National New Markets Fund (NNMF), an affiliate of Los Angeles-based impact investor SDS Capital Group, has been awarded a $95 million New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) allocation from the U.S. Treasury Department’s Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund. The allocation is part of the CDFI Fund’s $10 billion 2024–2025 NMTC round, which the group described as the largest in the program’s history.
Managed by SDS Capital Group, NNMF was created in 2006 to support economic and community development in distressed census tracts, with a focus on the South and Great Lakes regions. The fund said it refined its approach beginning in 2010 to invest exclusively in U.S.-based manufacturing, food processing, and agriculture-focused businesses, providing capital for plant expansions, equipment and machinery, and working capital aimed at supporting job retention and job creation in high-poverty communities.
SDS founder and CEO Deborah La Franchi said the latest allocation marks NNMF’s 15th NMTC award across 18 application rounds and will enable the fund to continue directing capital to manufacturers and other operating businesses in economically distressed urban and rural areas.
NNMF said it has financed 51 projects to date, representing $752 million of direct investment that has created and preserved more than 15,000 jobs in census tracts with an average poverty rate of 33%. Fourteen of those projects have been in rural communities, accounting for more than 2,300 jobs, according to the organization.
As examples of recent investments, NNMF cited a $17.5 million investment in Bongards Creameries, a farmer-owned cooperative in Perham, Minnesota, used to purchase equipment for a milk processing plant. The fund said the investment helped increase Bongards’ milk intake capacity by nearly one-third and enabled member farms to shift from commodity milk sales to higher-value cheese and whey production.
NNMF also highlighted 2024 transactions in which it said it provided a $17.5 million allocation to Rich Products for a frozen foods manufacturing expansion in Brownsville, Texas, and $15 million to Komar Brands for an apparel distribution center in Ellabell, Georgia. NNMF said the Rich Products expansion is expected to create more than 132 new jobs in a community with a reported 49% poverty rate, while the Komar Brands project is expected to create 296 new jobs in a community facing 14% unemployment.
The NMTC program was created in 2000 to advance economic development in distressed communities by allocating tax credits to entities such as NNMF, which then sell the credits to institutional investors and use the proceeds to support qualifying projects. NNMF said the program was made permanent in 2025, and it cited cumulative program impacts including $77 billion in qualified equity investment and $143 billion in total development financing supporting more than 8,900 businesses and 1.2 million jobs nationwide.
SDS Capital Group, NNMF’s parent, said its broader platform spans five impact fund strategies and includes $2.6 billion in current assets under management, with an additional $1.1 billion exited. SDS said its direct investments have helped support the creation of more than 25,000 jobs and more than 7,800 affordable or permanent supportive housing units across the U.S.
KEY QUOTES:
“For nearly two decades, NNMF has been investing in America’s most distressed urban and rural communities. Since the Great Financial Crisis, we have focused our efforts on financing manufacturers, keeping these quality jobs here in the U.S. and creating opportunities for families living in high-poverty rural and urban communities.” “This NMTC award – our 15th award out of 18 application rounds – enables us to continue investing to create quality jobs that support America’s working class.” “SDS, NNMF and our borrowers are all deeply appreciative of the U.S. Department of Treasury’s continued support of this critical economic and community development program and the double round of $10 billion that was announced at the end of the 2025.”
Deborah La Franchi, Founder and CEO, SDS Capital Group
“NNMF financed us two years ago to expand our Perham production facility. As a result, more than 165 family farms have since hired over 300 new employees.” “The investment enabled these small farms to remain financially viable and to continue operating in their communities.”
Chris Freeman, CFO, Bongards Creameries
