Washington, D.C. - Today, Congressman Brian Baird (D-WA-03) announced $40 million in federal tax credits are coming to ShoreBank in Ilwaco to help spur economic development throughout the Pacific Northwest. The funding comes in part from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act through the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) Program. The program is designed to spur investment in low income and developing communities. "These tax credits will help encourage investment in our local communities, which will help create jobs and improve our quality of life," said Congressman Baird. "The New Markets Tax Credit Program has a proven track record of success. By increasing the amount of tax credits available through the Recovery Act, we will be able to speed up these investments, and better rebuild the economy of Southwest Washington, and the entire Pacific Northwest."

Under the terms of the program, corporations that make qualifying investments through ShoreBank in for-profit entities that create jobs and non-profits that create positive social impact in low-income areas will receive a 39 cent tax credit for each dollar invested. The credits will last for seven years.

In 2005, Shorebank received $35 million in tax credits through the NMTC program. Because of these credits, the bank was able to acquire the capital necessary to loan money to the Ilwaco Community Hospital to purchase better information technology, which allowed the hospital to expand its capacity to provide health care to rural areas.

In total, $5 billion in tax credits were released today by the Department of the Treasury to 99 qualifying institutions. $3.5 billion was originally authorized by Congress for the 2009 calendar year, and an additional $1.5 billion was added to the program by the Recovery Act.