Roundtable Hopes to Spur Investment in Low-Income Communities
May 12th, 2010 | Add a Comment
On April 29, 2010, ValleyWide Real Estate & Asset Management and the Urban Land Institute hosted a roundtable discussion to educate local investors about the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) Program. The NMTC Program is administered by the US Treasury Department and provides tax incentives to encourage investment in low-income communities.
Roundtable discussion leaders included representatives from The Reinvestment Fund (TRF) and Vince Bekiempis. Mr. Bekiempis reviews applications on behalf of the US Treasury and TRF is an investor in projects that qualify for NMTC. Ed Powalski, Mayor of Allentown, offered some opening comments, as did Cindy Feinberg, Director of Economic Development for Lehigh County. The session was well-received and informative for the 40 participants.
Since the NMTC program was established in 2000, several projects in the Lehigh Valley have benefited from its incentives and more are anticipated in the future. Nationally, the Fund has made 495 awards totaling $26 billion in allocation authority. To qualify for awards from the Fund, an organization must demonstrate that its primary mission is serving or providing investment capital for low-income communities. Please contact Howard Graeffe, President of ValleyWide, if you would like more information.
