Christie Administration Welcomes TD Bank's $1 Million Contribution to Neighborhood Revitalization Program at DCA

Funds to Benefit Projects in Camden, Elizabeth, Newark and Phillipsburg


 

TRENTON, N.J. – TD Bank will donate $1 million toward the construction, rehabilitation and restoration of various buildings in four distressed areas of the state through the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs' (DCA) Neighborhood Revitalization Tax Credit Program (NRTC), the Christie Administration announced today. The funds will support key revitalization efforts in Camden, Elizabeth, Newark and Phillipsburg, in partnership with five New Jersey non-profit organizations.

"We are pleased to accept this $1 million contribution from TD Bank for the Neighborhood Revitalization Tax Credit Program," said DCA Acting Commissioner Richard E. Constable, III. "The program relies on corporations to provide the investment that will help improve distressed neighborhoods in the state. We commend TD Bank for their contribution to the program and hope that they continue to be strong partners."

NRTC offers business entities a 100 percent tax credit against various New Jersey state taxes for investing in the revitalization of low-and moderate-income neighborhoods in eligible municipalities. The program pairs community-based non-profit groups, which have created DCA-approved neighborhood revitalization plans, with corporations that can provide funding for these projects and activities. The DCA oversees the program and process.

TD Bank, one of the 10 largest banks in the U.S., is headquartered in Cherry Hill, N.J., and Portland, Maine. TD Bank provides more than 8 million customers with a full range of retail, small business and commercial banking products and services at more than 1,280 locations throughout the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Metro D.C., the Carolinas and Florida.

"Public-private partnerships are a key mechanism to creating jobs and spurring economic growth," said DCA Assistant Commissioner Ana Montero, who attended today's announcement. "This is one of the best public-private partnerships in the state because everyone wins. Companies get a tax credit and contribute to neighborhood redevelopment programs of their choosing; non-profit groups with a proven track record of helping their communities get much needed dollars; and residents get a better neighborhood."

The $1 million donation is slated for urban redevelopment initiatives that will give working families access to education facilities, community gathering spaces, playgrounds, arts and cultural centers, local shops and office spaces.

TD Bank's million-dollar contribution will be divided among five local non-profits, which will each invest the funds locally in community development initiatives:

•           Elizabeth Development Company, in partnership with the Old First Historic Trust of Elizabeth, will use its funds to restore the Academy House of the First Presbyterian Church campus to create a museum to commemorate Elizabeth's and Union County's role in the American Revolution, with a 200-seat auditorium for cultural and community events; a commercial kitchen offering culinary training, and office, community and meeting space.

•           Heart of Camden will continue to renovate the Fire Works Art Center, a former neighborhood fire station that has been converted to a maritime museum and a welcoming space for art and craftsmanship in the Waterfront South Camden neighborhood.

•           Ironbound Community Corporation will develop a new, "green" Infant and Toddler Center in the Ironbound section of Newark. The center will house an Early Head Start Program with classrooms, a playground and supportive space. This project will create or retain at least 25 full-time jobs for neighborhood residents.

•           NORWESCAP will use its funds to rehabilitate and retrofit a vacant bank located in the core of the target area, transforming it into the Phillipsburg Community Center, which will have a neighborhood community and learning center, athletic facility, and office space. Services will include a computer center for children and adults; athletic and exercise activities; and a Family Self-Sufficiency Center offering counseling, literacy, ESL, and family support services for the neighborhood residents.

•           Unified Vailsburg Services Organization will invest in its service campus, a project designed to stabilize a block in the South Orange and Sandford Avenue commercial district in the Vailsburg neighborhood of Newark. UVSO has previously built or restored eight properties in and around the service campus that anchor the district. The current project at the service campus is the construction of a new infant-toddler center that the organization plans to simultaneously upgrade to an Early Head Start program.


Since NRTC was created in 2003, the DCA has approved 24 neighborhood revitalization plans in 13 cities. To date, the Department has approved 45 NRTC grants to implement these neighborhood plans, totaling over $34 million in funding.

The program has reached its $10 million milestone in corporate contributions for state fiscal year 2012, which is the statutory limit. This marks the third consecutive year in the program's history at which the NRTC contributions limit has been reached.

For more information about the Neighborhood Revitalization Tax Credit Program, please log on to http://www.nj.gov/dca/divisions/dhcr/offices/nrtc.html.

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