VANCOUVER, British Columbia, December 8, 2016 /PRNewswire/ — Arcturus Growthstar Technologies Inc. (the “Company” or “Arcturus”) (OTCQB: AGSTF) (CSE: AGS.CN) is pleased to announce that it has partnered with CBO Financial, Inc. (“CBO”) for the development and operation of a major “LED” vertical farm project in Baltimore, Maryland. Arcturus is also pleased to announce that it has concurrently signed a Letter of Intent (“LOI”) to lease 25,000-sq ft of commercial shell space from Volunteers of America Chesapeake to accommodate the Baltimore farm.
Volunteers of America Chesapeake (“VOAC”), one of the largest and most respected nonprofits in the region, owns a building in Baltimore, MD that will undergo additional improvements to accommodate Arcturus’ Controlled Environment Agriculture (“CEA”) technology, which uses LED lights to grow plants on vertically stacked levels. As a partner in this indoor farm, VOAC has agreed to contribute generous rent concessions to Arcturus. The farm will be co-located in a residential reentry center, which helps ex-offenders reenter society and the workforce after serving federal prison sentences. The farm will provide job training and therapeutic opportunities for VOAC’s residents. Arcturus, CBO and VOAC intend to use this Baltimore model to expand the Company’s CEA technology and training and therapeutic programs developed by VOAC into other markets throughout the United States.
Arcturus previously announced that CBO would act as the Company’s financial advisor with respect to New Market Tax Credits (NMTC) for certain vertical farming projects. As part of this Baltimore farm transaction, CBO Financial will be arranging for $5,000,000 in NMTC based financing. CBO will also plan, co-finance, and perform day-to-day operations at the farm, and Arcturus will provide the system design, off-take agreements, co-finance, and offer ongoing O&M support. The Baltimore Farm is expected to be a showcase for Arcturus’ LED horticulture lighting technology and the first of many projects that CBO and the Company will work on together in collaboration with Volunteers of America Chesapeake.
The NMTC program is a $65 billion federal program designed to incentivize private investment in low-income communities. NMTCs are provided to financial institutions in exchange for equity investments that eligible businesses can use to subsidize project development costs. CBO Financial helps driven organizations, such as Arcturus, to finance facilities that will provide goods and services that benefit populations in need and revitalize communities.
“We are delighted to be involved with this project, which produces fresh food and quality jobs in a low income community and provides job training and therapy opportunities for VOAC residents. We expect this to be a prototype for future, profitable commercial scale projects that include social service oriented job training and therapeutic programs,” says Craig Stanley, CEO of CBO Financial.