New Markets Tax Credit Briefing Demonstrates Credit's Success in Rural and Urban Communities

WASHINGTON, March 23, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The NMTC Coalition hosted a briefing on Capitol Hill yesterday to share information on the impact of the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) in rural and urban communities. Leading the event was Robert W. Davenport, President of NMTC Coalition and Special Advisor to National Development Council.  Longtime NMTC champion and original cosponsor of the New Markets Tax Credit Extension Act of 2017 (HR 1098), Congressman Tom Reed, provided opening remarks. The event featured a video explaining the mechanics of the NMTC and four presentations by NMTC Coalition Board Members on projects from NMTC at Work in Communities Across America, a report released in December 2016 by the Coalition.

All four case studies generated a significant amount of jobs and investment in many of the most economically distressed communities in the country, and none of the projects would have been possible without the use of NMTC financing.

• Debbie La Franchi of National New Markets Fund, described the first of its kind BlueOak electronic waste and rare earth metals recycling facility in Arkansas;
• Dale Royal of Atlanta Emerging Markets highlighted his organization's role in financing the expansion of a safety-net hospital, Grady Memorial in Georgia;
• Kermit Billups of Greenline Ventures told the story of the catalytic impact of  business incubator IndustryDENVER in Colorado; and
• David Gibson of PNC Bank detailed how the NMTC financed a new facility for St. Martin de Porres High School, an Ohio school for students of modest economic means.

"The congressional briefing provided Members of Congress and their staff with an opportunity to hear about the real-life impact the NMTC is making in our country's most distressed rural and urban communities," said Bob Rapoza, spokesperson for the NMTC Coalition. "Between 2003 and 2015, there has been $42 billion in NMTC investments generated $80 billion total project financing. Moreover, it has created more than 750,000 jobs in capital-starved communities with high rates of poverty and unemployment."

Established in 2000 in the Community Renewal Tax Relief Act (P.L.106-554), the New Markets Tax Credit is a bipartisan effort to stimulate investment and economic growth in low-income urban neighborhoods and rural communities. Congress extended the NMTC for five years as part of The PATH Act. (P.L. 114-113) in December 2015.

U.S. Department of the Treasury data indicates more than 72 percent of NMTC activity is in severely distressed communities with unemployment rates at least 1.5 times the national average or with poverty rates of at least 30 percent. In FY 2016 alone, the CDFI Fund, which operates the program at Treasury, reported that the NMTC delivered $3.16 billion in financing to 530 businesses, community facilities, and economic revitalization projects. Communities put the capital to work, creating nearly 11,000 permanent jobs and almost 27,000 construction jobs in areas with high unemployment and poverty.

Legislation was introduced in the House and Senate in February to secure the future of the NMTC. Congressmen Pat Tiberi (R-OH) and two colleagues on the House Ways and Means Committee, Congressmen Tom Reed (R-NY) and Richard Neal (D-MA), the Ranking Member on the committee, introduced the House bill. The bill currently has 21 Republican cosponsors and 17 Democrat cosponsors.  In the Senate, the bill was introduced by Senators Blunt (R-MO) and Cardin (D-MD). The bills, both titled The New Markets Tax Credit Extension Act of 2017, respectively H.R. 1098 and S. 384, would ensure that rural communities and urban neighborhoods left outside the economic mainstream have access to financing to grow their

For examples of how the NMTC is making an impact in each state, see the NMTC Coalition's NMTC at Work in Communities report or check out its Project Profile Map.

Contact: Ayrianne Parks
[email protected]
(202) 393-5225

SOURCE New Markets Tax Credit Coalition