Last week, the company announced that it would donate $2 million to the American Red Cross and two community foundations in the Gulf Coast for hurricane relief and recovery.
Wachovia will set aside $30 million of its current $90 million third-round NMTC allocation for redevelopment in Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida.
In addition, the company will designate a significant portion of any fourth-round award it receives for use in this region. The Treasury Department will announce fourth-round NMTC awards in the spring of 2006.
In the Gulf Coast region, the bank’s retail branches operate under the SouthTrust name and will change over to the Wachovia name in October.
“New Markets Tax Credits were created to encourage investment in communities that most need economic development. The regions affected by Hurricane Katrina will clearly have great need for years to come, and we are fortunate to be in a position to respond,” said Cathy Dolan, Wachovia’s director of Community Development Finance. “Wachovia's banking presence in many of these affected communities gives us a unique opportunity to contribute to the efforts of stabilization and redevelopment. We have employees and customers who live and work in these areas and we feel it is our responsibility to make a difference where we can.”
Created by Congress in 2000, NMTC is a federal tax program designed to help spur investment in businesses located in lower-income communities. The program is intended to have the same positive influence on business and economic development that the Low Income Housing Tax Credit has had on the construction of affordable housing.
Over seven years, the NMTC program will encourage $15 billion of capital investment in low-income urban and rural areas.
Wachovia received a $150 million allocation in 2002 in the program’s first round of funding. This allocation already has been deployed for community development projects throughout the United States, with an emphasis on Wachovia’s retail markets.
In addition, Wachovia has invested $38 million dollars with five other NMTC allocation recipients.
More information on NMTC can be found at http://www.cdfifund.gov/.
ABOUT WACHOVIA
Wachovia Corporation (NYSE:WB) is one of the largest providers of financial services to retail, brokerage and corporate customers, with retail operations from Connecticut to Florida and west to Texas, and retail brokerage operations nationwide. Wachovia had assets of $511.8 billion, market capitalization of $78.2 billion and stockholders’ equity of $47.9 billion at June 30, 2005. Its four core businesses, the General Bank, Capital Management, Wealth Management, and the Corporate and Investment Bank, serve 13 million household and business relationships primarily through 3,126 offices in 15 states and Washington, D.C. Its full-service retail brokerage firm, Wachovia Securities, LLC, also serves clients through 699 offices in 49 states and five Latin American countries. The Corporate and Investment Bank serves clients primarily in 10 key industry sectors nationwide. Global services are offered through 33 international offices. Online banking and brokerage products and services also are available through Wachovia.com.
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