PEOPLE INCORPORATED AWARDED $14,000,000 TO FUND HIGH IMPACT COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS

February 24, 2011
Contact Bryan Phipps—Phone: 276-623-9000, ext. 288
Cell: 276-623-3557

U.S. Treasury award of New Markets Tax Credits will enable non-profit to help finance high-impact projects in communities with high poverty and unemployment

ABINGDON, VA—People Incorporated Financial Services, a non-profit community development organization headquartered in Abingdon, VA, has been selected by the CDFI Fund of the U.S. Department of the Treasury to receive a $14,000,000 allocation of New Markets Tax Credits (NMTC) to provide financing for high-impact, community development projects throughout Virginia and the southeastern United States. People Incorporated was selected from among 250 community development practitioners that competed for the NMTC in 2010.

"New Markets Tax Credits are a flexible and innovative way to fund high-impact projects that create jobs and spur economic development," said Rob Goldsmith, President and CEO of People Incorporated. "This award will enable us to further extend our reach into economically distressed communities and deliver the financing that is necessary to get important but difficult to develop projects completed."

CDFI Fund Director Donna J. Gambrell announced $3.5 billion in New Markets Tax Credits awards today in Baltimore, Md., identifying 99 organizations nationwide to receive NMTC allocation awards under the 2010 program round. These 99 awards will leverage billions of dollars of investment into businesses and real estate projects to create jobs and promote growth in communities with high rates of poverty and unemployment.

People Incorporated Financial Services (PIFS) will use its 2010 NMTC allocation to increase lending to operating businesses and real estate projects in underserved areas throughout Central Appalachia and the rural South. The NMTC allocation will enable People Incorporated to provide debt and a new equity financing product to businesses at significantly reduced interest rates and with more flexible terms and conditions, such as longer than standard amortization periods, higher loan to-value ratios, lower than standard origination fees, and lower debt service coverage ratios than are typically available through conventional markets.

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