Lansing, MI - The U.S. Treasury Department's Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund Director Donna J. Gambrell traveled to Michigan this week on a two-day trip to highlight how the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) Program has provided needed jobs and revitalization to the Detroit and Lansing areas.

On Tuesday, Director Gambrell visited three NMTC investments in Detroit: a large-scale revitalization of a former General Motors building sponsored by the College for Creative Studies that has created over 210 construction jobs, 200 permanent jobs, and 300 new school seats; the University Preparatory Academy that has now expanded to a fourth campus creating 30 construction jobs and 27 permanent positions at the school; and TechTown's 300,000 square foot business incubator where more than 70 businesses involved in public health, biobanking, life sciences, alternative energy, education, and advanced manufacturing are creating new economic opportunities and jobs in the Detroit area.

Today, Director Gambrell traveled to Lansing to participate in the grand opening celebration of a new flagship building for Peckham, Inc., along with Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm and Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero. Peckham is a nonprofit organization that provides job training and job placement assistance for persons with disabilities or other barriers to employment.

"On this Earth Day, we are not only celebrating the grand opening of Peckham's new LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) silver certified manufacturing facility that will enable it to continue helping thousands of Michigan residents with employment," said CDFI Fund Director Gambrell. "We are also clearly seeing first hand how the New Markets Tax Credit Program is helping communities obtain the needed financing to overcome barriers to employment by not only creating jobs, but also valuable training opportunities for the skilled workforce in this great state."

Peckham's new building consolidates all their Lansing-based manufacturing into one flexible manufacturing facility with additional space for offices, computer labs, and classrooms for new job training programs. This new facility will allow Peckham to grow and expand, offering an additional 200 to 300 jobs within the next 10 years. Over 75 percent of the people employed have a substantial disability, and because of Peckham they now have long-term employment and career advancement skills.

Since 2005, the NMTC Program has helped to create over 255,000 jobs across the nation, 18,000 in Michigan. Through the NMTC Program, the CDFI Fund has allocated a total of $102 million in tax credit authority to three Michigan awardees. In addition, a total of $154 million in NMTC capital was invested in 50 different projects across Michigan which leveraged total projects costs of $459 million in direct investments to build charter schools, residential housing, and a business incubator where people have the necessary tools and support to start their own businesses.

Background on the NMTC Program

The NMTC Program, established by Congress in December 2000, permits individual and corporate taxpayers to receive a credit against federal income taxes for making qualified equity investments in Community Development Entities (CDEs). The credit provided to the investor totals 39 percent of the cost of the investment and is claimed over a seven-year period. Substantially all of the taxpayer's investment must in turn be used by the CDE to make qualified investments in low-income communities.

The NMTC Program is administered by the U.S. Treasury Department's CDFI Fund. In the six rounds to date, the CDFI Fund has made 364 allocation awards totaling $19.5 billion in tax credit authority, including $1 billion that was specifically set aside for recovery and redevelopment in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Additional information on the NMTC Program and the CDFI Fund can be found by visiting: www.cdfifund.gov.

Background on Peckham, Inc.

Peckham, Inc. is a 501c(3) nonprofit organization and was founded in 1976 to provide job training and placement for persons with disabilities or other barriers to employment. It serves more than 6,000 local residents through various employment and life skills programs. Last year Peckham assisted 1,275 people obtain competitive employment. Peckham also employs nearly 2,000 daily in their manufacturing, business services, distribution and logistics and environmental services lines of business.

Additional information on Peckham, Inc. can be found by visiting: www.peckham.org.