Feasibility Studies for Alternative Financing

The AT Act of 1998, as amended allows statewide AT programs to conduct an initial 1-year feasibility study concerning the improving, administering, operating, providing capital for or collaborating with an entity with respect to an alternative financing system. Resources to assist with this activity are linked to this page:

• Designing a Feasibility Study for Alternative Financing Programs
  This document includes information on:
  • The Feasibility Study Process - Describes what some of the goals might be for assessing feasibility and the types of feasibility studies
  • Planning and Conducting a Needs Assessment - Describes issues related to working with stakeholder groups and developing needs assessment questions. It also discussed methods for collecting data such as focus groups, online surveys, and print surveys
  • Sample Needs Assessment Survey Instruments - Provides two sample needs assessment tools
    • South Dakota Survey Instrument (RTF format)
    • Wyoming Survey Instrument (RTF format)
  
  
• Feasibility Study Teleconference Series
  A series of teleconference were conducted to assist some states conducting feasibility studies during the FY 2006. Transcripts of these calls are linked to this page.
  • Overview and Introduction to Feasibility Studies - March 2, 2006 (RTF format)
    This call provided background information by Jeremy Buzzell from RSA on what the statute requires as part of a feasibility study, in that the study must include the feasibility of an alternative financing program but it can also be broader and incorporate other financing options. It also provides a brief description of what some states are planning to do as they conduct their studies - from studying the modification and expansion of an existing loan program to the start up of a new loan program, to broadly looking at a number of optional funding sources for a state.
  • Planning and Conducting a Feasibility Study - March 30, 2006 (RTF format)
    This call contained a discussion of how states were planning their studies. Patti Lind provided some tips for including stakeholders in planning the study and offered some suggestions for questions that could be part of needs assessment instruments. Additional resources were also provided related to conducting focus groups, on-line surveys and print surveys.
  • Analyzing and Reporting on Needs Assessment Data - May 4, 2006 (RTF format)
    This call helped the states to continue to discuss the activities they were doing as part of their feasibility studies, such as conducting online surveys, distributing mail in surveys, and hosting focus groups. The discussion also touched on the selection of audiences to survey. Patti Lind then provided information on deriving recommendations from the data. Particular emphasis was placed on determining loan products to fit the needs, such as direct loan for unbankable consumers. The discussion touched on the various audiences for the study findings, such as potential funders to justify the market.
  • Status of Studies - July 31, 2006 (RTF format)
    This final call in the series allowed the participants to provide updates on the status of their feasibility studies. States shared the recommendations from their studies and future next steps.

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