The Coastal Villages Region Fund (CVRF), a Community Development Quota (CDQ) group, recently received significant financial support for its new salmon processing plant, as Capmark Finance Inc. and Travois New Markets, a Community Development Entity (CDE), worked together to provide $17.3 million in New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) financing.
CVRF recently completed the construction of the 37,800-square-foot Goodnews Bay Regional Plant in Platinum, Alaska, with a total project cost of $41 million. The plant includes a seafood processing building, a maintenance building, camp and dining facilities for 130 people, a dock and on-site utilities including power generation, water treatment, septic and a tank farm. The plant has been operating since late July. CVRF developed the property through its subsidiary Goodnews Bay Seafoods, LLC. CVRF also acted as the leverage lender for the transaction.
As a CDQ group, CVRF is guaranteed a share of the harvest of the Bering Sea fishery. The new plant provides critical fish processing capacity in the Coastal Villages Region, which represents 23 villages along Alaska’s Bering Sea coast and Kuskokwim River. Platinum is a Native village that is part of a remote, non-metropolitan census tract with a poverty rate of 25 percent; the median family income is 53 percent of the statewide median. CVRF has been able to remove the 150-fish catch limit per boat, which will attract more fishermen and provide a significant boost to the broader local economy.
Projected community impacts include 669 new permanent jobs and 210 construction jobs. The plant will support a network of 596 fishermen. In addition to providing employment opportunities for individuals fishing in the region, CVRF also provides scholarships, internships and various training and apprentice opportunities.
To read the entire news release, click here.
For more information on other Travois New Markets projects, click here.