New Markets Tax Credits Benefits
The New Markets Tax Credits (NMTC) Program incentivizes community development and economic growth by using tax credits that attract private investment to distressed communities.
According to Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, low-income communities, have historically, experienced a lack of investment, as evidenced by vacant commercial properties, outdated manufacturing facilities, and inadequate access to education and healthcare service providers. The New Markets Tax Credits Program (NMTC) aims to break this cycle of disinvestment by attracting the private investment necessary to reinvigorate struggling local economies.
The NMTC Program attracts private capital into low-income communities by permitting individual and corporate investors to receive a tax credit against their federal income tax in exchange for making equity investments in specialized financial intermediaries called Community Development Entities (CDE). The credit totals 39% of the original investment amount and is claimed over a period of seven years.
Press Release: U.S Treasury Announces New Market Tax Credit Awards - September 22, 2023
How it Works:
- Tax credits awarded by the US Department of Treasury to CDE.
- Colorado Enterprise Fund works as a CDE, with investors, typically large banks, to provide funding towards the project.
- Investors are awarded credits against their federal tax obligations.
- Investors lend capital to businesses, developers, or non-profits at preferential rates and terms to complete the project.
Types of NMTC projects include:
- Manufacturing
- Hospitality
- Community Services
- Retail
- Healthy Food Access
- Technology
Criteria for NMTC projects:
- Project will create quality jobs.
- Project will impact the community via development, economic growth, or positive environmental impact.
- Priority is given to projects located in underserved or distressed communities.
- Community poverty rate exceeds 20% or median family income is below 80% of state median income.
To date, CEF has allocated $110 M in NMTCs to the Colorado businesses below.
Food Bank of the Rockies (2023)
Food Bank of the Rockies (FBR) is a nonprofit organization that solicits, collects, and distributes food to those in need of assistance. It is the largest hunger relief organization in the Rocky Mountain region, distributing upwards of 178,000 meals every day. Food distribution in Western Colorado had begun to outpace the capacity of the distribution facility in Palisade well before COVID, but the pandemic heightened the need for a larger space. Therefore, FBR relocated to a new distribution center in Grand Junction to increase distribution volume by 48% in the Western Slope over the next four years.
The NMTC loan is being used to:
- Cover increases in operating costs at the new Western Slope facility, including food purchases and payroll.
Benefits of the project to the community:
- Creation and retention of 38 full-time permanent jobs (96% will be quality jobs* & 100% will be accessible to low-income persons or residents of low-income communities).
- The facility will distribute 16 million pounds of food and serve 50,400 low-income individuals annually.
*Quality jobs offer wages in excess of the local living wage and/or employer-sponsored benefits
Vail Health Services (2023)
Vail Health Services (VHS) ia a nonprofit community healthcare system serving Eagle & Summit counties in Colorado. What began as a single health clinic has expanded into a full-service hospital & 12 health service locations. Despite this growth, there remains a critical need for mental health services, especially inpatient care facilities. Currently, community members must travel a minimum of two hours to reach the closest psychiatric hospitals.
The NMTC loan is being used to:
- Construct a new 45,000 sf inpatient psychiatric care facility, the Precourt Healing Center. This will be a 3-story building with 28 inpatient beds (14 adult/14 adolescent).
- Remodel the Wiegers Clinic, an outpatient mental health facility.
Benefits of the project to the community:
- Create 129 temporary jobs (95% will be quality jobs* & 85% expected to be accessible to low-income persons or residents of low-income communities).
- Create or retain 116 permanent jobs (100% will be quality jobs* & 90% will be accessible to low-income persons or residents of low-income communities).
- Precourt Healing Center will serve approximately 686 patients annually and Wiegers Clinic is expected to serve approximately 1,550 patients annually. At least 60% of patients are expected to be low-income persons or residents of low-income communities.
*Quality jobs offer wages in excess of the local living wage and/or employer-sponsored benefits.
