(Forest City, IA) November 9, 2020: Rural Development Partners is pleased to welcome Debra Shoaf to its New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) Advisory Board. Debra oversees the finance, risk management, and real estate functions for Atlanta Community Food Bank. The Food Bank is a $160MM+/year organization that is on target to procure and distribute over 100 million pounds of food this year to nearly 700 partner agencies, serving individuals in 29 Georgia counties in metro Atlanta and north Georgia. Debra was the internal lead for the Food Bank’s new 345k SF facility construction and infrastructure expansion which was funded with a New Market Tax Credit financing package.
Debra serves on the Feeding America Financial Leaders Steering Committee and is the Chair of the Recruiting subcommittee. She was selected as the Feeding America Senior Financial Leader of the Year in 2018.
Prior to joining the Food Bank, Debra served as the Vice President of Finance and Accounting at Atlanta Habitat for Humanity. She has also held positions in private industry as Chief Financial Officer for Renfroe Enterprises in the real estate development, warehousing, billboard, and construction industries and as Controller at Ivan Allen Company in the retail office supplies, printing, and furniture industries. Previously, Debra worked in public accounting and government agency roles in audit and tax positions. She holds a B.B.A. in Accounting from Georgia State University and is a Certified Public Accountant. Debra and her family live in Peachtree City.
Debra’s professional perspective and expertise in working with low-income people and communities, as well as her first hand experience in working with the New Market Tax Credit through the Atlanta Community Food Bank‘s partnership with RDP will add great value to the RDP mission.
About RDP: Rural Development Partners mission is to provide equity equivalent debt to rural businesses and rural-supporting industries (including distribution and food access); forging public-private partnerships for catalytic job growth in rural America. RDP is a Community Development Entity (CDE) with a nationwide service area. As a CDE, RDP is eligible to apply for an annual allocation of Federal New Markets Tax Credits (NMTCs). From 2004 through 2020, RDP has won nine NMTC awards from the U.S. Treasury totaling $606.7 million. RDP works to combine NMTCs with bank loans and tax credit investors to create more favorable financing solutions than are available through conventional lending and investing. For more information about the New Market Tax Credit program, and see the impact RDP projects have had throughout America, visit our website at rdpimpact.com.
