Finance & Investment in the Northern Forest

The Northern Forest Region is rich in amenities but lacks substantive, flexible, and innovative financial resources that complement traditional financing provided by local banks and credit unions. The region needs new and enhanced investment products to support economic opportunities rooted in renewable energy, wood products, tourism, and new values and services from forestland. These new markets have potential to generate income and help stabilize and grow the regional economy, and they need investment.

The Center is leading a strategy to increase investment in the region and build the capacity of innovative investors and lenders to catalyze sustainable business development.

Regional Program Related Investment (PRI) strategy

Program related investments are investments made by charitable foundations in intermediaries, which then lend funds directly to businesses, non-profits and other entities that help advance the overall mission of the foundation. The Center and its partners have identified a regional PRI strategy as one means to increase the availability of low-cost capital that could accelerate projects and complement philanthropic dollars. Read more about the PRI strategy.

New Markets Tax Credit

The federal New Markets Tax Credits (MNTC) program can provide subsidized financing for qualified working forestland projects in the Northern Forest. The Center’s subsidiary, Sustainable Forest Futures (SFF), facilitates the use of NMTC through a working partnership with Coastal Enterprises, Inc. (CEI).

To be eligible for this program, projects must promote economic development, have community benefits, and provide for working forestland conservation. NMTC financings have the capacity to provide a substantial subsidy to a project, but they can be very complex and labor intensive to put together. SFF facilitates NMTC land deals in various ways, as appropriate for a specific project. SFF is prepared to work with land conservation organizations, timberland investment management organizations (TIMOs), other private timberland investors, landowners, public bodies and others as applicable. Read more about NMTC financing through SFF.

Community Forest Fund

The Open Space Institute, in collaboration with the Community Forest Collaborative, has launched the Community Forest Fund to support the creation and expansion of Community Forests in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. The Community Forest Fund has been capitalized initially at $1.4 million and is continuing to raise additional capital to support future funding Community Forest grants. For more information, visit the Community Forest Fund.

Community Development

The Center partners with a broad array of organizations across the region that provide lending and technical assistance to businesses, non-profit organizations and other entities. A few of these partners by state include: