NEW ORLEANS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Venture capital firm and small business lender Advantage Capital today announced a $60 million allocation award in the highly competitive federal New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) program. Administered by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI) Fund, the awards will spur economic growth and development in low-income urban and rural communities across the county.
Advantage Capital is one of 76 organizations, selected from a pool of 206 nationwide applicants, to receive an allocation. A winner in 12 of 16 allocation rounds, Advantage Capital’s total awards now stand at nearly $800 million since the program’s inception in 2001. The firm has helped create more than 30,000 permanent jobs, with average wages hovering above $50,000 a year, in low-income communities across the nation.
“We are pleased to be selected once again for this important program,” said Steven Stull, president of Advantage Capital. “This award enables us to continue to invest in distressed communities and in the companies, ideas and people that will advance opportunity. We have seen what can happen when we target investment in underserved areas, as businesses expand, create and preserve jobs, and foster economic growth and community revitalization. With the country facing unprecedented economic challenges, this program has never been more important than now.”
Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin remarked, “Today’s action demonstrates the Administration’s commitment to promoting economic growth and jobs in distressed communities, and to ensuring that every American can get back to work as quickly as possible.”
This announcement by the CDFI brings the total amount awarded through the NMTC program to $61 billion.
”For almost 20 years, the New Markets Tax Credit has attracted private capital into businesses and communities as they recover from significant shocks to our economy,” said CDFI Fund Director Jodie Harris. “Projects that spur job creation, enable access to technology infrastructure and develop community facilities like federal qualified health centers, are examples of how New Markets Tax Credit investments are especially critical for low-income communities across the country.”
About Advantage Capital
Advantage Capital provides financing to established and emerging companies located in communities underserved by conventional sources of capital. Since 1992, the firm has invested more than $3 billion in companies from a diverse array of industry sectors and has helped support more than 50,000 jobs. Learn more at www.advantagecap.com, or via Twitter or LinkedIn.
About the New Markets Tax Credit Program
The New Markets Tax Credit Program, established by Congress in December 2000, permits individual and corporate taxpayers to receive a non-refundable tax credit against federal income taxes for making equity investments in financial intermediaries known as Community Development Entities (CDEs). CDEs that receive the tax credit allocation authority under the program are domestic corporations or partnerships that provide loans, investments, or financial counseling in low-income urban and rural communities. The tax credit provided to the investor totals 39% of the cost of the investment and is claimed over a seven-year period. The CDEs in turn use the capital raised to make investments in low-income communities. CDEs must apply annually to the CDFI Fund to compete for New Markets Tax Credit Program allocation authority. Since the inception of the NMTC Program, the CDFI Fund has completed 16 allocation rounds and has made 1,254 awards totaling $61 billion in tax allocation authority. This includes $3 billion in Recovery Act Awards and $1 billion of special allocation authority used for the recovery and redevelopment of the Gulf Opportunity Zone.
To learn more about the New Markets Tax Credit Program, please view the program Fact Sheet or visit www.cdfifund.gov/nmtc.
About the CDFI Fund
Since its creation in 1994, the CDFI Fund has awarded more than $3.5 billion to CDFIs, community development organizations, and financial institutions through: the Bank Enterprise Award Program; the Capital Magnet Fund; the Community Development Financial Institutions Program, including the Healthy Food Financing Initiative; the Financial Education and Counseling Pilot Program; and the Native American CDFI Assistance Program. In addition, the CDFI Fund has allocated $61 billion in tax credit allocation authority to Community Development Entities through the New Markets Tax Credit Program, and guaranteed bonds in the amount of $1.6 billion through the CDFI Bond Guarantee Program.
To learn more about the CDFI Fund and its programs, please view the Fact Sheet or visit the CDFI Fund’s website at www.cdfifund.gov.
Advantage Capital is an investment adviser registered under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training. The information in this release is not intended to be an advertisement concerning investment advisory services or an offer to buy or sell securities of any type. Advantage Capital is an equal opportunity lender.