Coastal Enterprises, Inc. (CEI) has been awarded $481 million of investment capacity under Rounds I, II, IV, V and VI of the U.S. Treasury Department’s New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) program. CEI has utilized $235.5 million of this capacity in 23 projects triggering total private capital investment in low-income communities of over $771 million that directly supports CEI’s triple bottom-line or “3E” measures for Economic progress, social Equity, and Environmental sustainability. CEI has a national service area under the NMTC program with an emphasis on rural areas and a core market of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, upstate New York and western Massachusetts.

CEI’s Investment Themes

• Rural Natural Resource-Based Business Investments.  Loans to operating companies utilizing sustainably-managed natural resources as key assets in their businesses, often in rural areas, creating value-added products (e.g. working forests, pulp and paper companies, wood products companies, agricultural processors, marine businesses, and recreational tourism ventures).
• High Community-Impact Business and Real Estate Investments.  Loans to operating companies and real estate developments with compelling triple bottom-line (“3E”) features, including use of renewable energy, energy conservation, and “green building” design.
• In the final stage of underwriting a Small & Medium Enterprise Revolving Loan Fund.  Smaller loans from $100,000 to $2 million for small and medium-sized businesses of all types, which provide the majority of employment in rural areas, with an emphasis of 3E benefits.  Program roll-out anticipated in late-2008.
  

CEI’s Investments

Gulf of Maine Research Institute (GMRI). $4.1 million NMTC capacity used to provide the long-term debt financing for the new GMRI marine research/education laboratory in Portland, Maine, with a principal mission of supporting the fishing industry in the Gulf of Maine.

Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC). $17.0 million of NMTC capacity used to provide the long-term debt financing for a major new recreational tourism/working forest business to be operated by AMC in northwestern Maine, offering extensive community input and benefits.

Lyme Timber Company. $9.3 million of NMTC capacity used to provide long-term debt financing for 83,000 acres of sustainable working forest adjacent to the Adirondack Park in New York, with a commitment to support new recreational tourism development ventures.

Fralo Plastech Manufacturing. $6.2 million of NMTC capacity used to facilitate an equity investment in an early-stage manufacturing company of engineered plastic septic tank systems located in an upstate New York Empire Zone and utilizing recycled plastic.

GMO Renewable Resources (GMO). $27.8 million of NMTC capacity used as one of three NMTC award winners combining to facilitate $70 million of long-term debt on a $246 million purchase of 1.1 million acres of sustainable working forest in Maine and New Hampshire. The corporate investor and unrelated corporate buyer have agreed to fund and support a cooperative effort among themselves, the NMTC entities and The Nature Conservancy on a range of development and conservation objectives, including sustainable working forest certification (SFI), development of new industries and recreational tourism enterprises in the region, and other mission-driven programs of the NMTC “allocatees” in their respective low-income service areas throughout the nation.

Ingraham Community Services. $4.0 million of NMTC capacity used to allow Ingraham, a community-based nonprofit that provides crisis response, residential, and support services to purchase a building in downtown Portland. It will consolidate its disparate operations into one location so that it can reduce its rental costs, take advantage of greater operational efficiencies, and assure a continuing presence and availability of its community services on the Portland Peninsula. The use of NMTCs in this project will help sustain a critical community resource and service provider, support crucial services that assist some of the community’s most challenged populations, and aid in the economic development and revitalization efforts in Portland’s downtown district.

22 Park Street, Lewiston ME. Pending. $2.12 million of NMTC capacity used to purchase and rehabilitate a 4-story building in downtown Lewiston, ME into a “mixed-use” commercial/housing project by CEI Housing, Inc. The project includes significant community benefits, including redevelopment of a vacant urban structure; provision of first-class commercial/office space at a discount from market; the creation of additional needed new housing units (8); and support for the overall viability and vitality of downtown Lewiston.

13 Mile Woods, Errol, NH.  $2.39M of capacity allowed the Town of Errol to purchase 5,269 acres of forestland in northern NH after two decades of planning. This community forest is managed to preserve traditional forestry uses, recreation, wildlife habitat and associated jobs.

Plymouth Community Health Center, Plymouth, NH.  $3.4M of capacity used to finance the construction of a non-profit community health center in Plymouth affiliated with the Speare Memorial Hospital, creating 17 high quality jobs.  The area defined as “medically underserved” by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and a health professional shortage area as defined by the NH Health Resources and Services Administration. 

Lyme Timberlands II, NY. $23.7M of capacity used to provide long-term debt financing for 276,010 acres of working forests in the Adirondacks.  Sustainable harvesting practices allow for a long-term wood supply agreement to furnish the critical International Paper Ticonderoga mill.  In addition, over $1 million of funding created via this NMTC transaction as supplemental capital to CEI's Northern Heritage Development Fund.

