New Markets Tax Credits

Girl Scouts is proud to be celebrating 101 years of building girls of courage, confidence and character, who make the world a better place.  As a national movement of more than 2.3 million girls, 890,000 adults and more than 59 million alumnae, Girl Scouts is a force for developing leadership skills in girls.  Since its founding by Juliette Gordon Low, Girl Scouts has been an inclusive sisterhood of women and girls that represents every zip code across the country.

In the last 101 years, the world has changed dramatically.  When Juliette founded the organization in 1912, women had very few personal rights.  Today, girls face another set of challenges as they navigate their lives in an increasingly complex and uncertain world.  The 21^st century requires a different kind of leader – one who not only values the power of diversity, inclusion, and collaboration, but also is committed to bringing people together to improve neighborhoods, communities, and the world.

Girl Scouts is today, as it always has been, the organization best positioned to offer girls the tools they need to be successful leaders now and throughout their lives.  In fact, Girl Scouts is the largest pipeline for female leaders in the country:

Nearly 80% of female business owners were Girl Scouts.

A full 68% of women serving in Congress were Girl Scouts and every female Secretary of State was a Girl Scout.

Nearly every woman who has ever flown in space was a Girl Scout.

Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas (GSNETX) was formed as a result of realignment in 2007.  In 2014, their council served nearly 31,000 girls in a 32-county area from DFW Airport, east to Louisiana and north to Oklahoma.  In Dallas alone, more than 3,000 girls – 67% of which were Hispanic – participated in the Dallas Area Community Outreach Programs (Title 1 schools, low-income areas primarily in South Dallas, in DISD schools).

Camp Whispering Cedars, established in 1926, has welcomed nearly 100,000 Girl Scouts since inception.  Encompassing approximately 60 acres, Camp Whispering Cedars is the largest urban camp serving girls in North Texas.  The camp is located just 20 minutes south of downtown Dallas within the City of Dallas boundaries.  Its access to a major urban population, with an estimated 40,000 girls living in low socio-economic conditions, makes this property ideally suited to reduce barriers to participation for a large number of girls and adults who have limited resources and transportation options.

The Science, Technology, Engineering & Math (STEM) Center at Camp Whispering Cedars is a pilot program for Girl Scouts USA and is expected to be the model for other urban camps nationally.  Camp Whispering Cedars’ proximity to the metropolitan area of Dallas along with its rural seclusion from the urban or suburban environments makes it a unique camp that can offer a careful integration of pristine and protected natural environments and modern technology and its applications. This integration provides endless opportunities to elevate girl programming and experiences to new levels of creativity and innovation.

STEM programming has been at the center of the Girl Scout Leadership Experience since its inception.  To further this mission, GSNETX’s vision for Camp Whispering Cedars is to create a STEM Center of Excellence where girls can explore science, technology, engineering and math, hands-on in the living laboratory of the outdoors.  At Camp Whispering Cedars, girls will grow in confidence and make lifelong memories.  Girls will come to have fun through traditional outdoor adventure and exploration while, at the same time, they will be offered programming that naturally integrates STEM into activities.  Girls will take a deep dive into the natural world and tackle high-adventure challenges through project-based STEM activities.  Thanks to a wide array of partnerships, Camp Whispering Cedars will offer girls a variety of programming, including:

Hunt Oil will identify unique geological features of the site and key areas to observe unique formations on the property, including the escarpment between the Eagle Ford Shale and the Austin Chalk, which runs directly through the site.

Texas Instruments will help incorporate STEM learning concepts into a Girl Scout badge-earning workshop, identifying key areas of STEM career exploration to address with the Scouts.

Texas Master Naturalists will identify environmental and conservation learning opportunities and help GSNETX to develop focused programming for the Scouts.

Fluor Corporation, AT&T and University of Texas at Dallas will all help develop specific STEM-based programming for both the regular summer curriculum and College Journey.

City of Dallas/State of Texas will help GSNETX to develop a water conservation and stream monitoring program, in which girls will learn about water and its impact on the environment.

Texas Trees Foundation and Dogwood Canyon will identify unique hardwood trees, flora and fauna and other unique natural features on the site, and will help develop hiking and nature trails that highlight these features.

Perot Museum will provide STEM-related programming at the museum, and will bring girls to Camp Whispering Cedars to explore the concepts in an outdoor environment.

Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas initiated a capital campaign last year during the 100th anniversary of the organization to help support the Whispering Cedars Camp transformation.  GSNETX received a $1 million gift from the Rees-Jones Foundation.  This initial gift allowed Girl Scouts to acquire an additional 36 acres of property immediately adjacent to the camp to provide more program space while creating a buffer from the outside world.  GSNETX now has almost 100 acres in the City of Dallas to serve girls and will break ground on the Rees-Jones Welcome Center this summer.

In 2016, GSNETX engaged Crescent Growth Capital to facilitate a NMTC financing so as to reduce the fundraising burden required to finance the Camp Whispering Cedars renovation.  In December, 2016, CGC and GSNETX closed on a $8M NMTC financing, utilizing allocation provided by Dallas Development Fund and Capital One.

In July, 2019, Crescent Growth Capital facilitated a second NMTC financing for the Camp Whispering Cedars project, with an additional $5.5M of NMTC allocation provided by Dallas Development Fund.

 

In 1959, Arnott Folsom had a vision to create a family destination where thousands of children and adults could interact with nature.  With a donation from himself and his wife as well as the help from community leaders, Lincoln Children’s Zoo was founded.  Opened in the summer of 1965, the Zoo became a place where children could get up-close to animals and surround themselves in scenic gardens.

