New venture capital plan aims to grow clean tech jobs
By Zachary Stahl, MontereyCountyWeekly.com
Rock Clapper hopes Bay Area clean-tech startups will move to Marina to take advantage of capital from Citizn Fund.
Silicon Valley venture capitalist Rock Clapper wants to turn green cards into green jobs in Marina. Clapper is applying to make the city a hub for a foreign national investment fund that could grow to $75 million and create 1,500 jobs. “This is an opportunity for growth in the community,” Clapper says. “Marina’s a sleeping gem.”
Clapper, a member of the Menlo Park investment group Band of Angels, is applying to make the area from Marina to Monterey a regional center under the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program. This would allow foreigners willing to put up at least $500,000 to create or preserve 10 jobs in the area to receive green cards for their immediate family. “The immigrants are very interested in a return on investment, but also interested in receiving a green card,” Clapper says.
The EB-5 program has 73 regional centers across the country, including more than 20 in California, from winery development in Napa to motion picture production in Los Angeles. Clapper’s company, Citizn Fund, would target industries including clean energy, agri-business and pharmaceuticals, giving investments and loans to new and existing Marina businesses.
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EB-5 center OK’d: Company hopes to attract $50M in foreign funds
by Simon Shifrin, Idahobusiness.net
An Idaho company that hopes to plug the gap in financing for startups and other growing businesses in the state has won federal approval to serve as a “regional center” for foreign investment.
Invest Idaho LLC, formerly known as I-Cubed, joins the list of more than 70 centers across the country authorized to channel money from qualified foreign investors into the local economy under the EB-5 visa program.
The company plans to attract $50 million from qualified foreign investors as part of its initial phase, which will be used to set up a fund that could subsidize dozens of projects in any of Idaho’s 44 counties – bringing ideas out of university labs and startup garages, and helping small businesses test new products or markets.
“This really becomes a key – and, I think, historic – economic development milestone for all of Idaho,” said Miles Mahoney, chief executive officer. “Without capital, the great ideas die on the vine. … That’s the ‘valley of death.’ It’s a lack of seed funding. This is bringing $50 million of leverage capital into the state of Idaho.”
Rick Ritter, Invest Idaho’s chief operating officer and CEO of Idaho TechConnect, said too many good ideas in the state are getting bypassed by risk-averse banks and the angel funds and venture capital firms that are looking for massive rates of return as the economy begins to recover.
“None of those guys want to play with the kinds of folks we’re talking about,” he said. “The venture capital guys have moved upstream. Angel guys have moved upstream. It is now a worse problem than it was two years ago. That doesn’t mean we don’t have ideas. In times of economic downturn, we actually have more ideas, but less money than we had before.”
State officials have backed Invest Idaho’s efforts, with the Idaho Department of Commerce helping the company with its application to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services – the federal agency that oversees the program – and providing introductions to potential investors through its foreign trade offices.
Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter has highlighted the EB-5 program as a “key element” of his effort to attract new foreign investment to Idaho as part of Project 60, his plan to grow the state’s annual gross domestic product to $60 billion from $52 billion.
“The value of U.S. residency, and being put on the fast track to citizenship, is an incredible tool to help us attract foreign investment in our Idaho businesses,” he said through a spokesman in response to the center’s creation. “We don’t want to miss this opportunity to infuse our economy with new investment that will stimulate job creation.”
The Department of Commerce says two other Idaho companies that plan to invest in resort development and tourism infrastructure are seeking regional center status. One of the companies has already submitted an application.
Invest Idaho submitted its application in March and received preliminary approval on Sept. 1, though it only confirmed the news to the Idaho Business Review last week.
The EB-5 program was launched under the Immigration Act of 1990. It offers green cards to foreign nationals who invest either $500,000 or $1 million in the United States and create at least 10 jobs within two years.
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New Car Plant Coming to Alabama
by Samuel Solomon, theplainsman.com
A start-up automotive company focused on producing all eco-friendly vehicles will join top automakers such as Mercedes, Honda, Hyundai, International and Toyota in calling Alabama home.
Hybrid Kinetic “HK” Motors and Gov. Bob Riley publicized plans to build a new green-vehicle manufacturing plant in Baldwin County at a press conference last Thursday.
“It didn’t take long for Alabama to become a leader in the automotive industry,” Riley said in a press release. “Now as America and the world begin making a historic transition to a green economy, we look to make Alabama a leader in the production of next-generation, clean-tech automobiles.”
The company chose Alabama as its central manufacturing location because of its economy and quality workforce, according to the press release.
The plant is supposed to create more than 5,000 jobs.
HK Motors’ flagship engine is a 1.5-liter hybrid, which runs on gasoline, electricity and compressed natural gas, said Yung “Benjamin” Yueng, HK Motors chairman, in a press release.
“Our cutting edge multi-fuel hybrid power-train system delivers excellent performance while reducing CO2 emissions to exceed Euro-2012 and EPA guidelines,” Yueng said.
The plant location is ideal as Alabama is situated in the middle of one of the country’s largest and most abundant natural gas fields, said Frank Burt, Baldwin County Commissioner.
