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Report

Community Infrastructure Center 2025–2026 Market Insights Report

A headshot of a man named Alexander Meeks. He is standing against a blurred background and smiling at the camera. He has brown skin, a short dark brunette beard, short dark brunette hair, and brown eyes. He is wearing glasses and a gray collared polo shirt.

Alexander Meeks

Director, 10,000 Communities Initiative, Milken Institute Finance
Alexander Meeks is a director at Milken Institute Finance. He focuses on helping communities accelerate resilient disaster recovery and adapt to extreme weather events.
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Rachel Halfaker

Director, 10,000 Communities Initiative, Milken Institute Finance
Rachel Halfaker is a director at Milken Institute Finance. Halfaker works on the public finance and resilient infrastructure work which focuses on identifying innovative partnership and financing models for the public finance field and emerging investment strategies for resilient infrastructure.
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Sarah Ortner

Associate Director, Public Finance, Milken Institute Finance
Sarah Ortner is an associate director with Milken Institute Finance. She focuses on the Institute’s Excellence and Equity in Public Finance initiatives, with a portfolio that includes climate resilience, community infrastructure deployment, and emerging markets.
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Savannah Richardson

Senior Associate, 10,000 Communities Initiative, Milken Institute Finance
Savannah Richardson is a senior associate within the Finance pillar at the Milken Institute.
Topics
Finance
Economic Landscape
Regional Economic Development
Public Finance
Community Resilience
Infrastructure
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The United States is facing an estimated $4 trillion infrastructure funding gap over the next 10 years. Many communities lack the capacity and resources to access the funding and financing necessary to develop community infrastructure projects locally. State and municipal budget constraints are tightening, leaving fewer resources for infrastructure construction and maintenance. This funding and capacity gap limits quality of life, public safety, resilience, and economic development for Americans across the country.

In response, the Milken Institute’s 10,000 Communities Initiative created the Community Infrastructure Center (CIC) to ease the technical and financial barriers communities face in advancing infrastructure development. The digital platform connects under-resourced US communities to the capital, technical assistance, and expertise they need to build infrastructure projects.

This report examines how the CIC addresses major infrastructure development challenges at the community level and through national market-building, with a focus on predevelopment, capital formation, and market development. These efforts include matching projects with capital providers and technical assistance; establishing communities of practice for local and national actors; building a network that enables community-led public-private partnerships; and convening Deal Room sessions that connect project sponsors with investors.

In 2026, the CIC had its most successful year yet, connecting communities, developers, technical service providers, and capital providers to unlock much-needed investment in American infrastructure. The CIC will continue to expand its partnerships and impact in years to come.

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