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3 hours ago

$65M in federal funds will expand tax credits for manufacturing growth in Maine, nationwide

People work at desks at St. Croix Tissue. Photo / Courtesy, CEI Capital Management Maine projects CEI Capital Management has helped finance by using the New Markets Tax Credit program include a new papering facility with state-of-the-art equipment at St. Croix Tissue in Baileyville.
By Laurie Schreiber

A Brunswick capital management organization has received $65 million in federal money to deploy as tax credits for economic development projects in rural communities across Maine and nationwide.

The money, coming from the U.S. Treasury’s New Markets Tax Credit program, will be used to support the startup or expansion of manufacturing companies, said Traci Vaine, chief executive officer of CEI Capital Management.

“For the nearly two-thirds of the U.S. working population without college degrees, a career in manufacturing remains one of the most reliable pathways to economic stability,” said Vaine. 

The deployment toward manufacturing companies is intended to create good jobs in rural communities, with a living wage, basic benefits, opportunities for training and advancement and access to wealth-building tools like retirement accounts or company-ownership options, Vaine said.

Distressed communities

Since 2004, the organization has deployed over $1.11 billion in New Markets Tax Credits financing to over 100 businesses and developments across the country — and in the process, creating or preserving 12,662 jobs.

In this latest round, CEI Capital Management was one of 104 organizations to receive over $5 billion in awards from the U.S. Department of Treasury.

CEI Capital Management’s parent organization is Coastal Enterprises Inc., a Brunswick-based community development financial institution led by CEO Betsy Biemann. 

“This award will bring critically needed private investment to deeply distressed rural areas, where access to capital is limited or non-existent, and support the growth of businesses that are committed to good jobs and boosting the vitality of their local communities,” said Biemann.

Manufacturing

The allocation 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 many rural areas.

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. 

CEI Capital Management works nationally to connect new and existing rural manufacturing companies with flexible capital project capital through the New Markets Tax Credit program and the Maine New Markets Capital Investment program.

The New Markets Tax Credit program was created as part of the Community Renewal Tax Relief Act of 2000 with the goal of spurring revitalization efforts of low-income and impoverished communities across the U.S.

Maine projects CEI Capital Management has helped finance with the program include a new papermaking facility at St. Croix Tissue in the Washington County town of Baileyville and the revitalization of Saddleback Mountain Ski Resort in the Franklin County town of Rangeley.

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