National New Markets Fund Expands in Southern U.S. With Investment in Nation's First-of-Its-Kind E-Waste Recycling Facility

OSCEOLA, AR--(Marketwired - Jul 31, 2014) -  National New Markets Fund LLC has closed $15 million in New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) allocation to help finance equipment for the first urban mining refinery in the U.S. capable of retrieving high-value metals including gold, silver, copper and palladium from electronic waste. An estimated 40 million tons of such e-waste is discarded globally each year, with only about 13 percent currently undergoing some form of recycling: The rest winds up in the trash.

Built and operated by BlueOak Resources Inc., the new facility will be located in Osceola, Arkansas -- a highly distressed rural area with a 44.3% poverty rate and 12.7% unemployment rate. It is scheduled to become operational by the end of 2015 and expected to create 75 high-paying permanent jobs with extensive training and salaries averaging $50,000 per year.

"Our NMTC investment in BlueOak will help create high-quality jobs and transform a part of Arkansas ranked consistently among the poorest regions in the nation," said National New Markets Fund President Deborah La Franchi. "It will also create a new, vastly superior model for solving one of our most acute environmental challenges."

E-waste is a rapidly growing problem as demand increases worldwide for cell phones, computers and other electronic devices. The dumping of such waste represents an ecological disaster, especially in developing countries where it is often sent to be salvaged in unsafe, environmentally-devastating conditions. In addition, dumping results in the loss of millions of tons of precious metals (gold, copper, silver and palladium) and other resources.

The $15 million New Markets Tax Credit allocation from Los Angeles-based National New Markets Fund was matched by a $15 million allocation from Arkansas-based Heartland Renaissance Fund. U.S. Bank served as the project's tax credit investor.

"The New Markets Tax Credit program was critical in making this project a reality," said Priv Bradoo, CEO and co-founder of BlueOak. "It will enable us to realize a tremendous opportunity, both in recovering value from rapidly growing electronic scrap streams as well as the creation of jobs within the Osceola community."

La Franchi emphasized that the new facility, with its very advanced, environmentally-friendly technology, has the potential to become a "game changer" by creating what she described as "a new paradigm for how e-waste is managed in the United States." Once the new facility is operational, BlueOak plans to focus on expanding its prototype nationwide