Fundraising continues

The Crawford County Wellness Center project has made some significant strides forward toward breaking ground.

A key milestone was an assurance that the project would receive a $1 million state Community Attractions and Tourism grant (CAT).

The award of the grant was contingent upon closing a $3.6 million funding gap for the $19 million project. Three local banks have provided letters of credit to guarantee to the state that the gap will be closed.

However, the Friends of the Crawford County Wellness Committee and the City of Denison are pursuing another funding mechanism - New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) – to close the gap.

At the same time, the letters of credit from the banks - Bank Iowa, Crawford County Trust & Savings Bank and United Bank of Iowa – are important as the committee and city won’t know until August if the project will receive an NMTC allocation.

August is later than the state wanted the gap to be closed for the $1 million CAT grant.

Garcia said at the June 18 city council meeting that she and Councilwoman Jennifer Zupp-Smith had a very good meeting with Debi Durham, director of the Iowa Economic Development Authority, on the CAT grant.

“We have some numbers that we need to update and send back in, but she (Durham) pretty much felt that we were in a great spot to keep our $1 million with the letters we received from the banks to back up and support that funding,” said Garcia.

The city would not be liable for the $3.6 million from the banks if it were needed. Three members of the Friends of the Crawford County Wellness Center Committee pledged security against the credit.

The fundraising committee continues to work to raise funds not only for the project but for foundational money to help with expenses once the wellness center is operational.

Garcia encouraged all individuals and businesses to donate or pledge any amount, small to large, toward the project.

Story Ads 1

The city and the committee have received optimistic feedback on the NMTC funding.

Garcia said on June 4 that the project had made some “pretty tremendous strides as far as some entities (Community Development Entities) that have requested the project’s audited financial figures.”

She added that one entity, Central States Development Corporation, wrote a letter saying the wellness center project is in its pipeline for funding if Central States receives an allocation from the federal government in August.

The NMTC program helps economically distressed communities attract private capital by providing investors with a federal tax credit. Under the program, tax credit authority is allocated to Community Development Entities through a competitive application process.

Because of the specialized nature of the NMTC program, the city has contracted with three firms to work on its behalf.

Lothrop GPM was hired as the legal counsel, which will work in concert with Steadfast City Economic & Community Partners, an economic development, community development and non-profit consulting firm. Steadfast City personnel represent the wellness center project to Community Development Entities at NMTC conferences. Steadfast City was retained in May 2023 for a $7,500 fee.

Both firms are based in the St. Louis area.

The fees for Lothrop GPM, hired in January this year, will be built into the NMTC allocation, with $3.6 million as the net benefit to the wellness center project.

Hiring a legal consultant was a recommendation from Steadfast City, as was a recommendation to hire an accounting firm.

Novogradac Accounting Services was retained as the accounting firm in May for $7,500. Novogradac will use the audited financial statements to create a mini model to send to the Community Development Entities. The mini model shows that the project is ready to close on the NMTC allocation as soon as it is received.

Follow us on Facebook for the latest news and updates