That strong support for the Zoo from the community continues to this day, and for a variety of reasons.  The Zoo donates over $250,000 of tickets, train rides and memberships each year to low income families in Lincoln.  The Zoo has over 100 educational programs annually, serving over 2,000 children.  The Zoo is home to Lincoln’s largest family holiday events, and is home to Nebraska’s only zoo event for visually impaired children.    The Zoo is also home to Zoofari with Larry the Cable Guy, and gives free videos for children in hospitals across North America, which are seen by over 100,000 children.   The Zoo also provides educational opportunities for teenagers through adventure trips to Belize, Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Florida.

Lincoln Children’s Zoo is taking the first step toward the largest expansion in its history, essentially doubling the size of the Zoo, while staying true to Mr. Folsom’s vision and dream.  The expansion will create more interaction with animals than ever before.  The giraffe experience is at the center of the expanded Zoo and will be the third in the nation to have both an indoor and outdoor viewing deck built specifically for year-round giraffe feeding.  A terraced amphitheater will be located next to the habitat where families can enjoy a snack while watching the giraffes.  The tiger habitat features several viewing and encounter points for guests and an expansive area of rockwork with a water feature for the tigers to roam and play.  In one of the viewing areas, children can sit in the driver’s seat of a safari vehicle next to a tiger.  The vehicle is divided in half by a large piece of glass and provides space for a tiger and guest to sit side by side.  Just as important, the expansion will allow the Zoo to open year-round, as a number of the expansion efforts are geared to the inside, during the cold winter months.

Lincoln Children’s Zoo is also home to Lincoln Public School Science Focus Program – Zoo School students focus on science and nature in a non-traditional setting.  The School has an ongoing partnership with Lincoln Public Schools to provide enhanced classroom and learning spaces, and the expansion will include the new Education and Conservation Center including laboratories, for students with an interest in science and nature, to replace the temporary classrooms.  Designed for Grades 9-12, students attend 1st and 2nd periods at their “home” high school, and the rest of the day at “Zoo School” on site.  Graduates of the Science Focus Program have gone on to successful careers as scientists, medical professionals, physicists, and more.

In January of 2019, the Zoo hired Crescent to pursue NMTCs in conjunction with its overall financing plan for the expansion.  With the $20M+ capital campaign winding down, Crescent worked to secure an investor commitment along with Nebraska State NMTC allocation.  In April of 2019, Crescent and the Lincoln Children’s Zoo closed on $10.0M of Nebraska State NMTCs provided by Petros-Pacesetter, leveraging a NMTC equity investment made by Petros-Pacesetter.

The NMTC successfully covered the financing gap, and the newly-completed Lincoln Children’s Zoo recently opened to the public, creating 12 new full-time and 15 new part-time jobs.

4400 Panola Ave Fort Worth, TX 76103

Trinity Basin Preparatory (“TBP”) is a tuition-free open enrollment public charter school founded in 1998. Since opening its first Oak Cliff campus in 1999, TBP has expanded to provide a safe, disciplined learning environment for more than 3,150 students in grades Pre-K-3 through eight with five campuses in Oak Cliff and Fort Worth. The vision of Trinity Basin Preparatory is to provide an education in an environment specifically designed to meet the individual academic, physical, and emotional needs of its students.

TBP strives to provide a well-rounded and rigorous education to its students, focusing on the core academic areas of reading, writing, math, science and social studies. Expectations on TBP campuses are very high for students and faculty in order to foster an environment of achievement and success. TBP’s teachers understand the need to reach each individual student, regardless of any perceived learning barriers. At Trinity Basin Preparatory, the focus is on developing an individualized path to success, tailored to each individual child, and ensuring that every teacher, staff member, and administrator is dedicated to supporting the child’s progress.

The new TBP location will maintain its rigorous academic standards, as well as its various student/family support services. The school will offer the same free breakfast and reduced-price lunches ($0.40/lunch) that more than 90% of its existing 3,150 students take advantage of currently. The projected TBP enrollment will be comprised of 65% Hispanic and 32% African-American students, with approximately 80% of the students qualifying for free/reduced meal prices, according to Federal guidelines.

TBP participates in the Summer Feeding Program, whereby all of its campus sites, including the Panola site, serve meals to all needy children 18 years of age and under. This includes anyone under 18, not just TBP students and all meals are completely free to the children. Meals must meet meal pattern requirements and they are served to the children with adequate supervision.

Additionally, the Panola campus will be home to one of Travis Frederick’s Food Pantries. Travis, current center for the Dallas Cowboys, started a “Blocking Out Hunger” Foundation, which provides food to needy families. TBP has donated part of the Panola facility to serve as one of the pantries for the Foundation. The pantry is stocked up to once per week and the TBP staff helps ensure that the food is handed out to students and their families, ensuring that they have adequate nutrition over the weekends and holiday breaks.

In December of 2017, TBP hired Crescent to pursue NMTCs in conjunction with its overall financing plan for the new headquarters. Crescent worked to secure an investor commitment along with Federal NMTC allocation. In November of 2018, Crescent and CPD closed on $7.0M of Federal NMTCs provided by Raza Development Fund and $1.5M of Federal NMTCs provided by Capital One Community Renewal Fund, leveraging a NMTC equity investment made by Capital One Bank. The NMTC subsidy will give TBP the funds to complete phase 1 of its two phase campus plan, providing an estimated $1.6M in net subsidy that will allow the program to reach its capacity of 818 students and create 83 staff.