Richford Main Street Mill, Richford, VT.  $4.9M of capacity to fund a mixed-use redevelopment in Richford of a former textile mill.  The project features clinical space in a “medically underserved” area, a grocery store, pharmacy, office space, and affiliated low-income housing funded simultaneously but outside of the NMTC transaction.  This project is expected to retain 20 jobs and create 25 new jobs.

Brooks Landing, Rochester, NY.  $10M of capacity leveraged another $10M in public and private funds to create an extended stay hotel in a blighted area of the city after 20 years of effort by the City of Rochester to bring to fruition.  It links a highly distressed neighborhood to the University of Rochester and the Strong Memorial Hospital.  Estimated permanent job creation is 150.

River Valley Market, North Hampton, MA.  $7.4M of capacity for a cooperatively-owned natural foods store to create 70 new jobs. Built to silver LEEDS certified green-design standards, the market is a community business supporting sustainable agricultural development in the Connecticut River Valley with a dues paying membership of more than 2,000.

Long Dock Beacon Hotel/Conference Center, Beacon, NY.  $15M of capacity as a first phase of a brownfields redevelopment project that sets a national standard for 3E underwriting with public/private community enhancement, job creation, and environmental sustainability.  Long Dock will be a 166-room facility that will include a conference center, retail space, boat storage, greenhouse, and other amenities. Environmentally sustainable design and construction practices will make it the “greenest hotel in America” built to Gold LEEDs standards.

Webb Building, Buffalo, NY. $10.5M of capacity for a mixed-use redevelopment of endangered historic building featuring 32 two-bedroom apartments, 13,000 SF of office space and specialized daycare providing “integrated education” for 200 children with disabilities from local low-income community.

The Electric Tower, Buffalo, NY.  $6.0M of capacity combined with another $6.0M from another NMTC allocatee for the historic redevelopment of a landmark 14-story building in Buffalo. The project will produce 132,000 SF of Class A office space for over 555 permanent workers and employ building practices equivalent to LEEDs standard certification by the U.S. Green Building Council.

Oscar Brown Block Redevelopment, Claremont, NH. $2.8M of capacity for a mixed-use renovation of 1800’s era building in downtown Claremont. The project combined eight sources of subordinated debt and grant funding along with NMTC and Historic Tax Credit equity funds to create a prototype development for commercial and residential space in this small industrial era town.

Worcester Center for the Performing Arts, Worcester, MA*. $4.25M of capacity to restore an historic performing arts theater to spur the economic revitalization of downtown Worcester, MA.  The restored theatre will host over 100 world-class performances annually attracting about 150,000 patrons each year once fully established.  WCPA will also collaborate with local colleges and the Performing Arts School of Worcester to provide youth programs in theatre, music, and dance.

Maine Mutual Insurance, Presque Isle, ME. $7.0M of capacity used to help expand the Maine Mutual Group’s (MMG) office facilities and technology infrastructure in a particularly challenged rural county in Maine.  The expansion and upgrades are allowing MMG to almost double the size of its operating facility and hire an additional 45 professional employees.

Claremont Mills, Claremont, NH.  $18.5M of capacity for mixed commercial use of a long-abandoned historic mill structure utilizing both Historic Tax Credits and NMTCs, this project is the linchpin of renewed activity in Claremont’s highest priority re-development area, in a non-metropolitan area overlooked by several decades of progress.  This project has very strong triple bottom-line benefits, including over 150 new high-quality jobs, featuring professional employment at a rapidly growing computer company.

Hampton Inn, Presque Isle, ME.  $11.0M of capacity used for the development of a 93-room “flagged” Hampton Inn built to LEED standards. In addition to catalyzing the redevelopment of a blighted downtown site, the project responds to the community’s plans and initiatives of strengthening Presque Isle’s business and tourism infrastructure and reversing the county’s high rate of out-migration. Through the 68 direct jobs created and additional indirect economic impacts, the Hampton Inn reinforces the stimulus of the NMTC-sponsored Maine Mutual Insurance project.

Key Triple Bottom-Line Results

• $771M of new private capital investment in low-income areas has been leveraged by $235.5 million of CEI NMTC investment capacity along with $144 million NMTC capacity from others resulting in a leverage ratio of a total of $3.28 of private capital to every $1 of CEI NMTC capacity utilized.
• Over 2,088,000 acres of northern timberlands committed to sustainable forestry practices and retained as working forests for traditional mill supply purposes and additional economic development in recreational tourism and other industries.
• Over 7,718 direct jobs preserved or created, with an additional 2,300 projected future related jobs that will be generated.  Indirectly, tens of thousands of additional jobs are involved in the fishing, paper and wood products, recreational tourism, and related manufacturing, transportation, and service industries.
• 21 of the 23 deals are in especially-challenged “targeted distressed community” areas.
  
• Eight of the businesses financed are mission-driven, nonprofit enterprises.