Choosing the right location can determine whether a project is merely possible, or truly financeable under the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) or other government program. For organizations expanding services into underserved communities, the stakes are high: balancing mission, market realities, timelines, and the requirements that drive eligibility and competitiveness.
To help clients move faster and make stronger, evidence-based decisions, True Mountain Capital (TMC) has launched a new Site Selection Tool initially designed to support NMTC-driven development and expansion.
While the tool is currently optimized for NMTC analysis, it was intentionally architected to evolve, supporting future use cases such as Historic Tax Credits (HTC), Opportunity Zones, Community Investment Act (CRA) and broader Commercial Real Estate (CRE) site strategy.
The Challenge: Turning Location Data Into Actionable Financing Strategy
NMTC planning often starts with a simple question:
“Where should we locate this project to maximize NMTC viability and community impact?”
Answering it is rarely simple.
Even within a defined area of emphasis, there may be hundreds of census tracts to evaluate. Traditional approaches rely on manual data pulls, static maps, and spreadsheets. These are processes that are time-consuming, inconsistent, and difficult to scale across multiple markets.
More importantly, experienced NMTC practitioners understand that location quality is multi-dimensional. While income and poverty data are foundational, real-world project success also depends on access, unmet need, service gaps, and how a site fits within a broader operating footprint.
A Purpose-Built NMTC Solution, Designed to Expand
TMC’s Site Selection Tool addresses these challenges through a proprietary suitability algorithm that evaluates census tracts using a broader set of characteristics than traditional eligibility screens.
In addition to poverty and income data, the model incorporates indicators such as:
- Food deserts
- Medically underserved areas
- Other community-level characteristics that help identify high-impact locations
The result is a ranked view of opportunity, one that reflects both NMTC eligibility and practical site considerations.
Importantly, this scoring framework is modular by design, allowing new data layers, weighting schemes, and asset types to be incorporated over time. This enables TMC to extend the platform beyond NMTC as client needs evolve.
How the Tool Works Today
The NMTC Site Selection Tool follows a clear, repeatable workflow:
- Define the Area of Emphasis
Clients specify a geographic focus based on mission, service area, or expansion strategy.
Identify the Top Census Tracts
All census tracts within the defined area are evaluated, producing a ranked list of the top 100 tracts based on TMC’s suitability score.
- Overlay Existing Locations
Clients’ current facilities or service locations are overlaid on the map to provide immediate spatial context.
- Perform Radius Analysis
The tool conducts radius analysis to show how existing locations relate to top-ranked tracts. Reports summarize counts of locations within 5, 10, 25and 50-mile radii, quickly highlighting coverage, gaps, and expansion opportunities.
As shown in the Site Selection Report, clients can move seamlessly between ranked tract data and interactive map visualization, enabling faster internal alignment and decision-making.
Built by True Mountain Technologies
The Site Selection Tool was developed by employees of True Mountain Technologies, including:
- Bill Hughes, Chief Data Officer
- Ian Carroll, Chief System Architect
Their focus was to build a platform that translates complex geospatial and demographic data into clear, defensible site strategy, grounded in the realities of NMTC financing.
Looking Ahead: Expanding to Historic Tax Credits and CRE
While the Site Selection Tool is currently optimized for NMTC analysis, True Mountain Capital intends to extend the platform to support additional use cases, including:
- Historic Tax Credit (HTC) analysis, where the focus shifts from census tracts to historically eligible buildings and districts, and
- Commercial Real Estate (CRE) site selection, where market dynamics, access, and asset-type performance become central. CRE enhancements will incorporate additional ranking criteria based on expanded demographic analysis, Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) considerations, Opportunity Zone designations, USDA lending eligibility, and other location-based financing and incentive programs.
Because the underlying platform already supports advanced scoring, spatial overlays, and radius-based analysis, these future enhancements will build on the same core architecture, substituting new data inputs and scoring logic tailored to each financing structure or asset class.
This roadmap reflects TMC’s broader commitment to integrating data analytics with real-world transaction expertise—not as a generic mapping exercise, but as a practical, decision-oriented tool aligned with how projects are evaluated, structured, and financed.
Experience That Goes Beyond the Model
Data alone does not close NMTC transactions.
TMC’s Site Selection Tool is informed by extensive NMTC closing experience, ensuring that analytics are grounded in how projects are evaluated, structured, and ultimately financed. This same experience will guide future expansions of the platform into HTC and CRE, where eligibility, feasibility, and market performance intersect.
A Smarter Way to Start the Conversation
For clients evaluating new markets, facilities, or expansion strategies, the Site Selection Tool provides a faster, clearer starting point. This supports informed conversations early, before time and capital are committed.
As the platform evolves, it will continue to support TMC’s core mission: helping clients align location, impact, and capital in ways that lead to successful outcomes.
Contact True Mountain Capital to learn more or request a demonstration of the Site Selection Tool.
Jeff Cotton
President & CEO
True Mountain Capital, LLC
jcotton@truemountaincapital.com
(901) 347-7276