Treasury Awards LISC $115MM in NMTCs

NEW YORK, Nov. 3 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The U.S. Treasury Department has
awarded the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) $115 million in New
Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) investment authority in the 2009 round of
allocations. It is the second largest allocation in the 2009 round and makes
LISC the largest award recipient in the program's history, with $623 million
in allocations since 2003.

"We are very pleased that Treasury's ongoing confidence in LISC will result in
significant additional resources to help revitalize distressed areas and
stimulate economic development," noted Michael Rubinger, LISC president and
CEO. "Particularly in this economic environment, it is critical that we
continue to support the needs and aspirations of low-income communities," he
stressed. "This allocation will help LISC fund critical new projects that
underpin broad-based revitalization and contribute to positive, sustainable
change," he said.

Toward that goal, LISC has a solid pipeline of high-impact NMTC projects that
this new allocation will help support. "The NMTC investor market in 2009 has
been more challenging than in past years," according to Robert Poznanski, vice
president for NMTCs at National Equity Fund, Inc., LISC's nonprofit
syndication affiliate that administers its NMTC allocation. "But, we have
nonetheless been able to raise adequate capital and support critical new
projects. We think that speaks to our ability to have a long-term impact on
communities through sound planning and investing. We are eager to move
forward and implement this new allocation in the months to come," he said.

To date, LISC has used its NMTC allocations to support projects throughout the
country and across a range of project types: from supermarkets and other
retail space to office buildings, charter schools, arts space and other
community facilities.

About LISC
LISC combines corporate, government and philanthropic resources to help
nonprofit community development corporations revitalize distressed
neighborhoods. Since 1980, LISC has raised more than $9 billion to build or
rehab more than 244,000 affordable homes and develop 36 million square feet of
retail, community and educational space nationwide. LISC support has leveraged
nearly $28 billion in total development activity. For more information, visit
www.lisc.org or for NMTC info visit www.liscnewmarkets.org.

Contacts:
Robert Poznanski, VP NMTCs
269-343-5472 or rpoznanski@nefinc.org
Colleen Mulcahy, LISC/NEF Communications
312-697-2482 or cmulcahy@nefinc.org

SOURCE Local Initiatives Support Corporation

Robert Poznanski, VP NMTCs, +1-269-343-5472, rpoznanski@nefinc.org; or Colleen
Mulcahy, LISC/NEF Communications, +1-312-697-2482, cmulcahy@nefinc.org