Today, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) is awarding a $500,000 grant to DreamSpring of Albuquerque, New Mexico, to support the rollout of its Expreso loan program, which will provide a new financial product to assist businesses in New Mexico and Texas. The EDA grant, to be located near a Tax Cuts and Jobs Act Opportunity Zone, will be matched with $125,000 in local investment and is expected to create nearly 300 jobs.
“Supporting locally-devised strategies to boost economic opportunity is a major focus of the Trump Administration,” said Dana Gartzke, Performing the Delegated Duties of the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development. “This EDA investment near an Opportunity Zone will enable DreamSpring to build its capacity to implement its Expreso loan program, and it will develop partnerships to ensure a solid pipeline of companies to provide funding.”
The project will target traditionally underserved communities to provide access to shorter term loans of up to $10,000 to facilitate revenue growth, particularly in manufacturing or construction.
The funding announced today will help catalyze private investment in a nearby Opportunity Zone. Created by President Donald J. Trump’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, Opportunity Zones are spurring economic development in economically-distressed communities nationwide. In June 2019, EDA added Opportunity Zones as an Investment Priority, which increases the number of catalytic Opportunity Zone-related projects that EDA can fund to fuel greater public investment in these areas. To learn more about the Commerce Department’s work in Opportunity Zones, please visit EDA’s Opportunity Zones webpage. To learn more about the Opportunity Zone program, see the Opportunity Now resources webpage.
About the U.S. Economic Development Administration (www.eda.gov)
The mission of the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) is to lead the federal economic development agenda by promoting competitiveness and preparing the nation’s regions for growth and success in the worldwide economy. An agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce, EDA makes investments in economically distressed communities in order to create jobs for U.S. workers, promote American innovation, and accelerate long-term sustainable economic growth.