NMTC Funded 322 Projects, Nearly 60,000 Jobs Across the U.S. in 2023

–News Direct–

The New Markets Tax Credit Coalition today released its 2024 New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) Progress Report, the 20^th edition of the reportproviding analysis of NMTC activities in 2023. The report was prepared by the NMTC Coalition, a national membership organization of Community Development Entities (CDEs) and investors organized to advocate for the NMTC. Every year since 2005, the NMTC Coalition surveys CDEs about their work, delivering billions of dollars to businesses, creating jobs, and rejuvenating the parts of the country that have been left behind. The annual NMTC Progress Report presents the findings of the CDE survey and provides policymakers and practitioners with the latest trends and successes of the NMTC.

This report shows the NMTC is an efficient and powerful tool that drives impactful investments to low-income communities, said Phil Glynn, NMTC Coalition Board Chair and President of Travois, a Certified B Corporation focused exclusively on promoting housing and economic development for American Indian, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian communities. Two decades after its introduction, the NMTC remains one of the federal governments most effective tools for job creation and economic stabilization. These investments create high quality, accessible jobs in the communities that need them most.

Report highlights include:

JOBS AND INVESTMENT

322 projects totaling $7.6 billion received $4.5 billion in NMTC allocation (at a ten-year cost to the federal government of $1.17 billion).
Projects generated 59,332 jobs in 2023, including 33,676 permanent full-time-equivalent (FTE) jobs and 25,656 construction jobs. The federal cost per job averaged under $20,000.

AREAS TARGETED

Projects in 49 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.
Severe Distress: 84.5 percent of NMTC financing went to severely distressed communities and 28.1 percent to non-metropolitan counties.
A record 19 projects totaling $313.9 million in allocation (7.1 percent of all allocation) were in Indian Country or in majority-Native American, Native Hawaiian, or Native Alaskan census tracts.

EQUITY PRICING

NMTC equity pricing increased over the course of 2023. The median price reported was $.78, ranging from $.68 to $.92.

COMPONENTS OF PROJECTS

Jump-starting American Manufacturing: NMTC financing supported 89 manufacturing and industrial businesses with direct loans and equity investments for working capital, new equipment, or new or renovated industrial space, including shared, light industrial space for multiple manufacturing businesses.
Real Estate: NMTC financing supported the construction or renovation of 13.5 million square feet of real estate and the construction or renovation of 1,132 homes and rental units targeted at low-to-moderate-income households.

STRENGTHENING COMMUNITY ASSETS

Expanding Access to Healthcare: The NMTC expanded healthcare access for residents of low-income communities through 89 projects. Those projects included 49 federally qualified health centers, safety-net hospitals, and free clinics.
Expanding Access to Services: Sixty-one percent of projects (195) included at least one community facility, affordable housing, a nonprofit, or social service component. Those new community resources add up to nearly 350 nonprofits, health centers, childcare centers, libraries, community centers, and other community facilities and social service providers. Forty-two projects expanded access to vocational training, college and university facilities, financial education, support for entrepreneurs, or other adult education or workforce development programs.
Project Selection Trends: In comparison to early in the program (2003-2010), in recent years (2018-2023), NMTC projects are much more likely to support healthcare, manufacturing, co-located social services, food banks, and services for people experiencing homelessness.

This year, 80 CDEs participated in the survey. Their answers were supplemented by data from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Open Corporate, Loopnet, annual reports, and other online materials from NMTC-financed businesses and nonprofits.

Over the course of two decades, the data show the NMTC not only delivers an unprecedented level of capital to low-income rural and urban communities, but it also creates much-needed jobshelping individuals and families thrive and, in turn, grows those local economies where they live and work. In fact, since 2003, the NMTC has created more than one million jobs, said Coalition spokesperson Bob Rapoza.

The report showcases the importance of the NMTC in providing more than two decades worth of patient, flexible capital to businesses and projects located in distressed rural and urban communities, thereby creating jobs and growing business opportunities. The NMTC financing ranges from traditional industry and community sectors to new and cutting-edge technology. Projects and businesses that benefited from the Credit in the past year include manufacturing, healthcare, schools, and many others supporting childcare, youth, and families.

Rapoza notes, This report demonstrates that the NMTC has a 20-year track record of working, and Congress should, once and for all, expand and make the Credit permanent. It has the potential to positively impact communities across the country for decades to come.

About New Markets Tax Credit Program–The New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) was enacted in 2000 to stimulate private investment and economic growth in low-income urban neighborhoods and rural communities that lack access to the patient capital needed to support and grow businesses, create jobs, and sustain healthy local economies. Since its inception, the NMTC has generated more than one million jobs. Today, due to the NMTC, over $135 billion is hard at work in underserved communities in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. For more information, visit www.NMTCCoalition.org.