“We here in Alabama are really blessed with natural gas,” Burt said.
Many from the international community have contributed, Burt said.
Those working on the project include an Italian design team, as well as a engineering firm from Germany.
The majority of investors are from China, and there are others from India and Brazil.
Investors are attracted through the national governments EB-5 Immigrant Investor Visa program. The program grants U.S. Permanent Residency (Green Cards) to non-citizens who invest in American businesses.
The requirement is an investment of $1 million or more in a business and the creation of full-time employment for at least 10 U.S. workers.
“China owns so much of our American dollars and credit,” Burt said. “It is a wonderful opportunity that a great number of those dollars would come back from China and be reinvested right here in Alabama and Baldwin County.”
Yeung and the HK Motors’ executive board have years of experience in and around the automotive industry.
“He’s done this before,” said Todd Stacy, press secretary for the governor’s office.
Stacy credited Yueng and his company with creating one of the largest automobile companies in China.
“We are aiming to become the premier hybrid vehicle producer in the U.S.,” said Colin Legerton, HK Motors public relations specialist.
HK Motors vehicles will focus on efficiency, safety and performance.
“It certainly is an exciting venture for Alabama and really for the whole automotive industry,” Stacey said.
USCIS Updates List of Immigrant Investor Regional Centers
US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has recently published an updated list of Immigrant Investor Regional Centers.
Senate Adopts Leahy Amendment
WASHINGTON (Wednesday, July 8, 2009) – The Senate Wednesday adopted an amendment sponsored by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) to make permanent the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Regional Center pilot program. The amendment was added to the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act.
Earlier this year, Leahy secured a six-month extension of the successful EB-5 Regional Center pilot program in the Omnibus Appropriations Act. He has introduced legislation in previous Congresses to make the program permanent. Since it was first created in 1993, the pilot program has attracted millions of dollars in foreign investment in the United States, and created thousands of new domestic jobs. There are 22 Regional Centers across the country, including a successful center in Vermont, with new applications pending at the immigration agency. Unless Congress permanently extends the program, it will expire in September.
“I have fought for extensions of the program in the past, and have succeeded in keeping this valuable program alive,” said Leahy. “But this program must be made permanent if it is to achieve its potential as an economic engine in our communities. Before domestic and international entrepreneurs invest their dollars in EB-5 projects, they must have confidence that the program will exist in the future. Authorizing the program for only months or a few years at a time sends the wrong message to individuals who want to make a permanent commitment to the United States. I have always believed that this program should be a permanent part of our immigration system and I have confidence that it can play a significant role in our economic recovery.”
The Leahy second-degree amendment was added to an amendment sponsored by Senator Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) to make permanent an employee verification system. Leahy and Sessions are the Chairman and Ranking Member, respectively, of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which considers immigration-related matters.
Vermont’s Regional Center was established in 1997, and rechartered in 2007. Two Vermont ski resorts are active participants in the Regional Center pilot program and have launched ambitious development projects. Vermont’s Regional Center projects have drawn business and tourism to the state, fueling local economies and creating jobs.
The Regional Center program has generated millions of dollars in capital investment in American communities and created thousands of domestic jobs since 1993. The Centers attract foreign investors seeking legal permanent residency and a chance to invest in the American economy. Investors must pledge a minimum of $500,000 to a project within a Regional Center and independently apply for an EB-5 visa. If approved by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), foreign investors are granted a conditional two-year green card. After two years, the investor must provide proof that they have created at least ten jobs as a result of the investment and have met additional investment requirements set by USCIS. As a result of the program’s popularity, additional applications are pending with USCIS to establish new Regional Centers in several states.
City, county hope to boost Goodyear project with foreign investment
By Jim Mackinnon, Beacon Journal business writer , ohio.com
Akron and Summit County are seeking major foreign investors for the Goodyear headquarters project.
As part of that, the city and county are taking part in a federal program that dangles high-level visas, offering the potential for permanent residency, as carrots to entice that investment.
Public officials are hoping to expand the program beyond the Goodyear project.
Summit County is believed to be the first jurisdiction in Ohio that has been designated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security as a ”Regional Center” that will provide incentives to international investors, the city and county said in a news release.
Under the federal program, potential immigrants need to invest at least $500,000 in a U.S. project that creates at least 10 jobs.
The new tool is aimed at promoting job growth in Akron and elsewhere in the county while initially revolving around the Goodyear project, according to the release.
The designation will be marketed internationally as ”CMB Summit LLC Regional Center” under what is called the Immigrant Investor Pilot Program.
Industrial Realty Group, also known as IRG, the California developer behind the $900 million Goodyear headquarters project, told local public officials about the federal program, according to Summit County Executive Russ Pry.
IRG is using the same approach in redeveloping the former McClellan Air Force Base near Sacramento, Calif., now called McClellan Park. IRG and its other partners in the McClellan Park group are seeking $6 million in foreign investment.
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For biofuels, immigration pays
By John Green, Hutchnews.com
A little known U.S. immigration program has helped quietly infuse millions of Asian dollars into development of the ethanol industry in western Kansas over the past five years.
