$8.5 million NMTC-funded loan makes Confluence Center development a reality
With the support of New Markets Tax Credits, the Confluence Center of Colorado is bringing together mission-driven organizations working at the confluence of land and water conservation, science, education, and stewardship to magnify their impact.
On July 20th, Colorado Enterprise Fund, Inc. deployed an $8.5 million NMTC allocation to support the development of the Confluence Center of Colorado in Grand Junction. U.S. Bancorp Community Development Corporation was the NMTC investor and Smith NMTC Associates, LLC facilitated the closing to maximize the project’s community benefits, provide the recapture guaranty, and guidance through the 7-year compliance and impact reporting period.
The Confluence Center of Colorado is a nonprofit organization formed from a collaborative partnership of local nonprofits in Mesa County. Unified by the shared values of stewardship, community, collaboration, connectivity and education, the founding partners include RiversEdge West, EUREKA! McConnell Science Museum, Colorado National Monument Association, and One Riverfront. The new 11,000-square-foot facility will include:
- Nonprofit Working Space: coworking offices, a shared conference room, and shared storage space for education and outdoor learning supplies
- Land and Water Resource Hub: a collaborative and informational site for work on western river systems as well as public and agricultural lands
- Childcare Center and Preschool: an employer-based STREAM (Science, Technology, Rivers, Engineering, the Arts and Mathematics) childcare center and preschool
- Interpretive Lobby: educational and interpretive resources for the public to gain a better understanding of land, water, science, agricultural, and recreational resources of the region
By bringing these resources under one roof, the Confluence Center amplifies the ability of its individual partners to protect natural resources and engage the next generation.
The STREAM Preschool and Childcare Center will offer 58 full-time preschool slots at the Confluence Center. This new employer-based childcare center and community preschool is envisioned to be a community asset, incentivizing workforce development, providing high-quality early childhood development and education with an early introduction to science learning, and supporting access for underserved children with scholarship enrollment.
Creative Solutions for Innovative Financing
Smith NMTC Associates, LLC works with mission-driven organizations throughout the country to develop creative financial models and structures for projects that bring affordable homeownership and community facilities and services to low-income communities and their residents.
In 2008, Smith NMTC Associates, LLC pioneered the first NMTC model for affordable homeownership, in collaboration with U.S. Bancorp Community Development Corporation and Habitat for Humanity International, to deploy $25 million in NMTC allocation that benefited five nonprofit developers in the Gulf Opportunity Zone after Hurricane Katrina.
As of August 2026, the company has closed over $987 million in NMTC transactions, including $805 million for 161 affordable homeownership projects, in collaboration with 25 CDEs and resulting in 6,306 homes in low-income communities across 33 states and Washington, D.C.