1. Providing Training and Resources to Small Water Systems by the EFC Network
Shadi Eskaf
Senior Project Director
Environmental Finance Center at the University of North Carolina
CIFA Conference 2016
October 31, 2016, Austin, TX

2. About the Environmental Finance Center Network (EFCN)
The Environmental Finance Center Network (EFCN) is a university-based organization creating innovative solutions to the difficult how-to-pay issues of environmental protection and improvement. The EFCN works with the public and private sectors to promote sustainable environmental solutions while bolstering efforts to manage costs.
The Smart Management for Small Water Systems Program
This program is offered free of charge to water systems serving <10,000 people, thanks to a cooperative agreement with the EPA. The Project Team conducts activities in every state, territory, and the Navajo Nation.
What We Offer
Individualized technical assistance, workshops, small group support, webinars, eLearning, online tools & resources.

3. Project Team
Funding agencies, primacy agencies, and countless partners in states and territories that help make our work successful +

4. Workshops for small water systems
Many of our workshops and webinars include presentations from funding agencies to water systems to describe funding opportunities and answer questions.
We find most of our TA requests from systems come from systems that attend either workshops or webinars. But we do take referrals from states.
About attendees per workshop on average, and about webinar attendees
We have an list for >70,000 small systems nationally. Then our AWWA sectional partners also invite systems to attend.  We also use listservs.
Note that we would be happy to add any CIFA members to our contact list.   
Workshops empower participants to implement lessons learned immediately—in fact, 83% of small systems have indicated to us through our past course evaluations that they would implement something they learned at our workshop right away.
52 workshops provided in 2016 to date
(not pictured: 16 completed webinars and 11 upcoming workshops)

5. Trainings are focused on affecting change
“The workshop was very helpful and quite timely. Some of the lessons went directly into my draft budget for next year.”- Town Manager
“I learned a lot that I can pass on to the rest of the Board.”-Board Member
“You always provide an excellent webinar regardless of the topic and every topic so far has been useful. Small utilities depend heavily on resources such as EFCN and I hope it can continue.”- Administrator
“Excellent information, delivery, creative funding ideas, scholastic presentation, genuine interest in participants. All above categories were excellent!”- HOA Member
Workshops empower participants to implement lessons learned immediately—in fact, 83% of small systems have indicated to us through our past course evaluations that they would implement something they learned at our workshop right away.

6. Funding program matrices
Available for all 50 states at
Stacey leads our effort to update the funding tables

7. Available at http://efcnetwork.org/
Rates Dashboards
Available at
Stacey leads our effort to update the funding tables
Dashboards created in past rounds of funding have had between 400 and 13,000 views per state

8. Services to Small Systems – Live Content
In-person workshops
Webinars
Peer-to-Peer and Ask-the-Expert web events
Comprehensive technical assistance
Small group sessions on energy
Funder forums
Working with financial regulators (PUCs)

9. Services to Small Systems – On-Demand
Funding program matrices in all states
Downloadable decision-making tools
Rates dashboards (interactive benchmarking)
eLearning modules
Webinar recordings
Blog posts
Educational videos
Dashboards created in past rounds of funding have had between 400 and 13,000 views
Our recorded webinars have had more than 5,700 views

10. All resources at EFCNetwork.org

11. Tool to demonstrate the value of subsidized loans Search for “Subsidized Funding Benefit Calculator” at the UNC EFC website (

15. Thank you, all States and territories, the EPA, and our partners.
Shadi Eskaf
Senior Project Director
Environmental Finance Center at the University of North Carolina