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Mascoma Community Development (MCD) is pleased to announce the closing of $15 million in New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) allocation to finance the purchase and installation of equipment and machinery for an 80,000-square-foot industrial manufacturing facility in non-metropolitan Defiance, Ohio.
The funding will allow APackaging Group Ohio, LLC (APG), to establish a domestic packaging manufacturing facility offering state-of-the-art production of its newest product.
“It is exciting to support a project that returns manufacturing to the U.S., especially in an industry that requires a higher number of employees to operate. This aligns perfectly with MCD’s mission of creating high quality, sustainable jobs in distressed communities,” says Michelle LeClair, Chief Investment Officer of MCD.
MCD is a Community Development Entity established by Mascoma Bank to help create impactful jobs in highly distressed, low-income rural and minor-urban communities. MCD also targets downtown redevelopment projects that help revitalize communities and provide services to residents.
APG is a high-volume manufacturer of plastic dispensers and pumps used in the consumer health and beauty industries. The new Ohio facility will enable APG to establish domestic manufacturing capacity. The facility will provide APG with the ability to onshore its manufacturing production, currently being sourced abroad. The project will allow for a more sustainable end-to-end supply chain with significant logistical improvements and the efficiencies afforded by automated production capacities. APG seeks to maximize the use of recycled plastic feedstock in its production process, which has been designed to enable zero-waste outcomes. As production ramps up to capacity, APG expects to hire 135 people and will produce up to 500 million plastic dispensing pumps for the health and beauty industries on an annual basis.
APG employees receive on-the-job cross-training, including emergency and safety training. Employees have opportunities for advancement within APG and will establish skills that are transferable to other injection-molding and manufacturing companies.
Helga Arminak, CEO of APackaging Ohio, shares, “As a proud women-owned company, we’re dedicated to delivering groundbreaking product innovation and value. This new facility is a one-stop-shop for all packaging needs from concept to production and will provide our customers a powerful competitive advantage.”
MCD is pleased to report that this project has also made possible MCD’s grant of $75,000 to a third-party Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) partner, Finance Fund Capital Corporation (FCAP), headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. FCAP promotes economic revitalization and community development by providing affordable, flexible capital and technical services to for-profit businesses and nonprofit organizations. Proceeds of the grant will be used to continue FCAP’s Resiliency Loan Fund program for small business and nonprofits throughout the state of Ohio that continue to face financial challenges as they emerge from the pandemic. MCD takes great pride in supporting organizations that strengthen the communities they serve.