Transportation agency taps ‘Build America’ leader

The Department of Transportation has tapped an executive director to lead its Build America Bureau, the agency announced Friday.

Martin Klepper will join the newly created entity, which was established this summer to back transportation and infrastructure projects in the U.S.

Klepper is a senior partner for the Energy and Infrastructure Projects Group at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, LLP, where he has had a hand in developing and financing large infrastructure projects. 

{mosads}Klepper has experience working with federal and state governments, banks, underwriters, equity investors, multilateral lenders and export credit agencies.

“We are pleased to have someone with Martin’s significant experience and expertise at the helm of the Bureau,” said Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. “Under his leadership, the Bureau will be a driving force in financing transportation projects across the country.”

The Build America Bureau was designed to serve as a “one-stop shop” for infrastructure projects in the U.S. by streamlining credit and grant opportunities, providing technical assistance and encouraging innovative best practices in project planning, financing and delivery. 

It also helps state and local governments develop and finance public private partnerships.

The bureau’s creation comes at a time when private financing for infrastructure is likely to be a hot topic in the next administration.

President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to invest $1 trillion in the country’s infrastructure by offering tax credits to private investors, while his economic advisers have floated the idea of creating a national infrastructure bank to offer low-interest loans to investors.