Hotel St. Cloud (2022)
Hotel St. Cloud will serve as a catalyst to help revitalize downtown Canon City and bolster the local economy. This project along with other revitalization efforts will create quality, living wage jobs to ensure a diverse economic base, a resilient and growing tax base, and long-term economic vitality for local businesses.
Unbridled, an event management company in Colorado, purchased Hotel St. Cloud in 2018. With the help of many private and public parties, including a $3 million Community Revitalization Grant from the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT) and a New Market Tax Credit financing of $9 million from Colorado Enterprise Fund, this $15 million project will break ground November 2022.
Hotel St. Cloud is located in Canon City which is an area with a 14.6% unemployment rate, 34.8% poverty rate, and a 51.5% median family income. Unbridled used a NMTC to:
- Renovate a 26,000 sf 19th-century historic structure to include a bar, three restaurants, and a boutique hotel.
Benefits of the project to the community:
- Create 59 full-time temporary construction jobs (80% expected to be filled by Targeted Job Seekers*)
- Create 39 full-time permanent jobs in the hospitality industry (93% expected to be filled by Targeted Job Seekers*)
- Increase tourism and hospitality to bolster the local economy
*Targeted Job Seekers = low-income person, resident of a low-income community, person with lower levels of education, or person that faces barriers to employment.
Clifton Community Resource Campus (2022)
Clifton Community Resource Campus is a 20-acre development in Mesa County being constructed to address several needs in the community, notably the severe shortage of childcare and early childhood education (ECE) services. Mesa County is considered a childcare desert and has only enough licensed childcare providers to serve 20% of children ages 0-5. This new community resource campus is located in a distressed area with a 29% poverty rate, a 15.9% unemployment rate, and a family median income of 51.8%. The NMTC loan is being used to:
- Create a community resource campus to include a 22,690 square-foot ECE center, an 11,944 square-foot ECE training hub, and an 11,970 square-foot gymnasium with space for community events.
Benefits of the project to the community:
- Create approximately 73 temporary jobs (100% expected to be filled by Targeted Job Seekers*)
- Create 59 permanent jobs (87% expected to be filled by Targeted Job Seekers*)
- The new ECE center will provide 154 early childhood education seats of which 95% are expected to be filled by low-income persons or residents of low-income communities.
- The ECE training hub will help create a pipeline of licensed ECE service providers.
*Targeted Job Seekers = low-income person, resident of a low-income community, person with lower levels of education, or person that faces barriers to employment.
TruStile Doors (2020)
TruStile Doors is based in Denver and manufactures interior and exterior doors for residential and commercial uses. The facility is located in an area with 15.7% unemployment and a median family income of 48.4%. TruStile used an NMTC loan to:
- Remove environmental contaminants in the site's soil
- Build a 260,000 sf manufacturing, warehouse, and office facility
- Install a 1.5 megawatt photovoltaic roof-mounted solar array
- Install a biomass boiler system that utilizes sawdust waste to heat and cool the facility
- Purchase and install equipment to increase production
Benefits of the project to the community:
- Created 825 construction jobs (80% filled by Targeted Job Seekers*)
- Retained 300 permanent jobs and created 200 permanent jobs (84% filled by Targeted Job Seekers*)
- Added environmental systems are estimated to reduce carbon emissions by 22,000 tons annually and eliminates the transportation of 650 tons of waste monthly.
*Targeted Job Seekers = low-income person, resident of a low-income community, person with lower levels of education, or person that faces barriers to employment.
Habitat for Humanity of Metro Denver
Habitat for Humanity of Metro Denver, Inc. (HFHMD) is one of the largest Habitat for Humanity affiliates in the country. Providing low-income families with safe, affordable housing through its Homeownership Program, Exterior Home Repair Program, and CAPABLE Program is the objective of HFHMD which serves Adams, Arapahoe, Denver, Douglas, and Jefferson counties. HFHMD’s offices, production warehouse, and ReStore facilities are in separate locations throughout Denver, which has proven costly, inefficient, and unsustainable in the long term, so they are establishing a new headquarters to house all of its operations under one roof.
