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Mascoma Community Development (MCD) is proud to announce an award of $55 million in New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) authority from the U.S. Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) Fund.
The NMTC program allows MCD to direct capital toward underserved communities through financing high-impact, mission-focused projects nationwide, with a primary focus on New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, New York, and Massachusetts. This NMTC award represents MCD’s fifth allocation, providing a total of $285 million since their first award in 2014.
MCD is a Community Development Entity (CDE) established by Mascoma Bank to deploy tax credits into projects that benefit severely distressed, low-income persons and/or communities, and which promote job retention and creation, downtown revitalization, business development and expansion, and additional catalytic development.
“We are so pleased that the CDFI Fund has continued to be supportive of our community development efforts, which bring beneficial change and economic growth to the communities we serve,” said Dick Jennings, Managing Director, Mascoma Community Development. “Projects in the rural areas where we primarily focus our funding have significant need for access to flexible capital and would not otherwise be completed without this subsidy.”
The New Markets Tax Credit was enacted in 2000 to stimulate private investment and economic growth in low-income rural communities and minor-urban neighborhoods that lack access to the flexible capital needed to support and grow businesses, create jobs, and sustain healthy local economies. The NMTC is a 39 percent federal tax credit, taken over seven years, on investments made in economically distressed communities.
“We are very grateful for the continuing support of the NMTC program from our Congressional
delegations in Washington, DC. Their support for our community development efforts and the highly impactful NMTC program allows MCD to make meaningful, lasting change in communities across the country,” shared Clay Adams, President and CEO of Mascoma Bank.
When MCD receives a fee through its NMTC activities, a portion is also reinvested as a grant to support a CDFI partner that is local to the underlying project. Since 2021, MCD has funded $558,750 in CDFI partner grants to address community needs such as childcare, community health, affordable housing, and small business support.