CPD Economic Development Overview of CPD Economic Development Initiatives CPD has developed a range of economic development initiatives to complement these efforts. They are designed to exploit the newly-recognized competitive advantage or location efficiency of the inner city. This advantage can be a key weapon in reducing wage disparities and boosting local economies. Cities are particularly well positioned to take advantage of the emergence of regional cluster economies, which rely on the proximity of businesses and supporting institutions as well as tightknit social networks to succeed.
Cities can be the engines of growth in the new metropolitan economies.
It is a powerful tool for economic dev elopment. The strength of the guaranteed Loan Fund is that it permits communities to use federally-guaranteed loans, rather than CDBG funds to leverage private funds for the purposes of economic development and community revitalization. This enables communities to use their scarce CDBG dollars for other activities. Since the program was created, HUD never has called on the Treasury to pay back defaulted loans. The CIIC is intended to provide ongoing credit for small business development in Enterprise Zones, Enterprise Communities, and other CDBG-eligible communities.