America and Arkansas were built on the foundation of dreams—the dreams to own a thriving business; to purchase a home you’re proud of; to access quality education; to adequately provide for your family, and to live a vibrant wholesome life.
In many instances, dreams have been extinguished due to a lack of financial accessibility. At Arkansas Capital, one of our main goals is to create accessibility so that our Natural State neighbors can realize their dreams. Community engagement and targeted outreach make this vision for a better life a true possibility.
Community Development in Arkansas
Community development in Arkansas is essential as it supports improvements in the quality of life for low-and moderate-income individuals and rural communities. In 2020, the United States Census reported that more than 16 percent of Arkansas residents are living in poverty. The per capita reported income in 2019 was just over $26,000. This illustrates the dire need for community support and engagement. At Arkansas Capital, we strive to formulate and offer traditional and creative solutions that will stimulate economic growth through lending products, tax credits, and other funding mechanisms, and entrepreneurial training and development thereby creating stronger communities throughout the state.
Why Is Community Development in Arkansas So Important?
Community development advances our communities by increasing homeownership rates, spurring small business development, increasing graduation rates, supporting workforce development, and more. Community development ensures that Arkansas residents have vital living components to live more sustained and healthier lives. Investing in our neighbors allows us to build a foundation, which enables our neighborhoods to attract and keep talent, start and build businesses, and resolve problems that arise.
When community development works, it results in less crime, shrinks wealth gaps, creates more and better jobs, nurtures a more capable and willing workforce, and decreases overall problems that directly impact residents. Some examples of community development include:
- Helping an aspiring grocery store owner open a store in a food desert (a geographical area without access to grocery stores within a walkable distance); and,
- Helping property developers purchase and renovate dilapidated homes in poverty-stricken areas to decrease crime and increase overall property values in the area.
Building Arkansas Up
By promoting entrepreneurship, supporting small businesses, and striving to make commercial financing accessible, we can increase prosperity in Arkansas. One way we do this is by offering an array of lending products to build Arkansas up.
Lending Services
We offer loans to help our Arkansas neighbors
- create startups,
- acquire and expand existing businesses,
- build or expand commercial real estate,
- obtain working capital,
- purchase commercial equipment, and
- facilitate rehabilitation of properties.
To service a variety of borrowers, we offer the following types of loans:
To ensure you are best positioned for long-term success, we offer:
- military loan advantages,
- competitive interest rates,
- lower down payments, and
- reasonable collateral requirements.
In addition to our lending services, Arkansas Capital impacts community development through its Heartland Renaissance Fund (HRF). HRF is a subsidiary of Arkansas Capital and a Community Development Entity (CDE) as certified by the U.S. Department of Treasury.
This CDE designation allows Arkansas Capital to facilitate community development financing and job creation opportunities targeted to low-income communities in Arkansas and surrounding states, most notably through the deployment of New Markets Tax Credits (NMTCs).
Arkansas Capital was the first CDE established in the state when it launched HRF in 2001. Since that time, through multiple rounds of allocations, Arkansas Capital has deployed $355 million of NMTCs into Arkansas and surrounding states.
With a combined $1.1 billion in transaction experience and over 75 years of experience in structuring investment capital, Arkansas Capital’s HRF team can help innovative, early-stage, and high-growth companies in the following areas:
- tax credit syndication / tax credit finance,
- developing public/private partnership opportunities, and
- alternative financing solutions.
Community Development the Arkansas Capital Way
“Our first question is not ‘how can we make money?’ Our first question is ‘where is there a need?’ Over the years, these things you’ve seen us do have been a response to specific needs—no one else is doing it, so we say, ‘Alright. Let’s do it.’’’
Sam Walls, III – President and COO, Arkansas Capital Corporation
We’d like to talk to you more about your ideas – call us, or fill out our online form to let us know how we can help.