The NMTC loan is being used to:
- Cover cost of renovations to 46,267 square-foot building acquired in Denver. (22,000 sf for production/manufacturing space, 13,000 sf of administrative & programming offices, 6,000 sf for ReStore warehouse and distribution facility.)
- Provide working capital for inventory to ramp up ReStore operations.
Benefits of the project to the community:
- Enable HFHMD to increase delivery of new homes from 50 homes per year to 65 per year.
- Increase capacity of the home repair and improvement program from 100 homes per year to 125 homes per year.
- Retain 96 and create 20 new full-time permanent jobs (100% will be quality jobs* & 74% will be accessible to low-income persons or residents of low-income communities).
- Create 30 temporary jobs (80% will be quality jobs* & 80% will be accessible to low-income persons or residents of low-income communities).
Quality jobs offer wages in excess of the local living wage and/or employer-sponsored benefits.
Cleo Parker Robinson Dance
Cleo Parker Robinson Dance (CPRD) is a prominent minority-led arts and education nonprofit based in Denver rooted in African American traditions. CPRD is one of the largest cultural arts institutions in the Rocky Mountain region and serves as a modern dance company, dance academy, and theater, as well as providing cultural education and health/wellness programming. CPRD has outgrown its existing 25,000-square-foot building and needs to expand its ability to serve its community. The $28.5 million project will double the size of the existing building.
The project is being funded with an NMTC loan from CEF and the Colorado Growth and Revitalization Fund. The NMTC loan is being used to:
- Construct a 25,000 square-foot addition to their existing building built in 1925.
- Add space for a new WellPower behavioral health clinic, a new administrative hub for the STAR program (a 911 alternative response for mental health crisis), and two new theaters for their various dance and youth programming
- Expand their studio space and office space.
Benefits of the project to the community:
- Serve 260 behavioral health patients annually via the WellPower clinic.
- Serve 50 people annually with the new STAR administrative hub.
- Increase CPRD’s youth arts programs from 850 annual visits to 4,800 annual visits.
- Increase CPRD’s youth job training programs from 54 participants annually to 90 annual participants.
- Create or retain 49 permanent jobs (100% will be quality jobs* & 84% will be filled by targeted job seekers **).
- Create or retain 33 temporary construction jobs (100% will be quality jobs* & 95% will be filled by targeted job seekers **).
*Quality jobs offer wages in excess of the local living wage and/or employer-sponsored benefits.
**Targeted Job Seekers = low-income person, resident of a low-income community, person with lower levels of education, or person that faces barriers to employment.
Food Bank of the Rockies - Aurora
Food Bank of the Rockies (FBR) is a nonprofit organization that solicits, collects, and distributes food to those in need of assistance. They service 30 counties in Colorado and the state of Wyoming. FBR works with over 800 hunger relief partners to distribute the equivalent of 181,500 meals every day. FBR’s existing distribution facility is at full capacity and there continues to be a greater need for FBR’s services year after year due to inflation, growing population, and cuts in governmental food assistance.
The NMTC loan is being used to:
- Cover gap financing needed to construct a new 260,000-square-foot distribution center in Aurora, CO.
Benefits of the project to the community:
- Distribute 96.1 million pounds of food annually by 2028, which is a 20% increase in distribution capacity.
- Cost savings of millions of dollars with the ability to receive, handle, store, and distribute larger bulk food purchases due to doubling the number of loading dock bays, 100% more cold storage space and 67% more dry storage space.
- Enable FBR to prepare five times more meals for summer and after-school programs and create more nutritious menus due to the new kitchen accommodating up to 27 people versus 9 in the current kitchen.
- Retention of 152 and create 179 full-time permanent jobs (99% will be quality jobs* & 96% filled by targeted job seekers **).
- Create 128 temporary jobs (75% will be quality jobs* & 95% filled by targeted job seekers**).
*Quality jobs offer wages in excess of the local living wage and/or employer-sponsored benefits. **Targeted Job Seekers = low-income person, resident of a low-income community, person with lower levels of education, or person that faces barriers to employment.