Q4 of FY2012 featured a plethora of media attention focused on successful EB-5 fundraising, development, and loan repayments. EB-5 Regional Centers from New York to Oregon and Wisconsin to Florida received praise from media outlets across the country.
Vermont’s Jay Peak resort was once again vaulted into the spotlight. Addison County Independent journalist Angelo Lynn’s article “EB-5 funding: Dare to think big” detailed Jay Peak’s new $500 million economic development initiative partially funded by the EB-5 Program.
“Here’s the kicker, as Sen. Patrick Leahy said with an exclamation mark: it doesn’t cost American taxpayers a darn cent! In fact, he said, it’s about time we had a program that imports foreign dollars into the U.S. to grow jobs here instead of policies that export jobs overseas.”
WPTZ reporter Stewart Ledbetter also covered the proposed expansion. Ledbetter’s feature “Vt. Lawmakers see impact of EB-5 investment in NE Kingdom” quoted Jay Peak President/CEO and Association To Invest In the USA (IIUSA) Director Bill Stenger,.
“What the EB-5 program has allowed us to do is take great ideas, get them fully-funded and on their way, all without the pressure of a mortgage.”
Recent EB-5 Program success delivered a bipartisan supported three-year Program re-authorization signed into by law by President Barack Obama. The Commander in Chief was not finished there.
A January 29th press release from the White House entitled, “FACT SHEET: Fixing our Broken Immigration System so Everyone Plays by the Rules” outlined the President’s four-point immigration reform proposal, which included the permanent authorization of the EB-5 Regional Center Program.
“The proposal permanently authorizes immigrant visa opportunities for regional center (pooled investment) programs; provides incentives for visa requestors to invest in programs that support national priorities, including economic development in rural and economically depressed regions; adds new measures to combat fraud and national security threats; includes data collection on economic impact; and creates a pilot program for state and local government officials to promote economic development.”
IIUSA supports President Obama’s goal to permanently authorize the EB-5 Regional Center Program.
Jennifer Wing of NPR detailed the meteoric rise in Program applicants. “Foreign Investors Trade Dollars For U.S. Residency” describes the journey of Svetlana Anikeeva, a Russian EB-5 Regional Center Program participant.
“Anikeeva was one of 1,021 people who applied back in 2009, compared with the 6,106 who applied in 2012. It’s a pretty rigorous selection process,” she says.
Wing interviewed IIUSA Director Emeritus and American Life Inc. President Henry Liebman.
“Since 2008, the bust, it’s even a more important source of capital, because at least in real estate there’s some lending, but not near what it was,” Liebman says. “So this is more important than it used to be.”
IIUSA would like to congratulate IIUSA Member CanAm Enterprises and Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation (PIDC) Regional Center on its 14th and 15th successful project loan repayments. According to the press release, “Two Partnership Loans from CanAm’s Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation (PIDC) Regional Center recently repaid investors in full and on time, totaling $46 million.”
The EB-5 Regional Center Program has blossomed into a credible tool for attracting foreign investment and creating domestic jobs. Stephanie Q. Seelye of the New York Times declared that, “In 2006, the government issued just 802 of these EB-5 visas to investors and their families; this year, it granted 7,818.”
Her article, “Lure of Green Cards Brings Big Investments for Remote Resort in Vermont” testifies to the continued progress of the once underutilized EB-5 Program.
IIUSA is proud to continue its advocacy of a Program that taps into the macroeconomic forces of globalization to inject capital into the U.S. economy for the purposes of American job creation – at no cost to the American taxpayer.
- 2013-02-05 “Vt. Lawmakers see impact of EB-5 investment in NE Kingdom” Stewart Ledbetter – WPTZ
- 2013-01-29 “FACT SHEET: Fixing our Broken Immigration System so Everyone Plays by the Rules” The White House
- 2013-01-25 “Foreign Investors Trade Dollars For U.S. Residency” Jennifer Wing – NPR News
- 2013-01-02 “Big Project In Vermont Banks on Immigrant Investors” Charlotte Albright – WBUR/NPR News
- 2012-12-30 “Lure of Green Cards Brings Big Investments for Remote Resort in Vermont” Katharine Q. Seelye – The New York Times
- 2012-12-30 “Green Cards for Vermont’s Kingdom” Brent McDonald – The New York Times
- 2012-12-20 “CanAm Enterprises Announces 14th and 15th Loan Repayment from PIDC Regional Center” PRWeb
- 2012-12-17 “Ground breaking ceremonies today for Pearl Marriott” Wendy Culverwell – Portland Business Journal
- 2012-11-08 “EB-5 Visa Program Gaining Popularity with U.S. Property Developers” Hortense Leon – World Property Channel
- 2012-10-12 “Overseas Investors Give to US Charter Schools for Green Cards” Newsmax
- 2012-10-08 “Bexar has new tool for foreign investors” David Hendricks – San Antonio Express-News
- 2012-10-01 “EB-5 funding: Dare to think big” Angelo Lynn – Addison County Independent
- 2012-10-01 “Foreign Financing: EB-5 cash revs up assorted projects in the Milwaukee region” John W. McCurry – Site Selection
