A business expansion project made possible by Montana Community Development Corporation (Montana CDC) recently received a top honor among all New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC)-financed projects nationwide. Novogradac Community Development Foundation, the charitable arm of Novogradac & Company (an accounting firm with expertise in the NMTC), named Montana CDC's $17 million expansion of Stinger Welding in Libby, Mont., the Operating Business of the Year among all NMTC projects. At the time of the award announcement in late 2011, the expansion had created 40 jobs and was projected to create many more. According to one projection, the expanded Stinger Welding facility will eventually employ 1 out of 10 people in Libby, a town that has experienced some of Montana's highest unemployment rates in recent years.
The NMTC Program, which is administered by the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund, provides tax credits to individuals or corporations that invest in job creation or material improvements in low-income communities. NMTC investors channel their investments through specialized organizations called Community Development Entities, which have a primary mission of serving low- to moderate-income populations. The CDFI Fund allocates NMTCs to CDEs through a competitive process, and investors receive the credits over a seven-year period. The credits equal 39 percent of the original investment. For the Stinger Welding project, Montana CDC serves as the CDE, and the Urban Investment Group of Goldman Sachs is the investor.