The industry’s recent struggles, however, coupled with the economic crisis, has dozens of those investors now facing both the potential loss of their substantial investments and the reason they invested in the first place - a chance to become permanent U.S. residents.
An attorney for the California law firm directing the investments into southwest Kansas says several proposed plants - including ones in Ulysses, Dodge City and now Hiawatha - will be built.
But the clock for investors is ticking.
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City gets EB-5 nod
By Bryan Schaaf, Staff Writer, The-Daily-Record.com
WOOSTER — Months before it anticipated, Wooster Growth Corp. members learned their application to establish an EB-5 green card office as a funding mechanism for the BioHio Research Park has been approved, clearing the way for the people involved to begin seeking foreign investment.
EB-5 is a governmental program that provides 3,000 visas each year for foreigners who make large investments in designated areas. It was established by the federal government in 1990 as an opportunity for immigrants to become permanent residents of the United States by investing $1 million in a business that creates 10 jobs.
Margo Broehl, president of Wooster Growth, said the EB-5 is the first issued to a state that did not have a seat on the Senate judiciary committee.
“We expected it would be a minimum of 18 months after we got the application submitted,” said Broehl. “We started working on it less than a year ago, and the application was submitted in February, so we’re really quite pleased.”
Broehl said now that the office, which is the first of its kind in Ohio and one of only about 40 nationally, has been established, the group will work on marketing efforts and designing applications to begin seeking investment.
“We haven’t spent a great deal of time and certainly no money to pull together marketing efforts or office operations until we knew for sure we’d get this,” Broehl said. “In the background, we’ve spent a great deal of time learning how these centers operate, so now we’ll start putting that together.”
Broehl has been named to the five-member group that will run the center until a paid professional can be hired who has experience with EB-5. She’ll be joined by Wooster Growth members Mike Sigg, Rod Crider and Chris Schmid, the latter two also giving representation from the Wayne Economic Development Council. In addition, Ray Leach, from Cleveland-based JumpStart, will lead the program.
“It’s a big deal,” Crider said. “The opportunities this presents are really exciting. It’s like everything else — now that we’ve got it, we have to take the next step and move forward.”
The center will be known as the Northeast Ohio Regional Center and includes a 16-county contiguous region — Ashland, Ashtabula, Carroll, Columbiana, Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain, Mahoning, Medina, Portage, Richland, Stark, Summit, Trumbull and Wayne.
The basic government criteria for the EB-5 status are the investment must be in a business, not a passive security such as the stock market; invested funds must be the individual’s; the business must have been created after Nov. 29, 1990; or, the investment must substantially change an older business and the amount of investment may be $500,000 in a rural or high unemployment area.
Because of Wooster’s population and employment levels, it would not qualify for the $500,000 investment.
The EB-5, still regarded as a pilot program at the federal level, was scheduled to sunset last March, but has twice been given six-month extensions, the most recent extending the program through September.
Crider said because Wooster has gained approval, he believes it would be able to continue to operate its center even if the program isn’t reauthorized before its sunset date.
Broehl said she expects to have things in place by the end of summer so office management can begin letting people in the 16-county region know what they can expect and what would be required of them.
“These projects are really originated by the entrepreneurs who have projects they want to succeed, and this is a way for them to get additional capital.”
USCIS Issues Guidance Memorandum on EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program
Update to Adjudicators Field Manual Clarifies the Timing of Job Creation and the Meaning of “Full-Time” Job Positions
WASHINGTON—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) today issued a guidance memorandum that provides USCIS adjudication officers with instructions related to the timing of job creation and the meaning of “full-time” positions in the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program.
The guidance memorandum update to the Adjudicator’s Field Manual (AFM) clarifies that for purposes of the Immigrant Petition by Alien Entrepreneur (Form I-526) adjudication and the job creation requirements, USCIS will consider the two-year period to begin six months after the adjudication of the Form I-526.
USCIS officers will ensure that the business plan filed with the Form I-526 reasonably demonstrates that the requisite number of jobs will be created by the end of the two-year period. For Regional Center petitions and for purposes of indirect job creation, USCIS adjudicators may consider economic models that rely on certain variables to show job creation and the amount of investment to determine whether the required infusion of capital or creation of direct jobs will result in a certain number of indirect jobs.
USCIS also has concluded that certain direct and indirect jobs that would have previously been considered to be temporary or intermittent (such as construction jobs) may be considered as permanent jobs for Form I-526 and the Petition by Entrepreneur to Remove Conditions (Form I-829) purposes if the positions can be expected to last at least 2 years.
CanAm LA Film Regional Center Project - TimeWarner
The next Los Angeles Film Regional Center project is now open. It is a project that will be a $100 MM loan to Time Warner Inc. to finance a portion of the $200 MM production costs they will spend in the next two years. Time Warner is the world’s second largest media and entertainment conglomerate, with major operations in film, television, publishing, Internet service and telecommunications. This project is projected to create more than 3,250 indirect jobs, allocating 16-17 jobs per investor.
Please see LosAngelesFund.com for more information
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