Burger Maker

PROJECT LOCATION:

College Park, Georgia

THE PROJECT:

Burger Maker, Inc., had humble beginnings, when in the late 1800s, the family’s forefather began selling quality meats to butchers and restaurants on the Lower East Side of New York City. The family business moved to Harlem in the 1930s and eventually to the meatpacking district in the 1970s, when the company decided to focus on what it does best: hamburger production, specifically patties. Since then, Burger Maker has supplied restaurants, grocers, butchers, and special events with their high-quality ground beef

To accommodate its steady growth, Burger Maker renovated an existing building into a new production facility. The renovation resulted in a USDA-approved freezer/cooler, a distribution facility with insulated ceilings and walls, and new concrete floors. Upon completion was new refrigerated space to include docks and production areas, coolers, freezer, and packaging, as well as updated office areas.

COMMUNITY IMPACTS:

• Create 26 full-time construction jobs
• Create 83 permanent full-time jobs
• All permanent jobs will receive employer-sponsored benefits including health and dental insurance, 401(k) retirement plan and life insurance options.
• Burger Maker hires locally and anticipates that approximately 94% of full-time employees will come with criminal backgrounds, be formerly unemployed or underemployed, and be low-income persons.

COMMUNITY PROFILE:

• Unemployment Rate: 13.9%, or 1.76 times the national average
• Median Family Income: 50.26% of benchmark

FINANCING:

• Total Project Cost: $13.1 million
• NCF Deployed Allocation: $13 million
• Total NMTC Allocation: $12.7 million

PROJECT PARTNERS:

• United Fund Advisors (National Community Fund I, LLC)
• Chase Community Equity, LLC
• JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A.
• Schweid & Sons