The Marshall Local Development Finance Authority (LDFA) was created on November 19, 1991 under the authority of Act 281 of the Michigan Public Acts of 1986. The mission of the LDFA is to eliminate conditions of unemployment and joblessness and to promote tax base expansion and economic viability for the City of Marshall.

As stated in the 1992 LDFA Development Plan, funds generated through tax increment financing in the LDFA district will be used to fund infrastructure improvements in The Brooks Industrial & Research Park Area (formerly the L. Alta Brooks Industrial Park). This includes legal, design, and administrative services as necessary. The LDFA may also obtain funds through public bond sales or other legal borrowing methods approved by both the Authority and the Marshall City Council. LDFA meetings are held on the third Thursday of every month at 7:30 a.m. at Standard Printing & Office Supply.

In June 2000, Marshall City Council appointed the eleven members of the LDFA to serve as the City's Economic Development Corporation (EDC). Marshall's EDC was originally incorporated in 1979. In this role, the LDFA became responsible for performing the essential public functions of the EDC. These include: alleviating and preventing conditions of unemployment, assisting and retaining local industries and commercial enterprises in order to strengthen and revitalize the economy of the City and the State of Michigan. Responsibilities also include providing means and methods for the encouragement and assistance of industrial and commercial enterprises in locating, purchasing, constructing, reconstructing, modernizing, improving, maintaining, repairing, furnishing, equipping, and expanding within the City, as well as, encouraging the location and expansion of commercial enterprises to more conveniently provide needed services and facilities to the City and its residents.