’s Shelter Network- Advisory Board Member
- Registered Series 50 Municipal Advisor and Series 54 Municipal Advisor Principal
- Crains Chicago Notable Leader in Community Development
