American Lending Center Washington (ALC) — formerly known as Farm for America — became a USCIS-designated regional center in May 2011 with a geographic scope that includes the following counties in the State of Washington: Benton County, Franklin County, Chelan County, Klickitat County, Douglas County, Okanogan County, Grant County, Walla Walla County, the State of Washington in its entirety (amendment pending), and the State of Oregon in its entirety (amendment pending). This regional center’s investments cover the following industries: Vegetable Farming; Other Farming; Grape Vineyards; Nonresidential Building Construction; Hotels (except Casino Hotels) and Motels; Architectural, Engineering, and Related Services; Wineries; Restaurants and Other Eating Places; and Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages).
ALC is focused on “investor first.” ALC implements a low-risk EB-5 business model that involves U.S. federal government risk control and capital injection, a senior loan structure, and a third-party fund control and construction completion commitment to ensure job creation.
ALC’s Washington regional center is one of 12 American Lending Center regional centers, which are approved for geographies in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Maryland, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia, Washington, and the District of Columbia. ALC’s regional centers have a 100% I-526 approval rate and is one of the few regional centers to achieve I-829 approval and return of capital. In total, ALC’s regional centers have funded 70 projects in 18 states; created over 8,000 jobs; and provided over $350 million in financing to small- and medium-sized businesses. As of December 2017, ALC is the leading US Small Business Administration (SBA) 504 program non-bank lender and the only lender using EB-5 funds. ALC’s California office is also the only EB-5 regional center to hold both a California Finance Lenders license and a FINRA Investment Advisor license, is a six-time nominee of the esteemed EB-5 Industry Achievement Awards, and is the official EB-5 investment partner of the City of San Diego. ALC is 100% SEC compliant.
ALC’s award-winning management team holds extensive experience in the EB-5 industry. CEO John Shen is a front-runner and creative pioneer in the EB-5 industry, successfully integrating EB-5 into federal lending programs such as SBA 504. John is a former Henry Luce fellow and earned his graduate degree from Duke University. Most recently, John received the prestigious 2017 Coleman SBA 504 Lender of the Year Award and 2018 Annual Entrepreneur Award for his leadership efforts in the EB-5 and small business lending industries. President Bruce Thompson brings nearly four decades of legislative and government experience as a former multi-term California Assemblyman and Republican National Convention delegate. Bruce was appointed by President George W. Bush as the Region IX Administrator for the SBA and later became regional campaign manager for Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney.
Scott Wagner is the founder and principal economist of Wagner Consulting Group and the lead economist of Regional Centers Holding Group. Previously, he worked on-site with the USCIS EB-5 Immigrant Investor adjudications division where he led a team of economists that was instrumental in shaping many of the current policies and procedures of the EB-5 program. While at USCIS, Mr. Wagner and his team designed and evolved components of the EB-5 evaluation criteria; authored over 1,000 analyses of immigrant investor business plans and economic impact reports; trained EB-5 adjudicators and other USCIS staff; devised and recommended procedural and policy changes; and developed a comprehensive transition plan for the future of the EB-5 program. Mr. Wagner’s work experience also includes over 10 years of economic research and consulting at San Diego State University, San Francisco State University, and several consulting firms. Mr. Wagner received an M.A. in Economics from San Diego State University and a B.A. in Economics and Business from Westmont College. Mr. Wagner’s master’s thesis investigated trends in Chinese foreign direct investment in the early 2000s.
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