Third stop in the nationwide EPA Brownfields RLF Workshop Series paired hands-on training with a tour of two landmark New Orleans redevelopment projects
NEW ORLEANS (October 19, 2026) Grow America and ICMA welcomed 66 attendees from 25 states and the District of Columbia to the New Orleans Brownfields Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) Workshop, held October 6 and 7 at the InterContinental New Orleans. The free, day-and-a-half event was the third of four regional workshops in a new national training series for recipients of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Brownfields RLF grants, which capitalize local loan funds that finance the cleanup of contaminated properties. The workshop was the third in a series of four set up for the program, with the last being a session in Clark County, NV in December. For more information on the workshop series, see: https://epa-rlf-tab.growamerica.org/workshops.
Robert D. (Bob) Rivers, Executive Director of the New Orleans City Planning Commission, and Jerry Minor-Gordon-English, Acting Director and Deputy Director of the EPA Office of Brownfields and Land Revitalization, opened the workshop with welcome remarks. Speakers from across the country, from upstate New York to Iowa, led sessions on working effectively with developers, building a project pipeline, underwriting approaches, and RLF processes and policies, with real-world exercises and peer-to-peer exchange throughout.
“Brownfields RLF teams rarely get to sit in the same room with their counterparts from other states and compare notes on what actually works,” said Diana Sasser, a Managing Director at Grow America. “New Orleans gave them that room, along with a city that shows what patient, well-financed redevelopment can accomplish.”
Attendees also gathered at the historic Tujague’s Restaurant for the Big Easy Networking Night, an evening of conversation among RLF teams, speakers, and partners that closed with a round of Brownfields Karaoke.
The workshop concluded with a mobile workshop by bus to two sites that illustrate the range of outcomes brownfields redevelopment can deliver. The first stop was the former Naval Support Activity site, a 25-acre redevelopment led by Brian Gibbs Development that is returning a long-idle federal campus on the Bywater riverfront to active use. The multi-phase project will deliver 294 units of affordable housing, neighborhood-serving retail, and Newlab New Orleans, an innovation hub for scaling advanced energy, industrial, and maritime technologies. The second stop was the Tate, Etienne & Prevost (TEP) Center, the former McDonogh 19 Elementary School in the Lower Ninth Ward, where six-year-olds Leona Tate, Gail Etienne, and Tessie Prevost integrated the school in November 1960. After sitting vacant for 15 years following Hurricane Katrina, the building reopened in 2022 as a center for civil rights education and anti-racism work, with deeply affordable apartments for seniors on its upper floors.
“The Grow America and ICMA EPA Brownfields Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) Workshop in New Orleans, LA was an outstanding event! They did an excellent job bringing professionals together to exchange ideas, share success stories, and explore innovative approaches to brownfields redevelopment. I was honored to serve as a speaker and share SCPDC’s experiences and strategies for leveraging partnerships and financing to transform environmental challenges into opportunities for community revitalization and economic growth. Thank you, Grow America and ICMA, for hosting such an informative, engaging, and impactful workshop! Remember: Partnership is Imperative!” said Lesley Long-Williams, South Central Planning & Development Commission (SCPDC).
Grow America and ICMA thank Geosyntec Consultants, the workshop’s primary sponsor, for making the event possible.
Next workshop: Clark County, Nevada, December 8 and 9
The fourth and final workshop in the 2026 series will take place December 8 and 9 at the AC Hotel Symphony Park Las Vegas. Registration is free and open to EPA Brownfields RLF grantees nationwide, and space is limited. Key deadlines:
- Travel scholarship applications, which cover two nights of lodging at the event hotel, are due November 9, 2026.
- Discounted hotel reservations must be booked by November 16, 2026.
Registration, scholarship, and lodging links are available at epa-rlf-tab.growamerica.org/workshops.
About the Brownfields RLF Workshop Series
Launched in 2026, the Brownfields RLF Workshop Series is a no-cost, in-person training program hosted by Grow America and ICMA for EPA Revolving Loan Fund grantees nationwide. Each day-and-a-half workshop combines instruction, real-world scenarios, EPA RLF success stories, and peer learning, and closes with a mobile site visit. The series is part of the EPA-supported Grow America RLF Technical Assistance for Brownfields (TAB) collaboration.
About Grow America
About Grow America: Founded as a national nonprofit in 1969, Grow America, formerly NDC, has worked for over half a century fulfilling our mission to increase the flow of capital for investment in low-income communities. We direct capital to support the development and preservation of affordable housing, the creation of jobs through training and small business lending, and the advancement of livable communities through investment in social infrastructure. Learn more at growamerica.org.
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