(NOVEMBER 17, 2016 – Portland, Maine) – Today, the U.S. Department of Treasury allocated $80 million in New Markets Tax Credit capacity to CEI Capital Management. The firm will deploy the tax credits to economic development projects that create opportunity in rural communities with low incomes across Maine and the nation.

A leading practitioner of the program, CEI Capital Management has employed New Markets Tax Credits for 90 projects since 2004, creating or preserving 4,699 permanent jobs for positions in primarily rural places. These projects have supported the growth and economic viability of enterprises across industries spanning manufacturing, the arts, healthcare, agriculture, conservation, hospitality, technology and more.

“We are grateful and encouraged to receive this award. It allows us to identify new opportunities to strengthen rural economies so the effect of each newly created or saved job ripples through the community. In our dozen years working with this program we have crisscrossed the nation, working on the ground and getting to know the people in rural places who are dedicated to bringing positive change to their communities. We share their vision of renewal and are glad to be their partners in building a path to prosperity for themselves and their families.”–Charlie Spies, CEO, CEI Capital Management

Altogether, the U.S. Department of Treasury made allocations to 120 organizations nationwide for a total of $7 billion in New Markets Tax Credit awards. This is the largest single award round since the New Markets Tax Credit Program was created in 2001. It is fitting that Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew announced the 2015-2016 awards at Educare DC, an innovative, state-of-the-art preschool in the nation’s capital, offering early childhood educational programs which benefited from an NMTC investment; CEI Capital Management also used New Markets Tax Credits to help finance an Educare facility in Waterville, Maine.

CEI Capital Management carries the triple bottom line mission of its parent, Coastal Enterprises, Inc. (CEI).

“This award will enable us to work with community leaders to understand the long-term needs of their regions  and to help grow businesses that create jobs and provide avenues to economic opportunity for individuals and families, particularly those with low-incomes, who live there.” –Betsy Biemann, CEO, CEI

The project partners working with CEI Capital Management have shared numerous testimonials highlighting the economic benefits that they have experienced because of New Markets projects. This summer, the owners and employees of St. Croix Tissue in rural Baileyville, Maine celebrated the grand opening of a new papermaking facility with state-of-the-art equipment that positions the company to be successful in a globally competitive market. As a result, the project not only creates 80 new, skilled jobs, it preserves hundreds more, keeping livelihoods intact, and creating a ripple effect that benefits the entire region.

Similarly, Premium Peanut in Georgia is using the program to build a shelling facility for 225 member farms, and help them to access market opportunities. Through guaranteed contracts and profit distribution, farms will see better overall profitability and smooth out the vagaries of boom and bust cycles that are notorious in the peanut industry.

On the island of Lana’i, Hawaii, CEI Capital Management worked with the community health center to open its doors, bringing affordable, on-island healthcare, including maternity services, to the local population.

The new allocation announced today will be deployed to projects in rural places that create or preserve jobs and further contribute to revitalizing the community.