The U.S. Department of the Treasury recently awarded Commonwealth Cornerstone Group, a nonprofit community development entity (CDE) created by the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency (PHFA), $55 million in New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) allocations.
“We’re grateful to the U.S. Treasury for allocating these tax credits to Commonwealth Cornerstone Group,” Brian A. Hudson Sr., chairman of CCG and executive director and CEO of PHFA, said. “These tax credits have tremendous potential to spark economic revitalization in distressed areas of the state, and we’re eager to put them to work in Pennsylvania.”
The NMTC Program allows individual and corporate taxpayers to receive a non-refundable tax credit against federal income taxes for making equity investments in CDEs. CDEs that receive the tax credit allocation authority under the program are domestic corporations or partnerships that provide loans, investments, or financial counseling in low-income urban and rural communities.
CCG aims to use the tax credits to fund projects to create business opportunities and spur economic revitalization. CCG will use the credits to provide loans and equity investments for business expansion, mixed-use development, and community facilities across Pennsylvania.
“New Markets Tax Credits have a proven track record of attracting private sector investments to areas that need jobs and an economic spark,” Gov. Tom Wolf said. “These tax credits incentivize private sector companies to invest in areas that otherwise might be neglected, and in doing so, they promote economic revitalization.”
With the recent allocation, CCG has received eight NMTC awards totaling $406 million. The first seven awards of tax credits were used to fund 38 developments across the state. The NMTCs have stimulated the creation of 6,921 construction jobs and 6,618 permanent jobs in Pennsylvania.
CCG is one of 73 community development entities across the country that received an allocation of the total $3.5 billion in credits. 214 CDEs had applied for tax credits, and 34 percent of the applicants received funding in this latest round of awards.