Regional ReportsSouth

Arkansas Gains Funding for American Tubing Plant

This funding will help create 100-plus jobs in a distressed community

SPRINGDALE, Ark. — Los Angeles-based National New Markets Fund LLC is expanding its investment in Arkansas with a $10 million New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) allocation to help fund development of an American Tubing Arkansas (ATA) facility in Springdale, Arkansas, that will produce components used in HVAC, refrigeration, defense, and automation products.

The ATA plant is the Fund’s second major project in Arkansas. It follows a $15 million NMTC investment in the BlueOak Arkansas electronic scrap (e-scrap) recycling facility in the rural and distressed Delta community of Osceola. The energy efficient and environmentally sustainable BlueOak project created 75 quality jobs and was named 2015 QLICI (Qualified Low-Income Community Investment) of the Year by the Novogradac Journal of Tax Credits Community Development Awards. It also earned Harvard Business School’s New Venture Award in 2011.

The new ATA plant will create more than 100 permanent jobs in a community designated as a distressed census tract, with a poverty rate of 20.5 percent and an unemployment rate 30 percent greater than the national average. The project is supported by the Springdale Chamber of Commerce, Arkansas Economic Development Commission (AEDC), and Arkansas Development Financial Authority.

“Arkansas has many projects in a position to use NMTC funding to transform distressed communities,” said Deborah La Franchi, National New Markets Fund co-founder and president. “The new ATA facility is one such project with the potential to provide much-needed manufacturing jobs. We look forward to growing our investment portfolio in Arkansas and across the South with other similarly worthwhile projects.”

Belden Hull Daniels, National New Markets Fund co-founder and CEO, added, “With its new state-of-the-art facility, ATA will train, equip, and employ local workers for high-quality jobs. New Markets Tax Credits are the funding vehicle that will make all of this possible.”

New Markets Tax Credits (NMTCs) were established by Congress in 2000 to stimulate investment and economic growth in designated low-income communities. They raise investor capital and leverage public and private funding to provide borrowers, such as ATA, with financing in the form of favorable rates and flexible below-market terms.

For more information about National New Markets Fund, visit www.sdsgroup.com/funds/national-new-markets-fund.

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