Grappone receives $18 million New Markets Tax Credit to build new facility
Automotive company to move Mazda dealership to Concord and expand employee training, community outreach efforts
The Grappone group of auto dealerships has received an $18 million New Markets Tax Credit to help it build a new 25,800-square-foot home for its Mazda dealership that will also include a training center and community meeting space.
The company received the credit through Mascoma Community Development to finance acquisition of the site and construction of the building.
The company plans to relocate its current Mazda dealership in Bow to a site on Manchester Street in Concord. The newly built facility will also include an approximately 3,000-square-foot multi-purpose training center to support and expand its employee and community development programs, including its “Leadership Grappone 2.0” employee development program that offers workshops on leadership development, communication and problem-solving skills.
The center is also designed to support community-focused initiatives by providing meeting space at no cost to over a dozen local nonprofits organizations, including Riverbend Community Mental Health, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Youth Summit, NH Children’s Trust and the Center for Family Enterprise. Additional space at the facility will also be used to accommodate automotive technical training programs with Concord High School’s Regional Technical Center and Nashua Community College.
“This project is the realization of 25 years of learning in the automotive sector for me,” said Grappone CEO Amanda Osmer, an owner and one of five directors of the company who’s also serving as principal on the project. “Growing up in the business, I had ideas about how we could make doing business with Grappone even better. The focus of our team has put into our company culture and mission is a point of real pride for me, and the completion of the Mazda building and training center will help bring our team’s service even further into the communities we serve.”
According to Mascoma Community development, the new facility is projected to create 35 new jobs and will allow for expansion of Grappone’s Ford dealership in Bow.
“The Grappone project represents new construction located in a rural, non-metropolitan community. We expect that this project may catalyze further improvements to and revitalization of the Manchester Street corridor in Concord,” said states Tad Atwell, Chief Operating Officer of MCD. MCD is a community development entity established by Mascoma Bank that aims to create impactful jobs in highly distressed, low-income rural and minor-urban communities. It also targets downtown redevelopment projects which help revitalize communities and provide necessary services to low-income community members.
U.S. Bank is also helping to finance the project.
