United Fund Advisors

Castellini Food Processing

A new food processing, packaging, and distribution facility brings 300 jobs to Clayton County, Georgia.

food
PROJECT LOCATION:

Clayton County, Georgia

THE PROJECT:

Castellini Group of Companies is one of the oldest members of the produce industry and a recognized leader in industry best practices. In order to expand production and create more high-quality jobs, Castellini will construct a new 180,000-square-foot refrigerated processing and distribution facility that includes 20,000 square feet of LEED-certified office space in Clayton County, Georgia. The facility will serve as the Southeastern operations base of Castellini and will create approximately 300 jobs in office management, produce processing, and distribution. The Project is engineered to exceed FDA Food Safety Modernization Act regulatory requirements, ensuring that a sufficient supply of safe and healthy produce distributed by Castellini will be available in the Southeastern U.S. markets. The specialized nature of this facility has resulted in construction costs that exceed Castellini’s ability to finance the project. NMTC financing is helping to bridge the financing gap and bring the project to fruition.

COMMUNITY IMPACTS:
  • Create 300 new quality management and manufacturing jobs with living wages and benefits, including healthcare, paid vacation, retirement plans, job training, and continuing education.
  • At least 50% of the jobs will be filled by residents of the local Low-Income Community and/or by a Low-Income Person.
  • A partnership with the State of Georgia will provide jobs to eligible candidates enrolled in the Quick Start training program, a state-run pre- and post-employment training series aimed at developing core and technical job skills.
COMMUNITY PROFILE:
  • Poverty rate of 22.4%
  • Median family income of 60.4% of benchmark
  • Unemployment rate of 15.7%, or 2 times the national average
  • CDFI Fund Targeted State
FINANCING:
  • Total Project Cost: $49.5 million
  • Total NCF NMTC Allocation: $13.5 million
  • Total NCF QLICI Financing: $13.2 million
PROJECT PARTNERS:
  • United Fund Advisors (National Community Fund I, LLC)
  • S. Bancorp Community Development Corporation
  • The Castellini Group of Companies
  • Consortium America, LLC
  • Enterprise Community Investment, Inc
  • Urban Action Community Development, LLC
  • Valued Advisor Fund, LLC