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Haiti: Help One of Our Own Help Others

Grow America Fund’s Yvon Alexandre Organizing Relief Fund and Medical Mission March 8-13
Donate Now to Help Provide Critically-Needed Supplies

(Hartford, CT)  -  We’ve all been stunned by the initial and continuing accounts of the devastating earthquake that struck the island nation of Haiti and left more than 212,000 dead, and another 1 million homeless.

The staggering impact of the earthquake on his native homeland has moved Grow America Fund borrower Yvon Alexandre to take action. He has put his extraordinary entrepreneurial skills to work by organizing a response to the catastrophe, under the auspices of the Connecticut Haitian American Organization, Inc. (CHAO), a non-profit, 501(c)3 organization.

To date, CHAO has collected more than $29,000 and over 30,000 pounds of supplies for the earthquake survivors, including food, water, clothing, medicine and personal hygiene items.  But more is desperately needed. Now, Alexandre, through CHAO, is mounting a medical mission to Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, scheduled for March 8 through 13.  To date, Alexandre says CHAO has received commitments from 18-20 physicians, nurses and others who will pay $1,000 a piece to cover their own transportation and lodging in order to take part in the humanitarian effort.  Among the volunteers are a team of five prosthetics experts volunteering on behalf of The Pakistani American Association of Connecticut (PAACT). The team will be able to fit survivors, mostly children, with artificial limbs. 

Alexandre says additional funds are greatly needed to purchase and to ship much needed first aid items, pain relievers, and toiletries.  If you would like to donate to the CT Haitian American Organization, Inc.’s humanitarian efforts in Haiti, plese click here for information.

Donations can also be mailed to:
CT Haitian Earthquake Relief Fund
P.O. Box 290161
Wethersfield, CT 06129

For general comments and questions, please visit CHAO’s website or e-mail info@ctforhaiti.org.

Read more…

NDC Is Now on LinkedIn and Twitter!

linkedin_iconStay in touch with your colleagues through The NDC Alumni Association on LinkedIn.  Or follow us on Twitter and get the latest updates on our work with our community partners across the country.

twitter_block_whiteJoin us online now and save 10% on tuition on an NDC course of your choice through June 2010.  Simply enter the promotional code “LinkedIn” or “Twitter” when you register.  Register by the deadline listed in the course schedule and save an additional 10%!

NDC’s Work in Communities Draws Recognition

NDC’s work with community partners across the country has caught the attention of blogger Mike Flynn, former editor and publisher of the Puget Sound Business Journal turned blogger and business consultant.  Read the complete blog post.

Newly-Certified HDFPs Make the Local News

Ottawa Residential Services, Inc. announced in its local news outlet, The Beacon, that two of its staff completed NDC’s Housing Development Finance Professional Certification Program in Columbus, Ohio, sponsored by the OH CDC Association.  Congratulations to all the new graduates on their hard-earned HDFP certification!

Read The Beacon article.

Financing Complete on State of Washington IT Facility

Olympia, WA - In August, NDC completed financing on a project that will create a consolidated information technology (IT) facility for the State of Washington. The facility will include a 199,000 sq. ft. office complex, a 111,000 sq. ft. data center, a 300-car underground parking garage and a 35-car surface lot on the Capitol Campus in Olympia, Washington. Read more…

NDC Corporate Equity Fund Closes on Grand Oaks II

Baxter, MN - In August, NDC’s Corporate Equity Fund (CEF) approved the construction of Grand Oaks Townhomes II, a 24-townhome development in Baxter, Minnesota.  This is NDC-CEF’s ninth project with the developer, Central Minnesota Housing Partnership (CMHP), In 2005, CEF and CMHP completed the adjacent Grand Oaks Townhomes I, a nearly identical development. Read more…

CEF Kicks off $100 Million Fund with $11.0 Million in Investments

Fifth Third, Key are First to Invest
NDC Corporate Equity Fund IX launched in March, and in the third quarter, received its first commitment, from Fifth Third Bank for $8.0 million, announced Ann Vogt, CEF managing director.  A second investor, Key Bank, has committed to $3.0 million at the start of the fourth quarter.    Read more…

