Program Funding Supports Job Creation, Economic Development
Nashville, AR – HOPE (Hope Enterprise Corporation/Hope Credit Union) has committed $8,000,000 in New Markets Tax Credit allocation to Husqvarna Group’s Nashville manufacturing facility for new plating and honing equipment for their hand-held lawn tool engine assembly. The funding will be used to purchase new machinery, which will bring the plating and honing process in-house and will be more efficient and environmentally friendly than commonly-used methods.
The new plating and honing line will create 22 new jobs at the 1,200 employee facility. Husqvarna Group operations in Nashville support more than 800 additional jobs in Southwest Arkansas.
“Partnering with HOPE on this initiative will help to bring the right tools to our facilities to help maintain our efficiency in producing outdoor power equipment,” said Jack Fish, VP of Manufacturing, Husqvarna Americas. “Additionally when you can add new jobs that will support our local town and economy, that’s great!”
The New Markets Tax Credit program is run by the U.S. Treasury Department and brings private capital investments into economically distressed areas. The NMTC allocation from HOPE is being paired with a $2 million allocation from Chase New Markets Corporation to support an equity investment by Chase Community Equity (JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A.) into the $10 million equipment purchase and installation.
“The jobs supported by this investment offer good wages and benefits, and generate a tremendous economic impact in southwest Arkansas,” said HOPE CEO Bill Bynum. “Companies like Husqvarna are vital to a prosperous community, which makes it a perfect fit for our mission, and for our New Markets Tax Credits.”
Rural and inner-city regions of the country have suffered from a chronic shortage of capital for economic development because private capital tends to flow toward where money is already accumulating – in fast-growing metropolitan areas. A desire to bring economic prosperity to low-income communities resulted in the federal New Markets Tax Credit program enacted by Congress as part of the Community Renewal Tax Relief Act of 2000.
Since 1976, Husqvarna has been a key employer and contributor to the economic engine of Southwest Arkansas. This investment in new equipment will bring the plating and honing process local without the need to source these components from overseas.
Using three previous allocations totaling $50 million, HOPE has financed 108 projects for a total of more than $71 million, with 23 NMTC loans for nearly $6 million in Arkansas.
About HOPE
HOPE (Hope Enterprise Corporation/Hope Credit Union) is a community development financial institution, community development intermediary and policy center that provides affordable financial services; leverages private, public and philanthropic resources; and engages in policy analysis in order to fulfill its mission of strengthening communities, building assets, and improving lives in economically distressed parts of the Mid South.
Since 1994, HOPE has generated more than $1.7 billion in financing and related services for the unbanked and underbanked, entrepreneurs, homeowners, nonprofit organizations, health care providers and other community development purposes. Collectively, these projects have benefitted more than 400,000 individuals in the Delta, Katrina-affected areas and other distressed communities throughout Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee. This impact has been substantially multiplied by HOPE’s policy and intermediary efforts, which have informed and influenced the flow of public and private resources to assist disenfranchised people and places across the Mid South and nationwide.