Meet Our Staff
Esrone McDaniels, MPA, Director of Administration and Project Development
Mr. McDaniels serves as the Director of Administration and Project Development for Meridian. Prior to joining Meridian, Mr. McDaniels was the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Administrator for the Florida Department of Community Affairs as well as the Director of the state’s Office of Urban Opportunity, specializing in urban and rural community development and revitalization. In these capacities, primary focuses were devoted to assisting over 250 local governments and communities, both urban and rural, with devising strategies and crafting solutions that advanced their community development initiatives. As the oversight for the state of Florida’s CDBG program, general responsibilities included ensuring compliance with all federal, state and local regulations that governed the various programs in addition to promulgating administrative rules that guided program implementation and management. Mr. McDaniels brings a wealth of invaluable knowledge and expertise in the areas of project development, program management and administration, community development technical assistance and training and program accountability and monitoring. Previous professional employment includes Deputy Homeownership Director and Multifamily Bond Administrator for the Florida Housing Finance Corporation and Comptroller for the Florida Board of Professional Engineers.
Experience: Mr. McDaniels has had the responsibility of administering approximately $300 Million in disaster recovery funding for the state of Florida under the CDBG program and over $100 Million in non-entitlement annual formula grant in CDBG program funding. While with the Florida Housing Finance Corporation, Mr. McDaniels assisted in issuing over $ 500 Million in mortgage revenue bonds and managed over $100 Million in federal HOME funding. As a previous comptroller, Mr. McDaniels has gained financial management experience while overseeing the financial matters of the Florida Engineers Management Corporation in addition to accounting for millions of dollars in professional and license renewal fees for over 35,000 registered professional engineers within the state of Florida. Mr. McDaniels has over 12 years of experience inclusive of real estate, affordable housing, infrastructure development and economic and community development.
Other Qualifications: Mr. McDaniels holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Finance and Multinational Business Operations and a Masters Degree in Public Administration from Florida State University. He is also a licensed real estate agent and a member of the National Association of Realtors and Florida Association of Realtors.
Training
- CDBG Application and Implementation Workshops, Florida Department of Community Affairs
- HomeStrengths, National Council of State Housing Finance Agencies
- Mortgage Revenue Bond Basics, Florida Housing Finance Corporation
- Community Land Trust Training, Florida Housing Coalition
- Real Estate Development, Tallahassee Board of Realtors