Brewington Breaks Ground

Nassau County, NY - Ground was broken in Hempstead (Nassau County, Long Island), NY for the future home of the Law Office of Frederick K. Brewington.  The purchase and renovation of an existing building in Hempstead was financed with a $1.2 million loan from the Grow Nassau Fund, administered by NDC’s Grow America Fund.  The financing utilized a combination of Small Business Administration loan guarantee authority and the benefits of the New Markets Tax Credit provided by Bank of America/Merrill Lynch Community Development Corporation.  Read more…

It’s Electric: Longtime Client Community Pursues Energy Sustainability with NDC’s Guidance

San Bernardino, CA - The San Bernardino Redevelopment Agency (RDA) has been an NDC client for 25 years, with NDC Field Director Scott Rodde providing a full range of NDC development assistance services, including evaluating credit, negotiating transaction terms, structuring finance and reviewing development opportunities.   This year, San Bernardino began an initiative to address California’s Renewables Portfolio Standards (RPS), adopted by the State to reach its goal of obtaining 20% of its energy from renewable sources by the year 2010. Read more…

Seattle’s Claremont Apartments: A Transit-Oriented Development

Seattle, WA - Construction has begun on Claremont Apartments, a mixed-use development in Seattle’s low-income southeast community. Claremont Apartments is a project of SouthEast Effective Development (SEED), a not-for-profit community development organization whose mission is to improve the quality of life in Southeast Seattle.   Read more…

Gateway Village Named NCHFA “Development of the Month”

Gastonia, NC - The North Carolina Housing Finance Agency (NCHFA) named our Corporate Equity Fund (CEF) project, Gateway Village their November 2009 “development of the month.” Read more…

NDC Takes First Place for Yonkers Pier in Novogradac Community Development Awards

Chicago, IL - The renovated Yonkers Pier, in Yonkers, New York, and its renowned restaurant, Peter Kelly’s X2O, were recognized on Thursday, October 22, 2009 by The Novogradac Community Development Foundation (NCDF) at its Second Annual Community Development Awards luncheon held in Chicago, IL. Read more…

Setting Goals for New Cassel

NDC Aids Development of the $60 Million New Cassel Vision Plan
Nassau County on New York’s Long Island has been an NDC client since 2002. A major component of the County’s development strategy is the redevelopment of New Cassel, a low-income community in the Town of North Hempstead that had not attracted private sector investment or development interest in recent years. Read more…

Stamping Success: Eagle Precision Products Cover Story

North Royalton (Cuyahoga County), OH - Eagle Precision Products and its owner, Bruce Reger were the featured cover story in the November 2009 issue of Transmission Digest (TD). The story focused on Reger’s “philosophy of success” that guides his metal stamping business.  That philosophy boils down to one word: relationships. Okay, maybe two: relationships and trust. In the TD article, Bruce says: “I’ve discovered that if you don’t develop and maintain a relationship, you can’t keep the business.  As you develop a relationship with a customer, you try to help, because when they’re a winner, I’m a winner, too.”

 Eagle supplies parts to a wide variety of concerns, including the after-market auto industry, aerospace companies, plumbing and heating manufacturers, and oil and gas industries. Reger employs 12 in his 20,000 square foot plant.

Future Golden for Bolt Manufacturer Supplying Green Energy Industry

cardinal_web

In January 2009 then President-elect Barack Obama paid a visit to Cardinal Fastener and joined in a celebration of the business's success.

Bedford Heights (Cuyahoga County), OH - For more than twenty-five years, Cardinal Fastener, the latest addition to NDC Grow America Fund’s (GAF) family of borrowers, has been proud to say that it has been keeping the country together, its bolts found in such iconic American structures as the Empire State Building and the Golden Gate Bridge.

