Pathway Lending to Deploy Investments Across Urban and Rural Communities
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (September 8, 2021) – Pathway Lending announced today an award of $30 million in New Markets Tax Credits from the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) to the nonprofit lender’s certified Community Development Entity (CDE). The sole Tennessee-based awardee and a first-time recipient, Pathway Lending will deploy the investment in low-income urban and rural communities it serves.
In the calendar year (CY) 2020 round of the New Markets Tax Credits Program (NMTC), the CDFI Fund awarded $5 billion to 100 CDEs to spur investment and economic growth in low-income urban and rural communities nationwide. The CDFI Fund selected recipients from a pool of 208 applicants, requesting a combined total of $15.1B. Awardees represent 34 states and the District of Columbia.
“For over 20 years, the New Markets Tax Credit has facilitated essential investments into low-income communities and businesses helping them to rebuild after years of disinvestment and enabling them to recover from external forces, such as the current pandemic, which have caused disproportionate harm to the businesses and families in these communities,” said CDFI Fund Director Jodie Harris.
Pathway Lending CDE will deploy investments in projects to expand businesses, build community resiliency, create and maintain quality jobs, and to support its ongoing efforts to further its work in rural Tennessee with a particular focus on operating businesses with expansion opportunities in those areas. Pathway Lending CDE has committed to allocating at least 30 percent of its award to low-income rural communities.
“The New Markets Tax Credit is a powerful vehicle for bringing investment to communities that need it most, one that historically has brought $8 in private investment for every $1 invested by the federal government,” said Pathway Lending CEO Clint Gwin. “Given the substantial benefit these investments offer, this is a great achievement in our organization’s history and a win for the communities we so proudly serve.”
Additional focus areas include established businesses seeking to grow in low-income communities and community service organizations seeking to enlarge facilities so they can reach more low-income and underserved individuals.
Gwin continued, “We’re especially gratified to bring this resource and capital to Tennessee communities – a state identified as receiving a relatively lower share of NMTC awards – where we can put it to work accelerating the creation of quality jobs and support for low-income communities, and we’ve already started actively identifying projects.”
Pathway Lending CDE will assess potential projects with a preference for those that support economic activity in low-income geographies and a specific focus on minority-owned or controlled businesses that create sustainable quality jobs and/or provide community services for low-income individuals and communities.
Established in 2000 by Congress, the NMTC Program attracts private investment to distressed communities. Individuals and corporations that make Qualified Equity Investments (QEIs) in CDEs can claim tax credits equal to 39 percent of the cost of the QEI claimed over seven years. CDEs invest the capital they raise into businesses in low-income communities and must complete a rigorous and competitive selection process overseen by the CDFI Fund to participate in the program.
With almost $56 billion in NMTC investments deployed in low-income communities and businesses through the end of fiscal year 2020, NMTC Program award recipients have collectively created or retained nearly 871,000 jobs and built or rehabilitated an estimated 231.5 million square feet of commercial real estate.
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About Pathway Lending
Founded in 1999 and based in Nashville, Pathway Lending is a community development financial institution (CDFI) certified by the U.S. Department of the Treasury. It has grown to become a major lending institution in the Southeast, propelling meaningful economic growth in communities across the region. In 2020, Pathway Lending made more than $46.1 million in loans and delivered 15,790 hours of technical assistance and education. Get to know our mission and the stories of the entrepreneurs and communities we serve at PathwayLending.org.
