Pipe maker Colclasure Enterprises LLC received a $12 million New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) to help finance a pipe extrusion plant in Selma, Ala., and train the workforce.
Aimed at attracting private capital to low-income communities, the NMTC program gives individual and corporate investors a tax credit against their federal income tax in exchange for making equity investments in Community Development Entities (CDEs).
The UB Community Development LLC (UBCD), a community development partner of United Bank, is providing the $12 million NMTC allocation.
United Bank also contributed $8.7 million in loans to the project.
Colclasure Enterprises is renovating a facility in Selma's Craig Industrial Park and equipping it with extrusion lines for large- and small-coil high density polyethylene pipe and dual-wall culvert pipe. The project is expected to create 50 jobs over three years.
The company website says the Selma facility is "opening soon" and will offer smoother transportation and faster supply to customers across the southern U.S.
The tax credit will allow Colclasure Enterprises to provide extensive training so the majority of all the new jobs will be accessible to those who live in the rural community of Selma, according to a news release from UBCD.
Colclasure Enterprises and an affiliated partner, Timewell Drainage Products and Services, will manufacture and distribute the finished pipe and products.
Timewell, Ill.-based Timewell Drainage, which officially is called C&L Tiling Inc., also does business as Timewell Inc. and Ag Drainage Inc. (ADI) of Golden, Ill.
Timewell is a family-owned and operated company that produces plastic pipes and drainage products for agriculture, commercial and residential use.
Don Colclasure was a founder of C&L Tiling Inc. in 1982 and launched what became known as ADI.
Colclasure and his wife, Susan, founded Timewell in 1995. Their sons, Cory and Jake Colclasure, are overseeing the business in Selma and will own the plant.
The job training that will be provided thanks to the tax credit includes a three-month truck driving course, maintenance training to service plastic extruding equipment, and management training for employees who want to advance their careers with the company.
"With the assistance of the NMTC allocation and UB Community Development, we are proud to invest in Selma and Dallas County. This facility not only allows us to expand our operations but also brings valuable job opportunities and economic growth to the community," Cory Colclasure, CEO of Timewell Drainage Products, said in the release.
In addition to its headquarters in Illinois, Timewell operates facilities in Sibley and Plainfield, Iowa; Jefferson, Wisc: Providence, Ken.; and Nashville, Tenn.
Alex Jones, president of UB Community Development, said the tax credit program was created to help businesses grow in Alabama.
"The closing on this NMTC transaction to assist Colclasure Enterprises continues our long-standing record of assisting economic development in Alabama's rural Black Belt region," Jones said.
"Black Belt" is a term referencing both the dark fertile soil across Alabama's midsection and the high number of historically enslaved African Americans living in the area.