More recently, the Cleveland-area manufacturer of industrial “fasteners” has added a new industry to its customer base: the green energy industry, specifically manufacturers of power-generating windmills.  Read more…

Pueblo Looks Back to Move Forward

The Steelworks Museum showcases the industry that helped build Pueblo and Colorado during the early part of the 20th century.

The Steelworks Museum showcases the industry that helped build Pueblo and Colorado during the early part of the 20th century.

Colorado Fuel and Iron was once one of the largest integrated steel mills in the country and was Pueblo, Colorado’s primary industry.   With the drastic decline in the American steel industry in the 1970’s and 1980’s, however, the steel mill was mostly abandoned. Pueblo’s south side, which was once the company town of Bessemer and home to the mill , quickly declined.  Today, Pueblo’s renewal strategy includes an emphasis on tourism and economic diversification, and they have made major investment in support of that plan. Through NDC’s Corporate Equity Fund and HEDC-New Markets, Historic Rehabilitation and New Markets Tax Credit equity completed the financing puzzle for the City, providing the Bessemer Historical Society with the dollars to transform Colorado Fuel and Iron’s historic mill into the Steelworks Musem. Now open, the musem attracts tourists and pays tribute to Colorado’s steel industry. The museum also houses archives for CF&I, a steel company that continues to use the original grounds.  

Watch the Steelworks Musem video.

NDC’s Public-Private Partnership Model Makes the News

University Business profiled NDC’s public-private partnership financing model and its success in building the University of Washington School of Medicine’s new laboratory.  Read the complete article.

The State of Washington Breaks Ground

DIS Workers cheer as ground is broken on the new DIS office building and data center in Olympia, Washington.

DIS staff cheer as ground is broken on the new DIS office building and data center in Olympia, Washington.

Construction of the State of Washington’s new Department of Information Services (DIS) building in Olympia has  commenced and brought with it desperately needed jobs.  The $225 million project, financed through NDC HEDC’s public-private financing model, includes an underground parking garage and state-of-the-art data center which will house nearly all DIS employees and bring the State’s computing technology and capacity well into the 21st century.

Read more about the project and its immediate impact on the construction industry in Olympia.

President Obama Awards $2.3 Billion for New Clean-Tech Manufacturing Jobs

Recovery Act Tax Credits to Enable More Than $7 Billion in New Manufacturing Projects and Create Tens of Thousands of Jobs

NDC Grow America Fund borrower Cardinal Fastener and Specialty Co. received a $480,000 tax credit from the U.S. Department of Energy as part of a $2.3 billion award in Recovery Act Energy Manufacturing Tax Credits for clean energy manufacturing projects across the United States.

President Obama announced the award of $2.3 billion in Recovery Act Advanced Energy Manufacturing Tax Credits for clean energy manufacturing projects across the United States on January 8, 2010.   One hundred eighty three projects in 43 states will create tens of thousands of high quality clean energy jobs and the domestic manufacturing of advanced clean energy technologies including solar, wind and efficiency and energy management technologies. 

As part of the Recovery Act, these tax credits are focused on putting Americans back to work by building a robust domestic manufacturing capacity to supply clean and renewable energy projects with American made parts and equipment.  These credits are also an important step towards meeting the President’s goal of doubling the amount of renewable energy the country uses in the next three years with wind turbines and solar panels built right here in the United States.  More at: http://www.energy.gov/news2009/8501.htm.

Cardinal Fastener will manufacture hot forged, critical fasteners used in wind turbines - transportation bolts, tower bolts, nacelle bolts, and blade studs.

Cardinal Fastener Makes Its TV Debut!

Cardinal Fastener and Specialty Co., a Cleveland, Ohio manufacturing powerhouse produces high strength bolts for applications as diverse as the Statue of Liberty, the Golden Gate Bridge, and, wind turbines. Cardinal Fastener caught the eye of television producers and will make its television debut on The Discovery Channel show “Factory Made” on Wednesday, January 13 at 12:30pm. 

NDC’s Grow America Fund is pleased to partner with Cardinal Fastener to provide financing to help it continue to grow and thrive in the decades to come.

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