Tuesday, February 9, 2016

RiverLink Salon Series: The new market tax credit to revitalize the watershed



Join RiverLink's Friday Salon on Friday February 26 starting at 3 at RiverLink's Warehouse Studios, 170 Lyman Street, to meet Pat Thomson, Director   National Development Council (NDC). 

Pat Thomson heads the West Team for the National Development Council, 
providing technical assistance to cities, nonprofits and banks to secure and 
structure financing for community and economic development projects. NDC is 
one of the oldest national non-profit community development organizations in the U.S., with a mission to increase the flow of capital to underserved urban and rural areas across the country for job creation and community development. Pat has been a Director with the National Development Council since 1991, and previously served as President of GAF, a CDFI small business lending unit of the National  
Development Council. Pat also is an instructor in finance classes for economic 
development professionals on topics including Small Business and Real Estate 
lending. Prior to joining NDC, Pat worked for the NC Department of Commerce  
in community and economic development. She received a B.A. degree from Duke 
University and a Master's Degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel 
Hill.

According  to RiverLink Executive Director Karen Cragnolin, "We are extremely lucky to have Pat Thompson give us this over view of the New Market Tax Credit Program.  So many projects across the USA and right here in the RAD like the Rad Lofts would not happen without  NMTC. It is an important tool in the tool box of financing projects in the riverfront. The Wilma Dykeman RiverWay Plan that RiverLink funded and facilitated urged use of the NMTC and other creative financing tools to help fuel revitalization in the French Broad River watershed.

Historically, low-income communities experience a lack of investment, as evidenced by vacant commercial properties, outdated manufacturing facilities, and inadequate access to education and healthcare service providers. The New Market Tax Credit (NMTC) Program aims to break this cycle of disinvestment by attracting the private investment necessary to reinvigorate local economies.  The NMTC Program attracts private capital into low-income communities by permitting corporate investors to receive a tax credit against their federal income tax in exchange for making equity investments in specialized financial intermediaries.  As of the end of FY 2014, the NMTC Program has:
  •          Generated $8 of private investment for every $1 of federal funding
  •          Created 163 million square feet of manufacturing, office and retail space
  •          Financed over 4,700 businesses
Since NDC's first New Markets Tax Credits (NMTCs) closing in 2004, they have received $704 million in NMTC allocation and invested in 87 projects in 25 states.  These projects generated total investments of $1.7 billion and created 14,508 jobs.  The 87 projects are located in urban and rural communities, are large and small, and include for-profit and not-for-profit developers. From a community center in a severely distressed and densely populated area of the South Bronx, NY, to a peanut processing company in Severn, MD, these projects represent a cross section of our nation's communities.

Equip yourself with the knowledge for you and your family or business when  you are thinking about a project in the watershed. The Salon  will take place from 3-5 pm at the RiverLink office at 170 Lyman Street Asheville, NC 28801, make sure to park in the Wedge's dirt lot, and not at any of the studios on Riverside Drive. Click Here to Register for this Event. For more information email information@riverlink.org or call (828) 252-8474 x 10.

The RiverLink Salon Series are free informational sessions held throughout the year on a variety of topics that pertain to individual, community, and regional interests. Look for more information through out the year on our Salon Series that are part of our RiverLink 30 Years Celebration!

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