Call for Reviewers, New Markets Tax Credit Program

Posted by on October 28, 2013

On behalf of the U.S. Treasury Department, Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund), F2 Solutions seeks resumes of a large number of well-qualified individuals to serve as Reviewers (or Alternates) for the 2013-2014 round of the New Markets Tax Credit Program.

Candidate qualifications: The CDFI Fund requires Reviewers to have considerable expertise in areas such as community and economic development and commercial finance (encompassing operating business and real estate development, financing of community-based organizations, the pooling of community development loans for sale to secondary markets, and/or financial counseling, particularly for small businesses).  The strongest candidates will have:

1)      Prior experience serving as an NMTC application reviewer in the past three rounds; or,

2)      3+ years of direct experience with NMTCs; and/or

3)      5+ years (a minimum of three years is required) in one or more of the following areas:

• Experience underwriting business and/or commercial real estate investments or evaluating community/economic development investments or entities; or
• Direct community/economic development experience; or
• Financial counseling to businesses; or
• Real estate development experience.

Resumes will be considered on a rolling basis, so please apply as soon as possible using the link at the bottom of this letter.  Candidates with experience serving as a Reviewer in the 2010, 2011, or 2012 are preferred; however this experience is not a requirement.

Eligibility

Please note that individuals that are selected will be required by the CDFI Fund to complete disclosure forms to uncover potential conflicts of interest.  These forms will be made available by the CDFI Fund after selection.  However, it is important to note that the CDFI Fund’s conflict of interest policies, at a minimum, generally prohibit the following individuals from serving as Reviewers or Alternates:-

• Employees or partners of organizations (or affiliates of organizations) that have applied under the 2013-2014 round;
• Employees or partners of organizations (or affiliates of organizations) that have indicated an intent to make NMTC qualified equity investments in organizations that have applied under the 2013-2014 round;
• Employees or partners of organizations (or affiliates of organizations) that intend to receive loans or investments from organizations that have applied under the 2013-2014 round, where such loans or investments were funded by the proceeds of NMTC qualified equity investments; and
• Individuals that have financial interests that are specifically contingent upon the selection of an application for the receipt of a NMTC allocation (including consulting fees, bonuses or prospective employment opportunities).
• Individuals who have worked on NMTC applications that were submitted in the 2013-2014 round.
• Other conflicts may result in full or partial bans from service.

Compensation:

F2 Solutions offers the following compensation for this assignment in the form of an honorarium paid after the completion of the review process:  $300 for each review completed on a timely basis, $225 for reviews that are late.  Reviewers will typically complete 12-15 assignments.

Period of service:  The CDFI Fund anticipates that Reviewers and select Alternates will complete approximately 11 hours of remote training over a period from November 18, 2013 to December 4, 2013.  Then, Reviewers will complete application evaluations starting December 5 through late January 2014.  Typically two or three applications will be due each week, although the schedule will be reduced in late December.  On average, an application review takes four to six hours to complete.

Location of service:  Evaluation of applications will be completed using a web-based review tool from their chosen remote location.

Role of the Reviewer:  Working in teams but reading each application independently and without consultation, Reviewers will evaluate applications using the CDFI Fund’s established review criteria in four core areas:  Business Strategy, Community Outcomes, Management Capacity, and Capitalization Strategy.  For more information on the application review criteria, you may download the 2013-2014 NMTC Allocation Application from the CDFI Fund’s website at http://www.cdfifund.gov.

The entire process will be web-based.

How to apply

Using the link below, submit your resume and complete a short experience questionnaire.

http://www.applicationreview.net/cdfireviewers

If you are unable to serve as a Reviewer, please pass this letter along to other individuals that you believe possess the appropriate expertise and might be interested in serving as a Reviewer.

Thank you for your consideration and interest.  If you  need to contact us, we can be reached at [email protected].