HARRISBURG, PA — A major infusion of federal investment capital is headed to Pennsylvania’s most underserved communities after Commonwealth Cornerstone Group secured a $65 million allocation in New Markets Tax Credits, state housing officials announced.
Commonwealth Cornerstone Group, a nonprofit community development entity created by the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency, received the allocation through the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund.
The award places CCG among just 142 community development entities nationwide selected in the highly competitive 2024–25 double round of New Markets Tax Credits, which totaled $10 billion. More than 200 organizations applied for the funding.
“Receiving these New Markets Tax Credit awards is terrific news as we enter the new year,” said Robin Wiessmann, PHFA’s executive director and chief executive officer. She said the credits will help fuel economic growth and strengthen communities across the Commonwealth.
CCG plans to deploy the tax credits to support projects in low-income urban and rural areas throughout Pennsylvania, using the financing to provide loans and equity investments tied to business expansion, health care facilities, and multi-service community developments. Officials said the goal is to bring essential goods and services into disadvantaged neighborhoods while creating accessible, high-quality jobs.
Past projects supported through CCG’s New Markets Tax Credit investments include the Erie Center for Arts and Technology in Erie, the Scranton Counseling Center, the Sharswood Ridge residential and commercial development in Philadelphia, and the Mill 19–Almono industrial complex in Pittsburgh.
More information about CCG and its portfolio of funded developments is available at http://www.commonwealthcornerstone.org/default.aspx.
The New Markets Tax Credit program, created by Congress in 2000, offers individual and corporate investors a federal tax credit for equity investments in certified community development entities. Those entities, in turn, channel capital into low-income communities through lending, direct investment, and financial services.
The program recently received a permanent extension through federal reconciliation legislation, a move supporters say provides long-term stability and certainty for community-focused investment strategies.
State housing officials said the latest allocation positions Commonwealth Cornerstone Group to play a central role in revitalization efforts statewide, leveraging federal tax incentives to unlock private capital and drive sustained economic development in communities that need it most.
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