Coastal Growers LLC
1
Partners

NCIF: $2 million in Source Loan debt

CDFI Partner: United Bank of Alabama: CDFI Partner, $6 million in Source Loan debt, New Markets Tax Credit Allocatee ($10 million) & Network Bank
Hancock Whitney: $8 million in Source Loan debt

Large Bank: Wells Fargo

Coastal Growers LLC

475,000-square-foot facility will source peanuts within a 200-mile radius from farms in Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and Florida.
Atmore, AL

Project Impacts:​

  • Facility will source peanuts within a 200-mile radius from farms in Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and Florida.

  • Create 95 construction jobs and 130 permanent jobs with training and career advancement opportunities

  • Coastal Growers currently works with >100 regional farms with over 200 employees and $4.8 million in total wages. Upon completion they anticipate working with 130 regional farms supporting almost $8 million of wages

  • Indirect community impact related to local farms and local communities benefiting from local job growth and local profit retainage

PARTNERS:
NCIF: $7 million NMTC allocation; $2 million in loans
CDFI Partner: Self-Help Federal Credit Union
Large Bank: US Bank

NCIF partnered along with UB Community Development, LLC (“UBCD”), a community development partner of United Bank and other institutions, in an $87 million transaction to build a peanut shelling plant in a severely economically-distressed area of Southern Alabama. The transaction included $10 million of New Markets Tax Credit (“NMTC”) provided by UBCD. Additionally, UBCD assisted in sourcing an additional $50 million in New Markets Tax Credit allocations from partner Community Development Entities including MuniStrategies, allocating $5 million, Rural Development Partners $15 million, Waveland $15 million and National Impact Fund $15 million. Lastly, United Bank applied for and received a $40 million Business and Industry Loan Guarantee from USDA Rural Development to support the project financing.

The 475,000-square-foot facility will source peanuts within a 200-mile radius from farms in Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and Florida. The project anticipates shelling 140,000 tons of peanuts annually, which will be sold both domestically and internationally. Additionally, the new facility will be owned by a cooperative of independent farmers which will allow them to retain additional profits from their crops, which in turn will allow those funds to be kept in their local economies rather than being paid to (large) corporate owners.