U.S. Bank Helps Expand Nationwide Access to Nutritious Food

U.S. Bancorp Community Development Corporation (USBCDC), a subsidiary of U.S. Bank (NYSE: USB), today announced that it will allocate a significant portion of its New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) investments to projects that increase healthy, affordable food availability in high-need urban and rural communities across the country. The initiative also intends to support the creation of new jobs and stimulate local economic development in low-income communities.

Matt Philpott, Director of New Markets, Historic and Renewable Energy Tax Credit Investments for USBCDC, said, “Access to healthy food is a critical problem for millions of Americans. While we are proud to have a strong record of investing in projects that promote healthy outcomes, we agree that there should be broader effort to invest in businesses that will address this issue. By working with our valued partners across the country and leveraging the United States Department of Agriculture, Health and Human Services and the Department of Treasury’s capabilities and resources, we believe we can make great strides to accomplish this collective goal with the NMTC Program.”

As the country’s most active NMTC investor, USBCDC has worked with partners to support projects that focus on healthy living and food-focused businesses. Examples include:

Save-A-Lot grocery store in Pagedale, MO, the first retail project built in the community for decades;
An Alaskan sustainable fishery near Platinum that supports the careers of more than 1,400 fishermen who now have a place to sell their local catch from Goodnews Bay; and
A Fresh Grocer in the nation’s oldest African-American-owned shopping center that created 225 new jobs in North Philadelphia, PA.

USBCDC’s commitment is in line with the Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI), which is addressing the healthy food needs of communities that currently lack nutritious options by making financial and technical assistance available to Community Development Entities (CDEs), Community Development Financial Institutions, other nonprofits, and businesses with sound strategies for addressing the healthy food needs of communities that currently lack nutritious options. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) notes that more than 23 million people currently live in low-income communities that do not have access to a supermarket or large grocery store within one mile of their home.

About the Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI)

The HFFI is a partnership between the United States Department of Agriculture, Health and Human Services, and the United States Department of Treasury. Nineteen programs from these three Departments are currently available to promote HFFI in distressed urban and rural communities. Federal funds—which include tax credits, grants, and low-cost loans—support projects ranging from the construction or expansion of a grocery store to the distribution of healthy food into areas coined as “food deserts.” To learn more about food deserts and to locate census tracts identified as food deserts, visit USDA on the web at www.usda.gov/fooddeserts.

About U.S. Bancorp Community Development Corporation (USBCDC)

USBCDC finances community development and affordable housing projects through the use of New Markets Tax Credits, Historic Tax Credits, Low-Income Housing Tax Credits, and Investment Tax Credits in Renewable Energy. USBCDC is the most active New Markets Tax Credit investor in the country, investing billions of dollars nationwide in hundreds of transactions. These equity investments have provided much needed revitalization and new resources to communities throughout the country. It is a subsidiary of U.S. Bank, the fifth largest commercial bank in the United States, whose parent company is U.S. Bancorp. Learn more at www.usbank.com.

About the New Markets Tax Credit Program (NMTC Program)

Created in 2000, the NMTC Program is administered by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund). The NMTC Program spurs investment of private sector capital into distressed communities by providing a tax credit to corporate or individual taxpayers who make qualified equity investments in designated CDEs. The CDEs in turn, invest the capital raised into projects and businesses in low-income communities. The credit provided to the investor totals 39 percent of the investment in a CDE and is a seven year credit allowance period. Since the inception of the NMTC Program, the CDFI Fund has made 594 awards—totaling $29.5 billion in tax credit allocation authority—to CDEs through the NMTC Program. The equity raised through the tax credit stimulates economic growth, supports job creation and fosters small business growth in distressed communities across America.

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