MAINE-BASED FIRM IS NATIONAL LEADER IN REVITALIZING RURAL COMMUNITIES

(OCTOBER 28, 2022– Brunswick, Maine) – Today, the U.S. Department of Treasury allocated $55 million in New Markets Tax Credit capacity to CEI Capital Management. The firm will deploy the tax credits to economic development projects that create good quality jobs and build opportunity in rural communities with low incomes across Maine and the nation.

A leading practitioner of the NMTC program, CEI Capital Management has deployed New Markets Tax Credits into 96 projects since 2004, creating or preserving 11,937 jobs 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.

“This award is especially timely for the people living in rural places who have been left out of years of economic growth,” said CEI Capital Management CEO Traci Vaine. “Our staff live and work in rural communities, providing CCML with a deep, personal understanding of the challenges these communities face: lost manufacturing jobs, lack of access to capital for manufacturing businesses, and lack of quality accessible jobs. Importantly, we also share confidence in leveraging this award to invest in community renewal.”

Altogether, the U.S. Department of Treasury made allocations to 107 organizations nationwide for a total of over $5 billion in New Markets Tax Credit awards.

CEI Capital Management shares the mission of its parent, Coastal Enterprises, Inc. (CEI) to invest in community resiliency and foster economic equity. “This award allows us to bring critically needed private investment to deeply distressed rural areas, where access to capital is limited or non-existent. We will work in partnership alongside community leaders to bring their vision of a revitalized, vibrant economy that centers good jobs and environmental sustainability to reality,” said CEI CEO Betsy Biemann.

The new allocation announced today will be deployed primarily in manufacturing businesses, with a focus on companies that provide quality jobs for people with low incomes. In keeping with CEI’s good jobs framework, projects will provide living wage jobs with comprehensive benefits and training, directly addressing the poverty and lack of opportunity prevalent in rural communities with low incomes. The deployment strategy also prioritizes projects that create quality jobs accessible to workers with a high school diploma or less, providing a pathway to economic mobility for people with lower levels of formal education. CCML prioritizes projects with strong community input and/or support that will advance economic equity in rural places.

About CEI Capital Management

CEI Capital Management creates and preserves jobs and improves quality of life in rural communities with low incomes across the country by providing access to flexible project capital through the Federal New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) Program and the Maine New Markets Capital Investment (NMCI) Program. Since 2004, CCML has placed over $1.02 billion of NMTC/NMCI capacity in 96 projects, triggering total private capital investment of over $2.8 billion in communities with low incomes.

About CEI
Coastal Enterprises, Inc. (CEI) helps to grow good jobs, environmentally sustainable enterprises, and shared prosperity in Maine and in rural regions across the country by integrating financing, business and industry expertise, and policy solutions. For more information, visit www.ceimaine.org.