Lexington's Community Ventures Gets $40 Million in New Market Tax Credits

Community Ventures, a Community Development Entity (CDE), has been awarded $40 million in New Market Tax Credits (NMTC) by the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund). Community Ventures will deploy the investments in the low-income rural and urban communities that it serves throughout Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia. Community Ventures, a nine-time recipient and the sole Kentucky-based awardee, was one of a total of 107 CDEs headquartered in 35 states and the District of Columbia receiving an aggregate $5 billion in NMTC awards.

"Twenty years ago, the Treasury Department announced the first New Markets Tax Credit awards, and for many economic development projects across the country since then, the New Markets Tax Credit has been a vitally important piece of the puzzle," U.S. Treasurer Chief Lynn Malerba said. "This program has created or retained hundreds of thousands of jobs and spurred economic growth in many low-income communities across the country."

"For years, community development organizations such as Community Ventures were able to get resources to upgrade or produce housing in low-income communities, but we never had a tool to revitalize the commercial sectors of those same communities," noted Kevin Smith, CEO of Community Ventures. "NMTC gives us that tool. We can have a big impact on not only the residential areas of a community, but also on the commercial districts of a community."

"This New Markets Tax Credit award provides essential investments into projects located in low-income communities, helping them to expand businesses, create jobs and strengthen the resilience of these communities," explained Community Ventures' Dan Heffernan, President of New Market Tax Credits. "Many of these communities have seen years of disinvestment and others are suffering due to unforeseen external forces such as the pandemic and recent tornados and flooding throughout Kentucky.

"The New Markets Tax Credits is a powerful vehicle for bringing investment to communities that need it the most. Community Ventures CDE is honored to be a part of it and it couldn't have come at a more important time for the communities we serve."