Submit Potential Projects (CONFIDENTIALLY) for NMTC Funding

The Georgia Economic Developers Association (GEDA) is asking for your help to bring additional New Market Tax Credits (NMTCs) to Georgia as part of $5 billion in NMTC funding the U.S. Treasury is expected to award in 2022.   The application for this funding is now underway and will be due soon, and we need your help in identifying pipeline projects you are working on that can be submitted confidentially as part of this application process.  The goal is to prove to Treasury that Georgia has the demand for NMTCs.   NMTCs are one of the biggest game changers on the most impactful economic development projects because they often provide millions of dollars in forgivable loans to a project as an incentive to locate in Low Income Distressed Areas.  Here is a PowerPoint presentation of all the NMTCs that have been awarded in Georgia based on the last available public data.
 
If you think that you have an eligible project, please submit your completed pipeline project lead-form ASAP to Randy Griffin, President and CEO, CSRA Business Lending and Georgia Community Reinvestment Fund.  Read on for additional background information.
 
Background:   Last year GEDA  joined a discussion with several agencies including the Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD), Georgia EMC, Georgia Power, Electric Cities of Georgia (ECG), the Georgia Municipal Association, the Georgia Department of Community Affairs (DCA), and the Georgia Association of Regional Commissions about a collaborative effort to form a new non-profit… Georgia Community Reinvestment Fund (GCRF) to attempt to bring more NMTCs to Low Income Communities of Georgia, especially outside of Metro Atlanta.   Georgia has historically been one of the most underserved states in terms of NMTC investments.   GCRF has now been designated as a 501(c)(3) non-profit by IRS and been designated as a Community Development Entity (CDE) by the U.S. Treasury Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund, eligible to apply for NMTCs for Georgia.   Many statewide economic developers you know or may be familiar with are serving on the Advisory Board of GCRF as a part of this effort including: 
 

• Andrea Schruijer, 2021 GEDA Chair; and Executive Director, Valdosta-Lowndes County Development Authority
• Larry Hanson, Executive Director & CEO, Georgia Municipal Association; also on the GDEcD Board and represents GDEcD on the GCRF Board
• Matt Forshee, Community Development Manager, Georgia Power
• Daryl Ingram, SVP & Chief External Officer, External Affairs & Economic Development, ECG

 
Last year GCRF applied for a share of the $5 billion dollar allocation of NMTC’s that Treasury awarded on September 1, 2021.    As is often the case with a first-time applicant, GCRF was not awarded.  This was not totally unexpected.  Treasury typically only has enough funding for 30-50% of the applications received during each round and rarely gives it to first-time applicants.  GCRF barely missed receiving funding in this extremely hyper competitive application process in its first attempt.   Following feedback on its application from Treasury Department staff GCRF is now actively preparing its application for the next round knowing:
 

• GCRF was deemed highly qualified in every category and made the final group for consideration of NMTC funding in this last round.
• GCRF’s score was 99.9 (the applications are scored as part of this very competitive application process).  Scores of 105 and higher were awarded (GCRF’s application was 6 points short).  There are two main scores:  business strategy and community outcomes.  GCRF scored very high (50) on business strategy.  GCRF scored lower (44.9) on community outcomes.  The rest were bonus points. 
• In talking to the NMTC consultants and experts assisting GCRF, the GCRF staff was told that the community outcomes scored lower because the proposed pipeline of projects that were presented as part of the last application were not as strong as other states applicants in terms of impact to low income communities and persons in this extremely competitive process.  That is why GCRF was not selected.  The consultants have said GCRF MUST demonstrate as a state more impactful projects (especially manufacturing and industrial projects) for it to be successful, which is why they have reached out to GEDA and its members. 

 
THE APPLICATION PROCESS FOR THE NEXT ROUND IS NOW UNDERWAY.    GCRF NEEDS YOUR HELP IN ITS APPLICATION IF OUR STATE IS GOING TO BE SUCCESSFUL IN BRINGING ADDITIONAL NMTCs TO GEORGIA.      
 
GCRF’s ASK OF YOU AND HOW YOU CAN HELP:   GCRF has asked GEDA to ask its members to complete the attached NMTC pipeline form to CONFIDENTIALLY have projects inserted into the GCRF pipeline for the next application round for NMTCs.   This submission will be TOTALLY CONFIDENTIAL and will only be seen by the GCRF staff, U.S. Treasury staff, and none of the GCRF Board.   Highly impactful projects economic developers are working on can be submitted through code names to insure confidentiality, if necessary.   These pipeline projects will not only help us win these NMTCs for Georgia, they will also put your community’s project under consideration for this funding should GCRF be awarded these NMTCs in 2022.    Projects can be preliminary, but in general need to:
 

1. Be in a qualifying low income census tract – red and yellow areas – in this map.
2. Project needs to be over $5 million in total project costs.
3. No more than 80% of the project’s ongoing revenue will be from housing rental income. 
4. Projects can demonstrate the need for NMTC funding for assistance.
5. Types of projects can be:  manufacturing or industrial; non-profit community service facilities; medical/healthcare related; or, mixed use developments that impact low income communities.
6. Community impacts and benefits that need to be demonstrated are: creation or retention of high-quality accessible jobs; location in non-metropolitan (rural) counties; impacts to minority borrowers or communities;  providing community goods or services to low income communities that are currently not available; historic preservation; improving brownfield sites of previously environmentally contaminated properties; providing healthy food alternatives for low income residents; or, providing medical resources for low income residents.      

 
GCRF, while being a collaborative effort between many organizations, is being managed by Augusta-based, non-profit CSRA Business Lending which is a 501(c)(3) organization that has provided business financing on over $800 million in projects throughout Georgia using SBA, USDA, and EDA loans.  CSRA Business Lending is a quasi-state agency affiliated with the CSRA Regional Commission and housed within the CSRA Regional Commission in Augusta and overseen by DCA, which makes it a good fit to spearhead this effort.   
 
In order to insure confidentiality, please complete and submit your pipeline project lead-form to Randy Griffin, President and CEO, CSRA Business Lending and GCRF at rgriffin@csrardc.org.  If you wish to discuss your project and how it may fit NMTCs or have questions about NMTCs, please contact Randy Griffin, President of GCRF, at 706-210-2010.  
 
We urge you to consider helping areas of Georgia that need it the most by assisting GCRF in providing a strong project pipeline list to the U.S. Treasury to demonstrate the need for more NMTCs for Georgia.