CAHEC New Markets, a New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) Community Development Entity, has allocated $40,000,000 to three community development projects in Florida, Tennessee, and North Carolina. The investments target early childhood education, family services, and rural healthcare, reflecting the NMTC program's goal of stimulating economic development in low-income communities by attracting private capital.
The first allocation of $11,000,000 supports Childcare Resources' new early learning campus and resource hub in Vero Beach, Florida. The campus will replace a 17,100-square-foot leased facility and expand programming from infancy through second grade. It will include a 16-classroom lab school, student therapy rooms, and a professional development incubator for early learning educators. The expansion increases capacity by 36%, allowing the organization to serve 200 students annually, 85% of whom are low-income, with 20 seats reserved for children experiencing homelessness. The incubator will serve 300 educators annually, 74% of whom are low-income. The project is expected to create 13 new jobs and retain 50 existing positions.
The second allocation of $15,000,000 was provided to Knoxville's Community Development Corporation (KCDC) to support the Transforming Western Heights plan, a 70-acre U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Choice Neighborhood development that includes over 700 affordable and mixed-income rental housing units. The NMTC financing supports construction and renovation across a 35,195-square-foot campus, including expanding an existing Boys & Girls Club, upfitting clinic space for the University of Tennessee Medical Center's Primary Care Clinic, and building a new Connections Building that will house Real Good Kitchen and Junior Achievement of East Tennessee's Entrepreneurship Center, alongside an adjacent public park and plaza. Once complete, the project is projected to serve more than 6,000 community members annually, 80% of whom are low-income, through expanded youth programming, healthcare access, culinary job training, entrepreneurship support, and food security initiatives. It is expected to create 105 construction jobs and 40 new permanent positions.
An additional allocation of $14,000,000 supports FirstHealth of the Carolinas' construction of a new two-story, 40,956-square-foot critical access hospital in Troy, North Carolina. The facility will replace the Montgomery Memorial Hospital built in 1949 and deliver more efficient emergency services, rehabilitation and therapy services, and other comprehensive care to the rural, medically underserved community. Once complete, the hospital is projected to serve approximately 14,000 patients annually while creating 166 construction jobs and retaining 136 full-time positions.
Brian Oxford, CAHEC's Director, Community Capital, said, "All three projects are driven by organizations that are deeply rooted in and have served their communities for decades. Through New Markets Tax Credit investments, we are able to help these organizations and the community members they serve realize their visions for strong, stable, and thriving communities that provide opportunities for years to come." He added, "We are honored to provide New Markets Tax Credit financing to help these projects move from dream to reality."
The New Markets Tax Credits program is designed to stimulate economic and community development and job creation in low-income communities by attracting investment capital from the private sector. CAHEC New Markets, LLC, an affiliate of CAHEC, uses NMTC allocations to finance high-impact community facility projects throughout the Southeast. To learn more about CAHEC New Markets, visit its website.
