Farm for America Regional Center
Farm for America (“FFA”) was officially designated by USCIS as a regional center on May 2, 2011. It has been formed to facilitate investment by pooling capital raised under the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Pilot Program. Investments made in association with the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Pilot Program will require each investor to invest a total of $500,000 in a Targeted Employment Area (TEA) which is either a rural area, or a high unemployment area (with an unemployment rate that is at least 150% of the national average). In accordance with the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Pilot Program, each $500,000 investment made through a designated regional center must create at least 10 direct, indirect, or induced jobs in order for the investor to obtain permanent residency.
Since it’s designation in 2011, FFA has been actively seeking opportunities to promote economic growth, improved regional productivity, job creation, or increased domestic capital investment in its approved geographic area, namely Benton, Chelan, Douglas, Grant, Franklin, Klickitat, Okanogan, Walla Walla, and Yakima counties in Washington State. In its original designation, USCIS approved FFA to apply EB-5 capital toward two categories in farming industry. From 2013 to the present, FFA has successfully sponsored a few EB-5 projects in the State of Washington, among which, “E’ritage Vineyard and Resort” in the County of Walla Walla was approved as an exemplar project in May 2015. Along with the approval of this exemplar, FFA’s designated industries have expanded to grape vineyards, wineries, restaurants, drinking places, nonresidential building construction, hotels, architectural and engineering services.
Based on the May 30th, 2013 Policy Memo from USCIS, if a project is not located within the designated area of a regional center, as long as the economic impact analysis can demonstrate that the project will produce economic impacts throughout a region that is contiguous to the regional center’s jurisdiction. Recently, FFA has successfully sponsored projects in Thurston County, Washington, and Multnomah County, Oregon. We believe the EB-5 investment in these areas will stimulate new economic activities and help create new jobs or retain existing jobs in the area.
The goal of FFA is to encourage more economic growth and create more jobs in the area. To pursue this goal, FFA welcomes all kinds of business opportunities to lease its regional center designation to sponsor the projects wherein EB-5 fund infuses positive energy into the economy.